Disclaimer: I own no Beatles songs, no Marvel properties, no characters of the X-Files, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, or any other geek-worthy franchises, and while some characters are based on real people, names and details have been changed.
A Day in the Life
"Woke up, got out of bed, dragged a comb across my head…"
Whose idea was this to play that song at 5 am? Slightly annoyed, I hit the off button. Funny, I don't think I hit it that hard. I barely touched the thing, didn't I? And this was no cheap, flimsy thing, either. Regardless, I'm not a morning person. Thinking about just how we'd need a new alarm clock seemed a more appropriate activity for later, like after I've had some coffee.
Automatically, I rolled out of bed with slightly greater difficulty than usual disentangling myself from the sheets and found my way downstairs to the bathroom. I switched on the light and fan and turned on the shower. While disrobing, I caught a glimpse of my own skin. Thinking my still sleepy eyes were mistaken, I spun to take a better look in the mirror.
Hooooo… kay. My breath caught at the sight of my reflection. This was no mistake, and now I most definitely was awake.
Blue. I was blue all over, and not just the shade of pasty cold Irish girl blue that's normal for me this time of protracted winter. I held my hands up to my face, to see that my reflection revealed three fingers on each. "Oh, no!" I thought, gazing into my own reflection's golden eyes, recalling the discussions I often had with my husband Ben about what superheroes we'd like most or least to be. "Why her?"
I mean, I confess that my ever-expanding collection of comic books did not include much Exiles, New Excalibur and such. I always said I'd prefer the powers of Jean Grey. Besides finding the powers useful, I always, up until this morning anyway, fancied I looked more like her, if Jean Grey were a thirty-something mother of two with a slight muffin top and glasses. And, well, who, in my mind, wouldn't want to be Nightcrawler, with his faith, confidence, and charm? Still I knew a few things about this Nocturne character.
A horrific thought occurred to me. I threw a towel around me and dashed back upstairs to check on Ben and the kids. Sure enough, they were all still here, alive, and sound asleep, and my son didn't look like a baby Thrawn. Okay, wrong universe, I know. But I breathed a sigh of relief. This also offered one possible explanation for what I did to the alarm clock. "Hex bolts," I chuckled to myself, sardonically. "Wonderful."
But as I returned to the shower, I consoled myself in thinking of the one good thing about not waking up as Nightcrawler. If Ben woke up early and joined me in the shower, he would not find himself a real life OC in a Kurt slash fic. I was actually slightly thankful this was one of those days he preferred to sleep in, as there was more than enough for me to figure out on my own.
For instance, as I discovered while trying to get dressed, my brand new tail was not, as I had thought, retractable. I thought of wearing a long skirt, but figured there was no point in trying to hide the tail when I had my skin, ears, hands, teeth, and feet all looking quite obviously different. Whoever thought of turning me into anyone resembling Nocturne hadn't obviously thought of transforming, say, my cell phone into something more closely resembling an image inducer. Also, my bike helmet would not fit over my long, pointed ears. I'd have to walk to work.
That's right, work. I brushed my teeth, still trying to accept that different smile as my own, then settled on waking Ben up. Not having a functioning alarm clock any more, he'd need that anyway, and I felt I should talk with him over breakfast.
I then crept back to our room, perched myself on his side of our bed, and gently nudged him. "Honey," I said quietly, "wake up."
"Mmm?" he said, wrapping an arm around my waist, but failing utterly to open an eye."
"Do you notice anything different about me?" I asked.
He opened his eyes slightly, then shut them again, "Look good. Lost some weight?"