That needling yellow smile flashed again in her mind as she threaded through the New York crowd with a cold intensity that felt unnatural to her. It was heavy that evening. She needed her pills. Doctor's orders, prescriptions all in order, yes yes. All that. Lenna mouthed a brief 'i'm sorry' as she bumped past a woman in a seamless red dress and stockings, then repeated it out loud for good measure. "I'm sorry."

"To hell with you!"

There, there. Again, those words were rebuffed with similar language. Thankless humanity at its finest. A sardonic smile worked its bitter way across her gums. Her neck felt like a lobster's pincers closing in on her. Dammit all if people couldn't part with a bit of the lip to humor her. The whore waddled off in her high heels, on her pedestal, like some bloke'd shoved a pole up her ass to inprove her posture. A middle finger vanished in the midst of the sweat-drenched crowd. Lenna shook her head. She flowed with a rushing wave of middle-men towards the dashed bone lines of the crosswalk.

Lenna raked her eyes up from her watch impatiently to focus on the street sign as a red palm flashed in and out, 'no'. Across the street, the lamps flickered on. Dusk was nearing. She didn't even need a knock-off Rolex to tell her that. The light shifted to green and a cartoon man flashed her to walk. Lenna crossed with the crowd.

Somewhere, an accordion was playing. A harmonica trilled. God loves a working man. An all-in-one band man danced on the street corner for everybody's dimes. Lenna breezed past him, clutching the half-zipped neck of her black leather jacket. The yellow line of her shoulders jutted against the black of the salaryman-suited crowd as she pushed through towards the neon hum of salvation.

7-11. Oh, thank Heaven.

She beat feet towards the nearest painkiller podium and plucked the strongest they could legally offer from the shelf, turning it in her hands.

Ibuprofen, 200 MG.
Temporarily relieves minor aches and pains due to: Headache, toothache, backache, the common cold… too weak. Where was the good stuff? She set the bottle back down on the shelf with a shake. The contents danced for her as she turned her attention to Children’s Tylenol for a hit of irony.

Lenna’s lips pursed into a smirk like clasped hands. “Obviously not…”

Someone coughed behind her. Lenna cast a paranoid glance over her shoulder, Children’s Tylenol bottle in hand. An elderly woman shuffled her walker towards the Docusate. Lenna’s eyes trailed over the 7-11’s occupants for funzies as the thumb on her right hand grazed the ridges of the lid. A punkish teenager far too tall for the shorts around his ankles lounged on the floor near the magazine racks, freshest copy of Hustler hunkered in his gangly grip. He wore a ribbed black tank top with writing for some band blocked across his chest, and what looked like it had once been a nice hoodie before someone sawed off the sleeves. A nose ring glistened glibly in his right nostril, and the Mohawk on his head? It only added to the damned cliché. Across the shop, a fat man filled his coffee thermos and pointed to a rotating wiener on the carousel. A middle-aged balding father bought colorful cereals with his daughter. Nothing special about the crowd caught her eye.

She set the bottle back down and walked up to the pharmacy counter, resting her elbows against the pockmarked red. She slid her prescription underneath the pane of glass with a forced smile. The lobster claw tightened its vice as she purchased hers.

“Vicodin. One bottle. Thanks.” The woman nodded her platinum blonde head inattentively and vanished into the next room. Lenna glanced over her shoulder again impatiently. She’d ordered it. Now only an eternity to wait.

((OOC: Continued from Consciousness Relocation))


The drive to the gas station was brief, the Ranger merely went to the nearest station that seemed to have a decent stock of not just junk food and beer. In this case it happened to be a 7-11 with a pharmacy attached to it. Pulling up next to a pump the Ranger killed the engine, took the key out, and climbed out of the car window. The problem was he did not have a credit card so the payment would have to be done inside. So the Ranger selected to pay inside after pumping and after popping off the gas cap slid the nozzle in and started to fill up the car.

The car was only out around seven or so gallons so it wasn't low or anything, he just wanted to be sure if needed the General would have a full tank. The pump was a fairly fast one so it didn't take long to fill up and when it was done he pulled out the nozzle, returned it to it's slot on the pump, and closed the gas cap. This being accomplished she made her way to the door and entered the 7-11.

Inside the 7-11 was fairly close to how the Ranger surmised it would be. It was a slightly newer gas station and it had a much greater selection than most gas stations would have. He assumed that anything they needed to pick up could be found here. Since Elle had been given a decent sized window of time to enter here before her, she located and approached her former self. "Alright, so in the instance I am still in this body come then, what needs to be picked up ahead of time for 4 days from now?"

Lori hated this vehicle. When forced to yet again slip in through the window, plans started brewing. Glorious plans. When she had her body back, if she had her body back, she would take the doors off. Yes. She would take them and deliver them in little pieces and leave a snarky note. That was exactly her style. If she didn't get her body back, she would petition Mars to get the doors for her...

Oh, Mars. Michael's eyes squnched shut as she thought about the red man. Would he ever expand his tender care to a man body? That was more Venus' style. Did love or lust or whatever tenuous bond they shared transcend bodies? She found herself hoping so... if they never went back to their old bodies that was. Hopefully the change would come as fast as it had onset.

They stopped for gas and.... HONESTLY? He was pumping gas? With as much static electricity as she generated? Lori's man body didn't need the extra spurning to dive out the window and make for the inside of the store. Stupid cow. He was going to get her body blown up. Michael darted right into the woma-- oh, no, the men's room. Sorry ladies.

When no such immediate and devastating explosion happened Lori distracted herself with peeing. As a man... it was kinda fun, actually. She took her time washing her man hands and inspecting her scruff. Yeah. She'd shave when they got back. She was starting to look like a muskrat had taken up residence on her manface.

Quite relieved, Lori stepped over a young man with a dirty magazine and glanced at the pharmacy. Awesome. This place was a primo rip off spot. Drugs and money and corn nuts. What more could a moron need? Michael moseyed on over to manLori. Ah. There was one last thing. "You're not gonna like this..." She led him to a little visited aisle. "This... is a tampon. Here. Take a box."

The young girl’s eyes panned across the shelf, all the way from Alphabits to Toucan Sam. Her father brushed a hairy hand across a box of bargain cereal, and held it up with a faux grin for her to look at. Her attention waned, eyes swept over to the shelf behind her, and snuck a peep through in-between the bread loaves. The clerk rang a bulging bum in a tank top up at a 180 degree angle. She tilted her head again and made it 90. He was inattentive, eyes focused on the barcode, scanner in hand. Perfect. For all intents and purposes, she ceased to exist. The row of wholegrain wheat shifted erratically in a fish lens effect as she about-faced. Her father set the box of cereal down again and turned a cautious head towards the other side of the store.

“The coast is clear. Let’s do this…” He whispered. His eyes strained. The gravity of the situation seemed to weigh down his face. A faint giggle permeated the white bread, ‘ufufu’.

“Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids. You… stay put.” The imprint of a hand on blue denim coat; The old man shifted out of the way. Silent sneakers darted down the aisle.

~*~

Fingers tapped out Morse code back at the prescription aisle. The door to the adjoining room scraped open like the chorus of angels as that corona crop clopped back up to the glass to grace Lenna with her presence. Right then and there, Lenna knew she was in for a startlingly welcomed revelation: Eternity wasn't really all that long.

The woman slipped her order roughly into a brown paper bag. Lenna took in a quick 'hallelujah' breath.

Drug Machine in Heaven. Prescription: Love.

She tossed a couple crumpled buckskins onto the counter and turned, clutching love to her chest with stardust eyes.

Now, for part two of the errands today. Her blissful smile vanished as she made her way to the feminine hygiene rack. God forbid two migraines meet in one place with her ill-prepared. In nature, such phenomena caused disaster. Hot and cold fronts meet to scar the land with crashing winds. Those she met on that day would suffer similar fates.

Lenna weaved up the side of an aisle, and up the next, back facing the door. A smirk slipped onto her face over some unspoken joke. It seemed the couple ahead of her had similar procurements in mind. And blondie doesn’t even know her products~ Lenna held back the desire to woefully shake her head. Well, at least the guy helping her out was hot. About 5’10, slightly taller than herself, with wide shoulders, a firm chest… earthy brown eyes, and… he was too good for her. Lenna chuckled devilishly to herself and donned the persona of the ditzy damsel in distress.

“Oh, excuse me. You look like you know where things go… could you help me find—” A sudden force hit her from behind, and sent Lenna toppling straight into the brunette's arms with an 'oof'. Something squeaked across the linoleum, a package of tampons blurred as some invisible shape rushed by. For a split second, white rubber soles clashed visibly against the tiles, then they exited Lenna's aura as quickly as they'd come in. Lenna stared up into the Texan's eyes with the best faux blush money could buy. "Oh dear. S-sorry! I tripped over something, and..." She bit her lip. "Heh. Bet you have girls tripping over themselves at you all the time."

I seem to have thrown myself at you. Might be a better phrase. Drumroll, please, for the corniest pickup lines ever!

After being led into an aisle and shown what she would be needing the Ranger reached out and took a box of tampons from the shelf and gave it a look over. He had no idea exactly how to use one of these things, he understood the general idea of how it worked, but not exactly how to use it. Looking up at hie former self he asked, "So...how does one go about using one?" He kept his voice low as a question such as that coming from a grown woman referring to a box of tampons would more than likely attract unwanted attention.

Yet, all the speaking quiet in the world would keep peoples attention away when as a brown haired girl, that was now taller than his new female body, approached the two of them addressing Elle, and suddenly acted as if pushed falling into his formed body's arms. And while that was happening the Ranger caught sight of bodiless shoes clash against the tile but only for a moment and they were gone. Bringing him back from this odd distraction was the girl now dropping a corny pickup line on Elle in his body. This prompting him to give the girl a look that said, 'Really, that's the best you can come up with?'

Lori couldn't help but roll out a dark chuckle in response to Michael's question. As much as she wanted to slip away and get some intel on her life from a different angle, it would almost be worth it to stick around and see the man suffer. "There's a diagram inside." Was a very nice way of saying 'You'll figure it out.' Lori was just tickled pink at the whole situation.

And even more interested when someone called out to him. People often felt the need to talk to her when she was in her body, but she was enjoying the attention that this body provided almost as much.

Eye of fresh turned earth focused squarely on the pretty little thing trotting his way. Lori wasn't a real big fan of brown hair, but she bet the girl would look just grand in short shorts and tall socks. But of course Lori wasn't a store clerk. She wasn't even actually a man, but she was willing to help the brunette if for no other reason than the fact that it was fun to make Michael squirm. Heck... maybe she could wrangle them both back to the hotel. (A very small part of herself wondered if she would have thought that as a woman... who knows?)

And then, glory of glories, the very earth jumped up to help manLori. The angel tripped and very capable manhands caught the girl at the bend of her arm. "Hey there!" Their eyes met and a rush of blood darkened the lovely skin across her cheeks. Lori couldn't help but manchuckle again that dark and rolling laugh that started somewhere lower than the throat. "Women don't normally fall at my feet. No." She helped the other girl back onto steady ground and glanced back over her manshoulder at her old self and winked so only Michael would see. Haha. This was too good.

Lori's manhand nudged back the girl's sweep of bangs and rubbed a rough thumb across her cheek as if wiping away a non existent tear. "Y'alright, miss?" It was her very best imitation Texan drawl. She'd never been there, but she'd sure met a fair few. And the mouth that said the words was more than happy to shape the mouth as it usually did.

"Women don't normally fall at my feet. No." The man chuckled. A faint laugh welled up in the back of Lenna's throat to meet his as she steadied herself with a deftly-placed hand against his chest. Or lower. Definitely lower. She could feel the muscles of his diaphragm under her palm. The very same muscles that had propelled that laugh. He held her by the crook of the arm, steadying her. Her heels fell back down to the aisle's tile almost reluctantly as she broke away. The corners of her cheeks rose boldly as she brought her reply to bear.

"A crime." But not of grand larceny caliber. He'd live. But now he was looking to blonde-girl over his shoulder again in the midst of their dance. That was a bit more risky. Downright reprehensible. If he hadn't shifted his focus back to her, she might have really contemplated stomping his foot. A rough thumb stroked the skin of her cheek. The Texan accent hung heavy like soil on the roots of this man's tongue. He asked her if she was alright, and she bit her lip to stave off snarky comments with a meek nod.

"Mhmm." His concern for her wellbeing all all of the aforementioned made up for the glance. He'd be fine. For now. She smiled right back with a Southern twang. "I'm fine. Thank ye kindly. I always can depend on the kindness of strangers." Ah, Streetcar Named Desire. One of her old faves. So sad about the ending, though. She was almost tempted to tell him her name was Blanch, but held back lest he take the subtle hint. For a moment, she wondered if he were an Aries. Forceful, dynamic... loved to bang things around.. She made the act of shrinking away from the daunting digit with a shy laugh, even forced a single tear of embarrassment to glisten on her cheek. All those years of learning to act off of Eliana to hide her Poker tell had paid off. She shook her head. "I'm... sorry for bumping into you, again. I just..." Her face flushed again. She bit her lip and looked down, fretfully brushing back bangs. Her eyes rose again to meet his face, and settled on it. "I... feel guilty about it. I don't even know your name."

~*~

Behind the racks on the next aisle over, a small invisible blond girl in pigtails slumped down in thought. The hell had just happened there? She bumped into a couple of dolts, and then she felt weak? Couldn't even keep full inviso up the whole of ten minutes. Something was seriously awry here. Something was wrong... and she had a sneaking feeling the gaping fish girl she'd staggered into moments before held the answer. The air behind a bottle of pills on the rack behind the brunette within a blond (ranger) flickered noticeably as a set of black irises stared invisibly over her shoulder at Lenna.

A balding man walked slowly towards the register, box of Cheerios in-hand. He smiled widely, fakely, as he dumbly bumbled up towards the counter. Catch more flies with Honey Nut than Trix, he always said. The weight in the inner right pocket of his red fishing vest was barely noticeable. For all the karmic fate in the world, the clerk was too busy ringing up ravioli to notice the telltale bulge. Little Missy's plan was too slow.

Perhaps, a direct approach?

Oh great...

Elle had just looked back and winked at him, and he had an idea what she was thinking. Sadly now he lacked a means to control Elle, she had taken his gun and with it the power to influence actions should a need arise. He wondered if he could perhaps bend the firing pin with Elle's power, but if he did then when if she fired it his hand would be messed up something fierce. He figured he could try and ruin her fun a little, at least until she made a movement to load and use the gun.

And now she was speaking with an accent very similar to his own if not his own blend East and urban, Central Texas accent. And what are the odds that the lady happens to be a southerner herself, although what she had said did sound somewhat familiar, though Ranger couldn't place where he had heard it. Regardless, he didn't want Elle in his body to just think she could do whatever. Perhaps he could try and kill some of her fun by driving this girl away.

Letting the hand holding the box of tampons rest at her side, the Ranger slowly walked up to his former body, and reaching the free arm up under his old body's arm and taking hold pulled it to his new body, as if to say, 'this is mine.' Then speaking in his accent said, "Howdy there, first day with your new feet?"

A streetcar named Desire? She'd pulled that one a few times herself. This girl wasn't that good at veiling her attempts. She wanted something. The questions was what did she want? There was only one way for this body to find out. Lori stepped her manbody a bit closer to the girl. It wasn't like she was invading her personal space without invitation. "Well, I'm sure you could make it up to me... somehow."

She trailed that lingering hand down the side of her face and... had her other man arm claimed by the catty man in her body. ManLori sighed as if unwillingly tethered to this woman. It wasn't so far off from the truth. "Sugar dumpling, cain't you tell she's far from home?" Lori drew womanMichael into the circle of his arm. "She needs a little suthern hospitality. What's say we give it to her real nice, you an me?" Another wink. Hehehe.

She'd never thought to pick up a threesome in a 7-11 before. She'd never sunk so low in her life, pretending to be a Texan and hitting on women in the multiple. Not to say that it wasn't fun and funny in general, but surely one of them would back out before things came to bare, though. Surely.

>>“Howdy there, first day with your new feet?"

Lenna smirked right back. “First time with your lady problems?”

Didn’t she have a headache earlier… oh right. There it was. All it took was a mouthy blond interfering to bring that sucker drumming back with a vengeance. The paper sack of Vicodin shifted stealthily into the crook of one arm as Lenna snuck closer to the hunk. Into the trailing finger, and even closer to his arm. "You're lucky this gentlemen was here to help you out." She cupped his rough chin with a smirk. Unshaved, she'd noticed. And from here, nothing to mask the musk of Man. What a winner was He.

"I told you. Open the register and put the money in the damned bag." A whiny voice sniveled a bit too-loud. Lenna glanced away from the hunt towards the balding idiot near the counter. He held his gun unprofessionally at a horizontal angle parallel to the counter, urging the clerk with his eyes. A gas station robbery in broad daylight. Really? Was that the best he could do? Headache cymbals clashed 'cliché'.

The bag of Vicodin dropped to the floor with a muffled sound as Lenna's free hand trailed imperceptibly to rest across the flat of her stomach, on-guard. Fingers edged towards the zipper. If there was trouble, she'd be prepared. Until then... she tilted the man's chin back to face her with a temptress smirk.

“First time with your lady problems?”

The Ranger said nothing, what could he as it was soon to be his first time with lady problems. Obviously his attempt to drive her away had failed, and much to the Ranger's dismay, seemed to drive Elle on. From his old body Elle drew him into the circle of what was once his arm and spoke of showing this new girl some southern hospitality. He looked up at Elle, he had an idea as to what she was thinking. Based on the way she behaves and now being influenced by the hormones of his old male body it was not a stretch to deduce she thought to see if she could pick up this new girl and take her and him back to the hotel.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt." The Ranger stated grudgingly. The situation was pure insanity. He was in a womans body and could see his own body working to pick up a woman who had literally thrown herself at his body. How come that never happened while I was me... The Ranger thought as he looked back at the woman.

Then the Ranger heard from over at the register a failed attempt at a hushed voice speaking words that obviously indicated a robbery. He turned her head to look towards the register, just barely tall enough now to see over the items on the top shelf and see a man holding a gun like a complete fool and utter fool. Even though he now lacked his gun he couldn't just let this happen. Pushing herself from his old self the Ranger moved down the isle and when he reached the end of the isle he bolted at the robber, he would engage him in hand to hand combat and remove the sidearm from the robbers possession.

Approaching the gunman he barked at the robber in his new, less than intimidating, female voice, "Hey! Didn' your mama ever teach you stealin' was wrong!" The robber hearing this wheeled around with his new bag of cash in hand. His goal was obviously to attempt to aim his gun, that was held foolishly, at the person approaching. Yet, the Ranger was close enough now to reach out with her left arm, and grabbing the gunman's right wrist force the arm holding the gun away from her body, and just in time as a round was fired just as the aim had shifted off of the Ranger. Then after punching the gunman in the face with her right hand he shifted the hold on the right arm by wrapping her left arm over the arm thus pinning the mans wrist in her armpit. The gunman, in an attempt to fight back, dropped the bag of money and with his now free arm grabbed the Ranger's throat as he fought to free his other arm, firing a few rounds in the process.

ManLori couldn't help but grin. This little firecracker was precious. "Takes quite a bit to shut her up. You're good" And she'd said something he really couldn't argue. Hehe! The cute lil thing maneuvered closer him just as he had maneuvered closer to her. A kiss. It seemed they'd share a simple kiss.

But nothing in life was ever that simple. Not even a threeway hook up at 7-11.

Some hooligans made their bumbling presence known and that seemed something Michael could not stand to watch. That or the proximity of his face to another's face with him not at the helm. Maybe any distraction was good enough. ManLori sighed against the little brunette's lips. It was fate. It was gravity. There was no going back even if Michael was being an idiot with her body.

They kissed. A soft and gentle promise of what could be.

And just as soon as the sun finished rising on their romance, ManLori released the brown-haired girl. In an unfamiliar body, ManLori was instinctually unwilling to fight. This body's mutation was reaction based. That meant she had to be in some deep stuff for it to even work. It was easier to not be at the reigns, but it was harder for Lori since that was exactly where she wanted to be.

But of course he couldn't stand back and watch herself get strangled. That practically counted as leaving herself ass deep in alligators. ManLori kicked at the feminine hygiene aisle with everything she man-had, sending it in a messy swoop toward the action. Take that bad man!

Oh and he'd dropped the money? Well, in the chaos that followed, ManLori cut across in front of the little darling he'd smooched and slid on a slippery slope of loose tampons to slide tackle the man with her body in a death grip. If his hand happened to slip around the bag of money that was just a side effect of Lori being in close proximity to the struggle and had no implications on his desire to take said moneybag.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lenna saw the blond woman scrabble to the 7-11’s aid. She wheeled around an aisle and manhandled the gunner. Lenna’s eyes stayed glued to the man’s, though. It looked like blondie had it under contro—

Lips met lips. Oh. Brief, gentle, good. Lenna returned the kiss with a lick and a promise as gunshots rang out. Her jacket unzipped and she drew Thomas A. Swift’s Electric Rifle, turning her body to take aim. As the man kicked the aisle across the store towards the scuffle, her finger eased on the trigger. The path was clear. The man she’d kissed collided with the robber and sent the three of them tumbling to the floor. Her sights zoned in on the bald-headed man’s shoulder blade like the target on a flying dish. He broke upwards, tearing away from the girl.

There!

Lenna took her shot!!

At that moment, fate took a twist. As the TASER’s stickers flew at the bald man, an unseen force slammed into her right shoulder, and sent Lenna to the floor. The wires jerked, and landed on the blond girl’s chest. 50,000 volts pumped through her like adrenaline shot into a dying man’s heart.

With similar effects.

The Ranger was being choked, the gunman's hand was firmly planted on her neck inhibiting respiration. He was unaware of whether in this body he would be strong enough to force the man's hand from her throat, so he focused on forcing the man to release the hold. Forcing his now female body forward he reduced the distance between herself and the gunman, the choke still held but now some air could pass. The move had another benefit, the Ranger could now take his free right woman arm and punch the man's kidney. The few punches he slammed into the gunman's kidney caused apparent pain but it wasn't enoug to force him to release his grip. This is bad!

The was a loud crash and the sound of scraping as a display was forced into the action. The sudden, explosive movement of the display distracted the Ranger for a moment, which gave the man a chance to fix the slight break in his grip. Yet, the small victory of the robber was short lived as Elle in the Ranger's body made her way over and skating across some tampons slide tackled the robber. Next thing the Ranger knew the floor was a lot closer than he remembered.

All three of them were now on the floor, courtesy of Elle, and the gun had been dropped. Immediately the robber was scrambling back up, his hand reclaiming the gun as he stood. Moving to climb to her feet the Ranger pushed herself up, right as a sound of a Taser's air cartridge going off could be heard. Reflexively he turned as he straighted to see where the noise came from, and received two electrodes in the chest.

The feeling was, amazing. The electricity seemed to be charging the Ranger's new body like a battery...just as Elle had said. Absolutely nothing like the taser he was shot by in his special operations training. That inhibited his movement and caused pain, this made him feel like he was ten feet tall and bullet-proof. Yet, the Ranger knew not of how to control the electricity. Since occupying this body their had never been an opportunity to use this body's power in relation to electricity. And the woman who had fired the taser had been knocked down by some force and her skin was now in contact with the wires from the taser which had stopped firing. The inexperience of the Ranger with this level of power caused it to bleed back out onto the wires and travel down to the brown haired girl, giving her a nice shock.

Lori noticed two things. One, the kid with the dirty magazine had made a break for it. Two, the car keys fell out of her womanbody's pocket.

Fortune was her friend.

ManLori kicked the floundering thief up into her electrified self and well, since everyone else was so terribly busy manLori liberated those keys and that large brown sack of money.

Hum-ti-dum. Nothing suspicious going on here.

He brushed off a stray tampon from his shoulder and nabbed a stick of beef jerky for the road. "Enjoy the trip, ladies."

The little electric bell signaled his passing.

With a bag of money in the passenger seat and a stick of beef jerky peeled like a banana and in her man-mouth, somehow slipping through the stupid window wasn't such a chore this time. "Suckers." She shifted into gear, fishtailed a bit from the gas and then drove off into the sunset for a happy beef-flavored ending. Had she thought about it ahead of time, she probably would have lit something on fire before she left too. Just for the added effect.

((Lenna and Ranger continue here))