Midnight Snack Attack (open)

[Liam Farrell]

Eve breathed a sigh of relief as she eased Liam's body through the open door and into the kitchen. She knew she shouldn't be out and about at this time of night, but the long nights of having nothing to do made her want to scream in boredom, and the freedom of borrowing Liam's body was too alluring to resist. For another thing, Liam was hungry, and Eve didn't want to let him wake with hunger pangs.

She tiptoed around the kitchen, glancing anxiously toward the door every so often as she looked through the fridge and cupboards for bread, cheese and oregano. She'd made it here without being seen, but there was always the chance one of the teachers on patrol would stop in for some hot chocolate. Or another student, for that matter.

[Odette Cohen]

Odette tiptoed into the kitchen and was rather startled to find the lights already on. She chewed on her lip, nervously twisting one of her loose pigtails with her fingers, and peered around until she spotted the blonde lad in front of the fridge. She made a tiny kitten noise of surprise and gave him a little bow of her head before shuffling in, the hems of her oversized sleep pants whispering across the stone floor with each movement.

"I guess I'm not the only one having a late night," she offered as greeting. Her voice was quiet as always, like she was worried if she spoke too loudly she might bother the listener. She made her way to the fridge herself, and stooped to pull a pair of carrots and a few celery stalks from the crisper.

[Liam Farrell]

Eve turned around at a noise of surprise from behind her, and relaxed in relief when she saw it wasn't a teacher. Of course, a teacher would have spoken first, wouldn't they. She smiled back at the brown-haired lass and nodded. "Aye. Don't think I've seen you around here before."

She wasn't sure whether to be glad or not that when she spoke, it was in Liam's voice. Should she pretend to be him, or reveal herself to a total stranger who knew nothing of her?

[Odette Cohen]

Odette's brow furrowed slightly as she listened. She ambled over to grab a cutting board and a knife and started chopping her veggies into sticks.

"A-are you new?" She peered through her bangs at the boy and smiled. He looked to be about her age. "I've been here for a few years, and I haven't seen you either."

[Liam Farrell]

Eve nodded. "Got here just before this semester." She followed the lass over to the cutlery drawer and started slicing from a block of cheddar, wondering how to explain herself.

At last she went with, "My name's Eve, by the way." Should she explain more, or let the other lass assume she was transgender? If there was any assumption at all. Maybe this lass had a way of seeing the difference between her and Liam, the way Mollie did.

[Odette Cohen]

"Eve," Odette repeated, committing the name to memory. "Well, my name is Odette, and it's nice to meet someone who shares my pension for late night snacks." She chuckled.

"The kitchen is always a little scary at night. Much less so with someone else to share the space."

[Liam Farrell]

Eve grinned. "Odette? Like the Swan Princess? That's cool. It's nice to meet you. And... aye, you could say I don't get out much. It's kind of a long story." She ran one of Liam's hands through his hair, flicked off a stray strand and started arranging the cheese on top of the bread. "I won't bore you with the details if you don't want them."

[Odette Cohen]

Odette munched on a carrot stick and hopped daintily up to sit on the counter, legs crossed neatly.

"I have time."

[Liam Farrell]

Eve nodded, and busied herself with her snack a bit more while she considered how to explain this. She sprinkled oregano over the cheese and bread, then put it in the microwave for half a minute or so.

Finally she turned around and said, "I'll try to keep this brief. I'm a ghost who's been stuck in her twin brother's head for weeks now, because of a magical accident neither of us fully understand yet. I can borrow his body, like I'm doing now, but only when he's asleep. Other than that, I get access to all his senses but none of his thoughts. It's awkward as all hell, but we're working through it."

[Odette Cohen]

Odette's brow furrowed again, more from concentration this time. She nibbled a bit of celery and looked Eve over-- er, her brother, rather-- and took a long moment to try and wrap her head around the thought.

"S-so it's like a really, really gentle possession, almost?" She tucked her hair behind her ear and leaned forward a bit. "Were you... er, out and about as a ghost before you got trapped in your brother's head, o-or was it immediate? Like you died and you just woke up inside a different body?"

[Liam Farrell]

Eve nibbled on her cheesy bread as Odette spoke, and shrugged one shoulder at the question. "It was immediate, but it took a few days for me to... settle, I guess, and be able to feel what Liam feels. In between, there was just nothing. I thought I was in Hell." She shivered, and decided a change of subject was opportune.

"So what about you? You're about our age; have you been here long?"

[Odette Cohen]

Odette reached out and patted Eve's brother's shoulder when she noticed the shiver.

"I enrolled at fourteen. I was a semester late into Freshman year, because the plan had originally been for my nana to homeschool me like she had been doing-- she travels around Europe giving lectures at colleges, and I've been her companion since I was a wee little thing. I don't remember much of my parents." She munched on another celery stick. "But my nana's a mage, I guess. She never explained to me what her p-powers were, but I'm here because I do... something. I hesitate to call it magic, because I have no say in when or how it starts happening."

She shrugged. "Nana said it was safer for me to stay in one place while I was in school. So here I am."

[Liam Farrell]

Eve nodded thoughtfully. "You're lucky, you at least had some warning. Liam and I found this place by accident. All this magic, Fae, stuff... we both thought it was just stories until we started seeing people with wings and antlers and whatever else all over town. I'm still not sure we really belong here. I don't think either of us has magic of our own." She took another bite of bread.

"So where are you from, originally? I know you mentioned a lot of travel, but everybody comes from somewhere. Liam and I are from Tralee, Ireland."

[Odette Cohen]

Odette lifted her hands and her eyebrows in the same motion.

"I really don't know. When people ask my nana, she says she's from everywhere. So I suppose that means that I'm from everywhere, too."

After a moment of contemplation, she added, "I think I was b-born somewhere in Spain. No idea whereabouts, but..."

[Liam Farrell]

Eve nodded, smiling. "Fair enough. Have you ever been to Ireland? It's beautiful, even when it's raining all the time."

[Odette Cohen]

Odette giggled. "Yes, I have! To Dublin, specifically. I had haggis for the first time when I was nine, and I was convinced that I had d-done something wrong and my nana was punishing me by making me eat intestines."

[Liam Farrell]

Eve laughed. "Awww, poor kid-you. I've had haggis a few times, it's not bad. Though I didn't know what it was until after I'd eaten it, so that might have helped."

[Odette Cohen]

"Knowing what it was tainted the taste a little," Odette mumbled. She finished off another carrot stick and shrugged.

[Liam Farrell]

Eve nodded. "It's definitely an acquired taste. A lot of things are. So what are some of your favorite foods?"

[Odette Cohen]

Odette swung her feet slightly and chewed on her lower lip. "Hmm... I like rice..." She chuckled and started to comb her fingers through one of her pigtails. "Any kind of homecooked meal is delicious to me. So I g-guess I would call it comfort food."

[Liam Farrell]

Eve nodded, smiling. "Definitely. I miss my Mum and Da's cooking... I hope we can find a way back to them before too long. I still don't know what we're going to tell them about our plans for me."

She paused and sighed, running Liam's free hand over his face. "Sorry. One-track mind, I guess. But it's hard to think of much else, when being free is all I really want."

[Odette Cohen]

Odette pulled her knees to her chest and hugged them as she gave Eve a sympathetic nod. "I understand, Eve. I couldn't imagine not having my own body. It's g-got to feel like the worst kind of claustrophobia, to not be able to move."

She rested her chin on her forearms and made a tiny, distressed kitten noise as the thought about it. "I'm sorry you're g-going through this, Eve..."

[Liam Farrell]

Eve nodded, and Liam's throat tightened. "Aye. At least I get his senses, though... that helps. But the nights are the worst, when he's asleep and I'm alone. I don't think he'd like me borrowing his body without asking, but after a while it just gets to be too much." She wrapped Liam's arms around his body and shivered.

[Odette Cohen]

Odette made a small noise of sympathy and slid off the counter. She shuffled forward and wrapped her arms around Eve (her brother, rather) and hugged her tightly.

"I'm sorry," she rasped. "B-but at least you're able to interact with the world in some ways. You're not t-totally cut off."

[Liam Farrell]

Eve returned the hug and leaned into it, closing Liam's eyes as they stung with tears she didn't dare shed. "True... but I wish I didn't have to sneak around or ask permission to do it, you know? I want my own body, my own life. I want it for me and I want it for my family. But we don't even know who did this to me... and we think they're the one who was chasing us in the woods, just before we found Lakeshore. I-if they'd caught us..."

She swallowed and choked, then pulled back and met Odette's eyes. "They tell us we're safe here, but if these people can do magic, and people here can do magic, then it's only a matter of time before they find us again. And they're clearly not afraid to kill innocent people to get what they want."

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