Chapter 7 Discomfort

Ludwig stared at the ceiling. He didn't want to move from his bed; he could die wrapped in these comforters for all he cared. At the very least, it was something familiar. It was something he was accustomed to. Not at all like the very alien experience the swap had given him.

Ludwig turned over on his side. He recalled what Iggy had said in the lab, how he didn't have powers anymore. Sure, logically, he had recognized that. His powers were caused by a specific gene that told the cells to produce large amounts of Galaxium, and that gene obviously wouldn't be active in Lemmy's body. He got that; he got that easily. However, when he had heard those words escape from Iggy's mouth…

It all came crashing down. His emotions, his mood, his world; everything. As he snuggled deeper into the folds of the comforter, a dark feeling rested in his gut. He didn't know what he would do without his powers. He had spent his entire life with them. Sure, they provided him roadblocks, horrible roadblocks. He had done horrible things with them too, things that he would never be able to undo. But they also provided him with many positives. Like flying; he didn't know what he would do without his flying power. Plus, on top of that, they were his powers. His, just like it was his body. They had shaped who he was, for better or for ill. They were a big part of his life, and now, he was not only be separated from his body, but his powers too. Ludwig felt...awful. It was like his legs had just been chopped off.

"You okay?" Lemmy asked.

Ludwig blinked before he realized that he had whimpered inadvertently. "I...I'm fine. Go back to your graphic novel."

Instead of doing that, Lemmy came over and leaned down next to Ludwig's bed. That way, their eyes were level. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes," Ludwig said. He turned over. "I'm as good as I can be in a scenario like this."

Lemmy put his hand on Ludwig's shoulder, petting it gently. "Ludwig…"

Ludwig shuddered, not even trying to hide his discomfort. "Blugh. Can you please not touch me? It...feels weird."

Lemmy pulled away. "Sorry. I'm just trying to help."

Ludwig shook his head and redirected his attention back. "I don't need your help, Lemmy. I just...I don't."

Lemmy nodded slowly, all while wearing a hurt look. Ludwig shook his head again; that expression did not belong on his face.

"Seriously, Lems. I just...I just want to be by myself right now."

Lemmy cleared his throat. "Well, considering that we are confined to our room, I don't think that's physically possible at this point."

Ludwig gritted his teeth. "You know what I mean!" He placed the pillow over his head, making his need for seclusion more official. He heard Lemmy shuffle over to the other side of the room and get onto his bed.

He let out a breath. He recalled another thing that Iggy said; how this swap will last for a few days at least. Ludwig didn't think he would be able to handle this for that long. Especially considering that…

Oh no! This couldn't be happening. Did this have to happen now?

Ludwig removed the pillow from his head and looked over at Lemmy as he read and laughed at his graphic novel. "Lemmy?"

"What?"

"I…" Ludwig cringed. "I have to go to the bathroom."

Lemmy blinked. "Oh!" His face fell. "Ohh…" He looked uncomfortable; wildly uncomfortable. "I would...prefer that you don't."

"Yeah, I would too!" Ludwig bit his lip. "But I...I really need to!"

Lemmy cringed. "Can you...try holding it?"

Ludwig put his hands to his stomach and whimpered. "I can try." He got up out of the bed, hoping standing upright would distract him. It did not; if anything, it had the opposite effect. "Lemmy, talk to me; distract me."

Lemmy raised an eyebrow. "But I thought you didn't want to talk?"

"I CHANGED MY MIND!" Ludwig bent down and grasped his belly, all while whimpering. "Just say anything; anything!"

Lemmy hesitated. "Um...okay." He put his hand to his chin before grinning. "If you want, I can teach you how to do some circus tricks? I'm sure there's some muscle memory in my body that will help you along with that!"

"HA!" Ludwig guffawed. "You really think I'm willing to do something like that?" He grimaced as the need to go grew stronger. "Not over my dead body."

Lemmy snickered. "You just made another pun!"

Ludwig groaned. "Again with this?" He got up and went over to his younger brother. "I did not do anything of the sort!"

"Well, of course you say that; it wasn't intentional." Lemmy giggled. "Now that I think about it, all the puns you've made since the swap have been unintentional. Huh." He smiled, a mischievous sparkle appearing in his eyes. "You just might be turning into me."

Ludwig's heart skipped a beat. "NOOOOO!" he cried. "That is not what's happening! I might look like you physically, but I am still one hundred percent me mentally!"

Lemmy laughed. "If you say so." He smiled. "If you're turning into me, does that mean I'm gonna start acting all musical and snarky?"

Ludwig grit his teeth. "Lemmy, so help me, if you turn this into a thing…" He groaned again. "Okay, I can't hold it anymore; I really need to go."

With that, he bolted toward the bathroom.

…

Ludwig emerged from the bathroom looking like he had just seen a ghost. He also shook a little, his hands feeling like there were a million germs on them. He slowly walked over to his bed and got under the covers.

Lemmy gave him an embarrassed look. "Sooo…" he chuckled nervously. "That happened."

"YEP!" Ludwig said at a volume that was way too loud. "And I would prefer that we don't talk about it!"

"Understood," Lemmy turned the page of his graphic novel. Meanwhile, Ludwig shuddered and shook like he had just gotten out of a warzone.

"I...I can't even...I can't believe…"

Lemmy looked at him worriedly. "It was going to happen eventually, Ludwig. Just take deep breaths and try to push those mental images out of your mind." His face turned the color of a tomato. "For my sake more than anyone else's."

Ludwig tried to get his shaking under control. He took a deep breath like Lemmy suggested and wrapped himself up like a caterpillar with the blanket. "Distract me. Please."

"Again? Uh..okay. What do you want to talk about?"

Ludwig sighed. "I don't care; quantum physics."

Lemmy snickered. "Oh, I don't know much about quantum physics. You might have to see Iggy for something like that."

"Okay." Ludwig hesitated before letting out a defeated sigh. "What are the names of your sock monkeys?" He had avoided asking that question for years, dreading the inevitable presentation that would go along with that answer.

Lemmy's eyes lit up like a Koopsmas tree. "OOOOOOHHHHHH!" He jumped off the bed and ran over to Ludwig, all while carrying about three quarters of the monkeys. "This one is Henry." He showed Ludwig a raggedy looking doll. "He's my oldest monkey; he likes to watch romance movies from the eighties because they remind him of the good times he had with his deceased wife." He showed Ludwig a pink monkey. "This one is Ernesta. She is the princess of a land far, far away known as the Sock Kingdom…"

….

Two hours later, Lemmy finally reached the last monkey. "And last but not last, we have Captain Calcetin. The man of wool who has nerves of thread; he is the greatest superhero our bedroom has ever known!"

Ludwig yawned as his eyelids drooped. "That's...that's great."

"I know! I love my minkies; I think they're cool!"

Ludwig blinked and raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, did you just say your minkies?"

"Yeah. My minkies. I used to call them that when I was a baby because I had trouble pronouncing monkeys properly." He beamed. "Now, I just say minkies because I think it sounds cute."

Ludwig nodded. "Great. Just...that's great." He lied down on his backside. "Well, I'm going to try to take a nap." He closed his eyes, trying to imagine that he was still in his body rather than stuck in Lemmy's.

"Hey, Ludwig, before you doze off, there's something I wanted to ask you."

"And what's that?" Ludwig asked. He didn't even bother with opening his eyes when he did so. If he concentrated hard enough, he could almost feel his bushy blue hair on his head as opposed to Lemmy's multicolored mohawk.

"Can you teach me how to use your powers?"

This question caused Ludwig to bolt straight upright. "WHAT?"

"Can you teach me how to use your powers?" Lemmy repeated. He grinned. "I think it would be cool to use them; being able to fly and shoot fireballs. I can be just like Captain Calcetin!" He picked up the baby blue monkey and held it high above his head. "Saving the world, stepping into the most dangerous situations without fear!"

Ludwig felt horror grasp him. "No! I am not teaching you how to use my powers!"

Lemmy lowered Captain Calcetin and looked at Ludwig with a sad face. "Why not?"

"Well, for starters, I don't want you to go into dangerous situations. You could end up hurting yourself!"

Lemmy blinked before smiling. "You care about me in that way, huh?"

Ludwig hesitated before dismissing the statement. "I just mean that you could accidentally damage my body."

"Oh," said Lemmy, although the smile didn't fall from his face. "Right." He winked at his older brother.

Ludwig sighed. "Secondly, they're my powers. I am allowed exclusive access to them, and I wish to keep it that way."

Lemmy tilted his head. "Why is that?"

"I just do."

"But don't you think knowing how to use them would be for the better? I mean, what if I accidentally set them off? I'd be stuck in a pickle, wouldn't I?"

Ludwig shook his head. "You won't accidentally set them off." He knew for a fact that Lemmy had a demeanor that very rarely allowed him to get angry, so that meant he couldn't access his pyro and electrokinesis. Plus, the telekinesis and flight required Lemmy to do specific things, things he consciously had to set out to do. He couldn't accidentally activate his powers.

"Oh." Lemmy looked noticeably disappointed when he heard this. His shoulders slumped. "Well, okay. I mean, they're your powers. Just because I'm in your body doesn't automatically mean they've transferred ownership."

"Darn right," Ludwig said with a nod. With that, he laid back down and closed his eyes again. "Now, if you'll excuse me…."

Right at that moment, a knock occurred at the door. Ludwig groaned and sat up. "Who is it?"

"It's Shelldon. I've come to bring you lunch."

Ludwig's heart sank. It was just a koopa troopa servant. Part of him had really hoped it was Iggy coming to give them a progress report.

"Just leave it on the other side of the door," Lemmy said.

"Okay." Ludwig heard him doing just that right before Shelldon spoke again. "Um, I don't mean to pry, but why are you guys confined to your room? Are you quarantining or something?"

Ludwig shook his head. "No, Shelldon, we aren't quarantining. We…"

"We're just doing this because we feel like it," said Lemmy.

Ludwig smirked. Not the most sturdy explanation of all time, but he supposed it would work. Actually, now that he thought about it, maybe he should have told Shelldon they were quarantining. Darn it, he really missed out on an opportunity.

"Oh. Well, okay," Shelldon said. "So, if you aren't sick, can i ask you a favor Lemmy?"

"Sure!"

"Do you remember when you told us last week that you'd put on a show for the servants today?"

Lemmy blinked before laughing. "Oh yeah! I remember that!"

"Okay! So, do you think you can do that when you're finished with whatever you're doing?"

Ludwig snickered. Lemmy had to be really nuts if he would say yes to this.

"Yes, of course!"

Ludwig's heart skipped a beat. What? Why...why was Lemmy doing this? There was no conceivable way that he could give the servants a show in his current condition.

Maybe he just meant he would do it after they swapped back…

"I'll be down in an hour!"

Ludwig's eyes grew wide. What! What! What! WHAT!

"Great!" said Shelldon. "See you then!"

With that, Shelldon left.