”It… Wasn’t intentional.” Ranger defended herself. ”There was a very good reason for me to mug her down right there in the pew… I just happened t’ miss that the music had changed. T’ the weddin’ march. Because the bride was startin’ down the aisle.” It sounded terrible. Ranger expanded, ”Noel… absorbs memories through taste. She showed up t’ the weddin’ with a Boston accent. For the sake of the ears of all people at the weddin’ I had t’ remedy that.”

Evelyn pulled out a sheet of paper and sketched on it. She explained that pissing off the bride made the list of suspects… Almost everyone at the wedding. Ranger put her head in her hand as her headache returned and the blood drained from her face. ”I really hope this idn’t the case. The Hatfield’s and McCoy’s held grudges f’r no less than thirty years.” An Ranger’s grandfather never reconciled with his brother over a feud and the family was split for over fifty years. ”No offense t’ Noel… But I’d rather not be her for longer than I am old.”

Ranger leaned back against the couch. ”F’r now I’ve gotta hope this lasts a short while like last time. If after a couple weeks we’re still each other… Then… Then maybe we reevaluate playin’ each other.”

There was a very good reason for me to mug her down right there in the pew…

Evelyn looked at him with a somewhat horrified expression as she struggled NOT to imagine what mug her down meant. That sounded far more adult than she wanted to even process. Then, something about powers absorbed by taste. Oh, ew ew ew ew ew ew ew....

"I, I didn't need to....so you...yeah, someone most definitely would punish you for that." She would almost punish him for that. The image of him trying to remedy a Boston accent through taste i.e. kissing was too much for her to handle. Ew. Ew ew ew ew ew ew .

"I assume you know some of the mutants at the wedding. So just narrows it down to the ones you aren't familiar with. If it comes down to that. Hopefully it's just short term. In the meantime, I can handle the paperwork, and hopefully Noel is a better you than you are her." And hopefully Noel doesn't use such horrible phrases around children.

Ew.

Ranger felt that she should be forgiven for forgetting that Evelyn was a seven year old girl. She had just explained how, through bureaucratic magic, to save BlacTac a couple hundred dollars a quarter. That wasn’t normal seven year old behavior. Ranger was reminded of that fact when her use of the term ‘mug down’ which means ‘kiss’ drew a strong reaction.

Likely because people have cooties.

”I know the members of BlacTac who are mutants. If Sideshow has other friends or family who are mutants, I don’t know ‘em. Other than the members of BlacTac an’ a select few others I didn’t know the rest of the groom’s side.” That left a very large number of people who could have been responsible.

”I have a feelin’ Noel will do better at bein’ me than me bein’ her. She...he? made it through the weddin’ without anyone catchin’ wise. An’ he didn’t manage t’ get drunk.” Noel was two for two at being better at Ranger than Ranger was at being her. ”I guess… I’ll let Noel know y’ know an’ either you ‘r him can bring papers t’ me t’ sign ‘r review… I might need t’ hang around the office t’ keep an eye on things.” If she could hide up in the apartment and address things as they came up, that would be ideal. The issue was that she couldn’t run a business like Colonel Blake from MASH. She couldn’t just sign anything because her own Radar stuck it in front of her. She needed to be around for context. She signed because that meant, ”an’ I’ll need really sell the part.”

Okay. That meant she needed to master everything there was to know about not being herself while being Noel to the level that no one at BlacTac would notice. Ranger stood up. ”Help me be better at bein’ a girl?”

Evelyn shook off one final 'ew' then returned to the problem on hand. There was a lot of people involved, certainly. Although at the mention of Sideshow, she got distracted. "Sideshow got married?! Awww I missed it! Was she pretty? Did she get mad at him because you guys mugged down at the wedding? Did they have a big cake?!"

She stopped herself from getting drawn too far down that rabbit hole, although she decided she would have to ask Bird of Prey if there were pictures. Thomas had been nice enough, he would tell her more details.

"I can relay stuff when I'm around. I have enough community service I can make up this week. There may have been a lot of guinea pigs we let loose in the school. You don't need a guinea pig, do you? No. Worth checking."

Then the task on hand. Making Ranger a better girl.

"Well, let's see how you walk without heels for a start, and go from there."

---

It was roughly an hour or so later when Evelyn had talked Ranger out of his cowboy swagger. Regardless of past experience, the man seemed to forget that ladies kept their legs closed, and the awkward movement in tennis shoes suggested he was much more familiar with 'boots' than maybe Boots herself was. Ranger also needed practice dealing with hair. It took all of ten seconds for him to swallow a lock with a cup of water, and Evelyn had to give tips on how to pull his hair to one side before eating something, or just practice having his hair back. Her hair back. The gender thing was a little confusing, even for her.

At least Noel seemed to have a little more tomboyish behavior so a lot of things could be glossed over. Ponytail, jeans, flat shoes. Even if they weren't playing the hungover card there were avenues where casual dress could be addressed. At the mention of cramps most men would quickly avert the subject entirely, buying a couple more days of grace.

"If I meet actual-Noel I can help more... For now I guess we have to settle for Almost-Noel being good enough. Back straight. Better." At least now the echoes weren't red flagging things left and right.

Ranger chuckled. Mentioning SIdeshow getting married drew Evelyn back from the land of ew. Ranger let Evelyn excitedly plow through a series of questions and then answered them in turn, ”Yes, she looked beautiful. Yes, she got mad at Sideshow. She even hit him. I… Didn’t see the cake. The reception started off with Whirlwind accidentally havin’ two dates meet each other an’ after that I got drunk.” From Ranger’s perspective the reception had devolved fairly quickly. Hopefully that had only been her perspective though. Shooting back whisky to start the evening can distort things.

One had to wonder, did Evelyn do things to need community service hours so that she would have them or was she the most over the top and mischievous kid out there? When Evelyn asked if Ranger needed a guinea pig, she shook her head in the negative.

---

For the next hour; Ranger walked, sat, moved, and gestured all in front of Evelyn’s hyper observant and super critical gaze. She would do something, receive notes like she was part of a stage production, and then do the same thing over again. It repeated until Evelyn’s echoes were satisfied. To help, Ranger was able to dive back into memories she had taken from Noel and review them. So instead of Evelyn just describing something she could go and experience doing it. As they went, Evelyn also gave ideas on how to divert attention once the hungover card was no longer usable.

Ranger straightened her back when Evelyn directed her to. ”Y’ likely will before too long. She’s me right now… She’ll have t’ cruise around downstairs.” Ranger walked across the apartment, picked up a glass and took a drink (without getting any hair trapped). The way she moved felt odd to Ranger, but it was how Evelyn had instructed so she stuck to it.

After setting the glass down, Ranger noticed the clock. They had been up in the apartment for over an hour. Time flies when your behavior is being regendered. ”Oh. I, uh, haven’t been keepin’ y’ from doin’ actual work have I?” Ranger asked knowing that she had.

Evelyn shrugged and took another glance at Ranger’s face. She had taken a bit of time, but preventing further disasters from her busty boss seemed important too. ”Appearances are important to. For instance, I better fix that eye before you go downstairs or someone will assume Ranger hits his girlfriend. I saw some makeup around here, Come stand next to the counter.”

Evelyn wasn’t bothered bossing her boss around. She was used to bossing people anyway, and she was the one helping now. Climbing up the chair onto a counter she brought the makeup she found along with her. After a few moments she matched pigments in the foundation and motioned for him to look her way. ”Pretty sure Jude said your call sign was Texas. Sorry, couldn’t help it.” NoelRanger grimaced slightly at the half lie and she giggled, returning to the eye. There...okay something weird was going on with NoelRanger’s eyes and she found herself staring too closely. The echoes wanted to analyze, then they didn’t, then...

Makeup. She finished the makeup and hopped down, closing the bag, ”Don’t worry, I’m an expert at coverups. Bruises are much easier to hide than cuts at least.” She bummed happily to herself, lacking realization anything about that statement was concerning. Then she picked up her papers, back to business.

”I’m going to go back down to file these, okay? I’ll check on you later boss!” calling him boss avoided any half lie at least. With a little wave she moved back to work, echoes temporarily wondering what a flag on the wall was before going back to their paperwork.

Ranger having been prepared as much as she could be to play the part of Noel, Evelyn turned to Ranger’s appearance. Specifically, she brought up Ranger’s shiner. An attempt had been made to conceal it with some makeup. The job while having not been perfect had at least been sufficient as Ranger sported sunglasses downstairs. ”If it’s noticable t’ y’ under the makeup…Noel has one too. We tired t’ cover it up but it went about as well.” Ranger did as instructed and stood next to the counter.

It was odd doing as a seven year old instructed, and not in a ‘just play along, it’ll be cute’ way. It was also odd to have a seven year old about to do your makeup after climbing onto the counter. Especially for someone who, with exceedingly limited exceptions, had not worn makeup before. Ranger stood, ready for her second round of having her makeup done that day when Evelyn lied. Ranger grimaced. ”Cute.” Ranger said as he turned his eyes to look at Evelyn’s.

Saying Ranger’s callsign for Texas was an amusing lie. Many things in her life were Texas themed, patterned, or in some way stylized. It was her home and a large part of what kept her grounded in the land of heathenry and nonsense that was New York City. It wasn’t like she was going to forget about Texas.

Ranger’s eyes bounced back and forth as she made eye contact with Evelyn. As her vision condensed down to just Evelyn’s eyes, Ranger knew what was happening but she realized it too late.

Evelyn finished with the makeup while Ranger stood there. She knew she had just done… something. She had used Noel’s power and erased a memory, but she didn’t know what. Ranger was going to start probing at her mind when Evelyn drew her full attention. She had said she was an expert at coverups. That bruises were much easier to hide than cuts.

Ranger watched Evelyn as she cruised straight past that statement to go and collect her papers. That was something Ranger would have to investigate later. For now, Evelyn was at the mansion and at BlacTac. If something was an immediate danger she likely wouldn’t be so nonchalant about the whole thing.

”Okay. Sounds good.” Ranger said and waved bye to Evelyn as she went to leave the apartment to head back down to the office. ”An’ thanks f’r y’r help. An keepin’ this between us!” Ranger called to Evelyn as she went out the door.

Alone in the apartment, Ranger looked around. She could go back downstairs and check on what was going on in BlacTac. She could also stay up in the apartment. Noel’s meeting with Jude and the client should be over so he should be on his way back soon. Ranger decided to wait… And wonder what the big flag with a lone star on it was about.