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"Two isn't bad at all," Elaine said. She sat down and stretched a bit.
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"Nope," Steve agreed, settling down. She hadn't changed, really, so she was still in actual clothes. "At least it's nice out here."
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"Yeah," Elaine said, closing her eyes and enjoying the cool air on her face for a moment. "I think everyone's finally sort of settled in for now."
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"That's good," Steve said quietly. "I can't imagine that this is really fun for anyone." She paused. "Except maybe Loki."
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"Loki's having a great time," Elaine said. She paused for a second. "And yes, according to her--him--her--there is no gender neutral I can use here--anyways." She huffed a bit. "According to Loki, Sleipnir, Jormungandr, Fenrir, and Hela all exist as the mythology states, and can somehow also take on humanoid form because they're Loki's children and just can." She gave a wry grin. "And apparently they like visiting our world every so often like that."
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Steve shook her head. "This world is getting scarier every day," she muttered. "Honestly, I'm glad we're around."
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"The scariest part is that the world actually hasn't changed, we just know more about it now," Elaine said. She sighed a bit. "If I could make everything go back to normal right now, I would."
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"Would you really?" Steve asked quietly. "Give up knowing your gods, give up your magic? Give up all this?" She kept her voice quiet and non judgmental though.
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"Thing is, this is 'normal' for me now," Elaine pointed out. "But this spell? The way--" She hesitated. "The way you always jump a bit when I practice... I want your 'normal' back."
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"Well, I won't argue that being a dame is rather unsettling," Steve said with a grimace.
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"Being one naturally, I really can't say I agree," Elaine teased. Then she got serious again. "I do want to fix this, though. I just need to be able to sit down and pick at it so I can find how it's put together."
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Steve was quiet for a moment, looking at her. "I'm not going anywhere, not for the moment," he offered quietly. "I was thinking I might just take a nap."
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"Are you sure?" Elaine asked quietly. "I know magic unsettles you. I don't want to make this any worse for you than it already is."
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Steve shook his head. "It's okay. I can handle myself. Just see if you can work on it, okay?"
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Elaine hesitated, but nodded.
"Alright," she said. "But let me know if something bothers you, okay? Just speak up and I'll stop." |
Steve nodded with a little smile. "Don't worry, I'll let you know," he agreed quietly.
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Elaine nodded back and settled in, trying to calm her mind. Almost immediately, she was able to feel the tight threads of the spell, and she cautiously plucked at them. The threads vibrated, but didn't loosen, and she picked at them a bit more to see what would happen.
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Steve shivered and shifted, getting comfortable in the sand again, but didn't protest. It tickled more than it hurt, and even when it started to hurt, Steve could take a lot of pain.
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Carefully, Elaine tried to follow the threads of the spell back to their origin. The threads all seemed to twist and weave with one another, making it difficult to follow, but somehow she managed not to get lost in them. She picked at what she could, and the spell loosened just a little bit. One section seemed to unravel, but the rest didn't.
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Steve grimaced at that, but didn't speak up. So far, so good, after all.
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Elaine hummed slightly, examining the spell again.
"That did something," she said finally. "I'm just not sure what it did. Whatever it was, it didn't seem to make it worse, though." |
Steve nodded. "Well, if it did something, maybe see what else you can do?" she suggested. "Unless you're getting tired."
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"I want to go check on the others real quick," Elaine said, getting up. "Just to see if anything changed." Because if it didn't, she wanted to make sure she wasn't making things worse. If it did, she wanted to see exactly how much progress she made.
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Steve nodded and got up as well. If anything changed, she wanted to see too.
It was about that time that Tony noticed his hands were back to their normal size, and he stood, the women's clothing a little too tight on him now. He grinned broadly. |
Elaine walked back into the main room just as Tony was coming up out of the workshop. Elaine paused and blinked.
"Okay, cool, results," she commented. She snickered and had Claudia catch a quick picture of him before he could go change. |
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