Marie and...herself?

[x-traction.livejournal.com]

After the events of Alcatraz, Marie isn’t quite herself.

Marie looked at herself in the mirror with a critical eye. She turned this way and that, looking at how her body moved, how it was proportioned. She smiled to herself, let the towel wrapped around her body drop, and then took another look. She frowned just a bit looking at her legs. ~I don't remember you being this chunky, kid.~ she thought to the other presence in the back of her head. ~Lay off the fried chicken.~

Trying to reach for the towel, but failing, the presence exuded a definite pout. ~They’re called muscles. ‘sides Ah burn off that fried chicken with a fifteen minute high paced flight. An’ at least Ah’m not hairy.~

~Supposed to be hairy.~ she thought with a mental smirk. But, to be obliging, she picked up the towel and re-wrapped it ... around her waist. She sniffed the air, catching a waft of coffee and something sweet from the kitchen. She moved from her full-length mirror over to her chest-of-drawers, which she opened to try to find some underwear options she could live with. ~Kid, I think you've got a more active fantasy life than anyone ever knew.~ she thought with amusement, pawing through her neatly-organized stacks of unmentionables. ~Got anything practical in here?~

~You better dress me fully before you start prancing around the mansion.~ she admonished the presence controlling her movements. ~No one ever sees it, but why does that mean Ah can’t have a little fun?~ She mentally grinned as her hands closed on a lacey pair of underwear and a matching bra. ~It’s like a power tie, but power underwear. It’s practical and fun.~

Marie rolled her eyes and put the bottom half of the chosen underwear set on. ~You know, I don't think I've ever worn one of these before.~ she mused to herself. ~Taken more than my fair share of 'em off...~ she continued with a truly wicked grin. With a couple of contortions, she managed to get the garment on and adjusted in such a way that it wasn't going to drive both of them nuts before mid-morning. ~There.~ she said, satisfied with the end result. Then she went into the closet proper to look at a truly startling collection of long-sleeve tops and ankle-length skirts. Finally, all the way in the back, she found something that made her laugh. "Was wondering where this got to..." she said aloud, then blinked at the sound of her own voice. Shrugging, she pulled the flannel button-down off the hangar and shrugged into it. One of his, actually, given up before they both went to Canada.

~Not as easy as it looks, huh?~ she thought smugly as she watched her contortions. As Marie walked back into the closet, she felt a little nervous, but relaxed when she pulled the flannel shirt down. ~It’s comfy~ she thought grudgingly. ~And it looks better on me.~

In retaliation for _that_ crack, Marie tied the flannel off just under her breasts, leaving her midriff quite bare. "NOW it looks better on you." she said with amusement as she undid the first two buttons, and thought about doing the third. With a shake of her towel-clad head, she went looking for something to finish off the whole thing with.

~Put it on right!~ Her cries unheeded, she huffed for a moment before settling down. ~You better be careful. And don’t forget to brush my hair.~ Looking around, her eyes settled on a sensible pair of khakis. ~How about those?~ she asked hopefully.

~It is on right.~ she thought back to the sulky child in the back of her head. "AHA!" she said, pulling out a denim skirt and putting it on. "Let me guess - you're a shoeaholic like 'Ro and Lorna are." she grumbled to no one in particular.

~Who do you think goes shopping with our white haired friend?~ she retorted. ~A girl can never have too many shoes anyways.~ She mentally smiled at the sea of footwear, neatly organized by color and type. ~And they all just beg to be given a good home, which Ah’m more than happy to provide.~

Marie sighed at the wasteland of female footwear available to her. "If you think we're wearing heels, you are _sadly_ mistaken." she warned herself out loud. But then she saw them. The Nirvana. The _perfect_ pair of shoes. She actually sat there and basked for a second before shaking herself out of the shoe-induced funk. Who knew Marie had cowboy boots in her closet?

She sighed, accepting her inability to control her outfit. ~Those are for the country western place.~ she said, though there was no protest in her voice. There really wasn’t any point. With a longing glance at a pair of black heels, she watched as her body moved to stand in front of the mirror. ~Makeup’s in the top drawer on the left.~ she thought hopefully.

Marie laughed as she put the boots on - no socks, no nothing. If her feet got banged up, they'd heal. "Hairbrush..." she said, finally spying said instrument and unwinding the towel from her head - which did Interesting Things to the flannel. Then the brush went through the hair. Straight back.

~Like you mean it.~ she thought stubbornly. The few extra half-hearted strokes did little to appease her, but at least there weren’t any tangles. ~And stop standing like…well, like a man.~ she scolded as she took in her wide legged stance.

Marie sighed. "Fine." she said, and then switched places with the presence in the back of her head. ~Just to do all your girl crap. I have limits.~ she thought to the companion in her skull.

Seizing the moment, Marie fixed her hair and applied her makeup, sighing contentedly at the finished product. “That’s better,” she said. With a grin, she rebuttoned one of the buttons on the flannel shirt, fading back before she could fix the shirt to her liking.

She stood up, studied the end-result, and proclaimed it Good. "Time for breakfast." she said as she grabbed her Mansion ID and her keys to head downstairs to get some grub. ~Whaddya in the mood for, kid?~ she asked her co-habitator pleasantly, amused beyond all comprehension at the slight swish of the skirt as she walked. What she wasn't prepared for was the startled second look she drew as she passed by some of the older students who were on their way back from breakfast. And how good it felt.

~Ah’m never gonna live this down.~ But she couldn’t deny that the shocked looks were a little pleasing. At least the other presence had stopped clomping around in her body like the first few days. ~Grits and eggs~ she finally thought. ~Light on the butter~ she added, remembering the earlier jab.

Marie smiled for no apparent reason as she stepped up to the breakfast bar. "Someone must love me." she told the breakfast foods just before spooning a large helping of grits onto her plate. ~How do you like your eggs, darlin'?~ she thought to her companion. She had a hankerin' for tabasco and sunny-side-up, but was pretty sure that her companion would end up giving her a screaming headache if she indulged.

~Over easy~ she thought. ~And you can put a LITTLE tabasco on it.~ After all, it was only fair if they compromised and she knew exactly what the other one was craving. ~Just don’t forget to keep your legs crossed when you sit down.~ She remembered a rather embarrassing incident from the last time the other mind had been running the show and she had no desire for a repeat performance.

~Fair enough.~ she told her companion as she got the eggs and dumped a _little_ Tabasco onto them. Then she grabbed a single pat of butter and sat it on top of the grits. Finally, she took her food and grabbed a chair at one of the tables - hooking it with her back heel and dragging it under her bottom just like she had done a hundred mornings before this. But she did remember to try to be a _little_ demure and keep her legs closed this time.

Savoring the flavor of the food, she mentally shook her head at the other’s idea of “a little” tabasco. She found herself enjoying it thought, so she was mostly quiet while she ate, every now and again interjecting a thought related to minding her manners in public. That is, until one of her students came and sat at the table. “Good morning Ms. Marie! You sure look different today,” the lavender haired girl said, setting her tray down across from her. ~Behave.~ she thought firmly to the one calling the shots at the moment, relieved that she was almost done eating.

"Can't be all covered up all the time." Marie said, syrupy-sweet, to the lavender-haired girl. "Do you like it?" she said while laughing her metaphorical ass off in her head. This was _still_ too much fun.

The girl nodded as she shoved a spoonful of cereal in her mouth. “Didn’t even know you owned clothes like that.” Her eyes settled curiously on Marie’s hands, but she didn’t say anything. “Oops, gotta run!” she said, bouncing to her feet as she probably spotted another friend. “See ya in P.E.” she added as she gathered her tray up and wandered off across the dining hall. ~You are a worm~ she thought over to the other presence.

When the girl mentioned PE, Marie went a little pale. ~SHIT! You've got your class today, don't you?~ she thought towards her co-habitator. Her original class was still on medical hiatus for the time being.

~Think you can handle it?~ she asked. ~We could still get a sub, but boy would that be hard to explain. Yes, your teacher is up and walking around but she’s not quite herself today children, so you’ll have to excuse her.~

~Day I can't handle a bunch of girls is the day I hang up my claws.~ she retorted in her head. ~What time's class again?~ she asked. Normally, she had an excellent sense of the passage of time, but for some reason of late she kept getting confused.

~Still got plenty of time. It’s not till third period.~ she said, amusement coloring her thought tone. ~Though Ah can’t wait to see you “handle” these girls.~

She stood up and disposed of the remnants of her breakfast. ~Come on, Thunderthighs, let's go burn off some of those grits.~ she smirked at herself before heading down to the Gym. By long habit, she turned to head into the Men's lockers, then remembered her current situation, snarled a very unladylike word, then tromped over to the Women's lockers. Then she thought better of it and walked into the Men's lockers like she belonged there. But she did take the precaution of sniffing the air first to make sure it was unoccupied.

Marie almost protested, then thought better of it. It was probably better this way since she was not the one in control of her mouth at the moment…and no one was in the men’s locker room for now. Hopefully it would stay that way. Looking around curiously, she was greatly amused. ~So that’s what one of these looks like.~

Marie went to a specific locker - the one labeled "Wolverine". She spun open the dial from memory, opened the door, and reached in to grab his workout gear. Then she stopped and thought a second, and cursed violently. ~You got any workout gear stashed somewhere, kid?~ she asked the other presence in her mind. ~Just realized mine won't fit.~

Laughing, she smirked at the other presence. ~You just realized that? Guess we’ll be going into the ladies room after all.~ She relayed the information regarding her locker and combination. ~You better be on your best behavior.~ She was trying to be stern, but humor leaked through her tone.

Marie grinned for no reason at all and made her way out of the men's lockers and into the women's lockers. When she walked in, she wrinkled her nose for a second at the overwhelming blast of odors. One thing she hadn't reckoned with - the women's locker room _stank_. Lockers were bad enough - sweat, must, water, all the usual smells, but here he had to contend with hair-care products and what she could have sworn smelled like _perfume_. Must be Lorna's doing.

~Nothin’ wrong with a little perfume. We’d benefit from putting a little on, y’ know?~ Once her locker was open, she grinned as she waited for her companion to react to the amount of clothes, products and other odds and ends neatly organized inside. ~Don’t forget to do something with our hair or it’ll get in the way.~

Marie blinked at the sheer amount of _crap_ in the locker. She changed out into one of Marie's sports bras and a pair of sweats, then decided to relent a little and throw a lightweight top on top of the bra. The hair went back into a ponytail, secured with black scrunchy. ~Anyone ever tell you you have too much shit, kid?~ she grumbled to the other presence. ~Sit back and watch, you might learn something.~ she added as she resealed the locker and made her way up to the Gym - stopping only at a no-longer-used locker to splay her fingertips against the metal and inhale deeply.

~Jeannie...~ she thought wistfully, catching in the air a fading ember of the other woman's scent.

~She’s kinda married. And in like, Tibet. Might want to work on moving on.~ The other voice was a little huffy and there was the definite idea of her rolling her eyes, even if she didn’t actually have eyes to roll.

Marie shot the other presence in her head a metaphorical middle finger, and very deliberately lingered for an extra second or two before heading up into the Gym proper. Luckily for her, the place was mostly deserted - just a couple of people working out solo, which suited her just fine. She marked out a cube in her mind, transposing it onto the mat. ~You ready, kid? I doubt you've ever seen this from the inside...~ she thought with amusement.

~Let’s see what you got.~ The other presence was avidly paying attention now – wouldn’t hurt to retain a trick or two from this.

Marie grinned and then settled into a ready stance, controlling her breathing until it was slow and regular, from deep in her belly. She stepped out into the first move of the kata, fist whipping out into a simple reverse punch, then she stopped. This body was going to take some getting used to. She wasn't used to fighting with _breasts_, for one thing, and hip torque was very different when they were splayed out that far. Hrmming to herself, she reset and tried the move again, getting a feel for the differences, the sheer stolen strength of her body.

~Use the hips, don’t ignore them~ she told the other presence. ~They can add a bit of push.~ She waited patiently as the other presence tried out a few more moves, until it seemed to finally get a feel for her body. And then it surprised her by speeding things up.

The kata flowed at that point, and mostly oddly of all, she got quiet in her head. No thoughts, no distractions, just ... almost no mind at all. Only the occasional _snap_ of Marie's clothing during a well-executed move and the slow and even nature of her breathing disturbed the stillness at all. Finally, she came back to the precise spot where she began the exercise, bowed, and then relaxed. ~Enhh. Rusty and slow.~ she thought with distaste. ~You need to work on your flexibility.~

~Any issues with flexibility are on your end~ she chided the other presence. ~Let me take you through one of my yoga routines and I’ll show you what this body can really do.~

Without any further ado, the presences switched places. ~Go ahead, kid.~ she thought towards the now-dominant personality.

Marie folded to a seat in the easy pose, regulating her breathing and moving into a meditative state. She quickly moved through her asanas, her body easily contorting and twisting into a variety of poses. She transition into the scorpion pose, her legs gracefully bent over her head, before she moved into her closing asana.

The back-seat presence in Marie's head chuckled as she went through her asanas. ~Nice, kid, but this is all static. There's a difference between static and dynamic flexibility. Sure, when you're just floating them out there you can tie yourself into a knot, but how about when striking or blocking?~

~I can bend myself like a pretzel whatever the situation, stationary or active.~ The thought didn’t come out argumentative, just as one reporting a fact. The presences again shifted places and she settled back into watcher mode. ~Why don’t you try your little bit again.~

Marie nodded, settled back into a ready stance, and then exploded into action. Strikes, almost too fast for the eye to track. Kicks that would punch through the armor of a Bradley. But all the while the breathing stayed slow and even and the thoughts stayed still.

~Better~ she thought as she continued committing the moves to her memory. ~One more time?~ she asked, wanting to further cement the kata in her own thoughts. That would certainly throw him the next time he saw her. That thought brought the sober reminder to mind of where Logan was and the condition he was in currently. ~Then we hit the showers and have a visit to make~ she added

~Will we have time before your class?~ she asked the other presence, then mentally shrugged. She ran through the kata one more time, still running about halfspeed or so, just for the workout.

~If you don’t dilly-dally in the shower~ she teased her companion once the kata was completed. As her body made it’s way back over to the locker room, she could sense the other’s debate over which locker room to use this time.

Finally, she made the decision and walked into the women's locker room. More fun for her, less awkward arm-breaking if someone decided to get fresh.