Just a quick message to thank all of those who have given me such nice reviews. I thought maybe the bodyswap story wouldn't be a winner, but you guys seemed to have warmed to it and it's encouraged me to write a new chapter each night. This chapted is dedicated to you guys.
When Gwen had come to on the sofa, she had been confused. When she had sat herself up in search of her work colleagues and found no sign of them, she had been worried. When she had swung her legs off the sofa and found them not only longer but in completely different trousers, she had become alarmed. When she had looked to her hands and saw two entirely different hands in front of her, she had begun to panic. And when she looked down slowly at herself, only to find she was now wearing a dark waistcoat with a purple shirt and tie, and as everything began to fall into place as to what had happened, she had definitely screamed like the big girl she wanted to be.
'Gwen?' She tried to focus as she heard a female voice approaching from the base of the water tower. The whole world appeared to have turned upside down as Gwen watched herself run quickly up the steps, finally settling in front of her, a nervous smile trying to cross her face as if her body wasn't certain how it would look. 'Don't give the obvious answer, but how are you?' Gwen stared as her body finally settled on a reassuring smile. She watched as Ianto tried to fold Gwen's arms across his chest, but finally settled on his signature stance, placing his hands on his hips, which made Gwen's body look like an action figure doll still in the packaging.
'Um,' Gwen tried, feeling uncomfortable with the low pitch of Ianto's voice. 'I feel fine...Ianto. Pointless me asking what caused this I suppose.' Gwen waved a hand at the artefact on the table and tried to stand up but failed to take into account her newly acquired longer limbs and almost fell straight into Ianto. She felt a rush of humiliation as Ianto helped her steady herself before he pulled back and smiled.
'I know, it feels a bit weird at first.' Ianto tried to encourage Gwen to smile, more because he was worried about the slightly disgusted look Gwen was wearing on his face rather than making her feel better. Please don't tell me I look like that when I'm thinking. 'It's just a case of getting used to different ratios.'
'Well, let's just try and reverse this whole thing before I have to get too used to it.' Gwen began to make her way slowly across to her workstation, tripping only once, which had caused a slightly cautious sound from Ianto, something which she could have done without. Gwen slumped into her chair, having to adjust the seat so she didn't jam Ianto's knees under the desk. She didn't think he would be too pleased if she ripped a hole in his suit trousers.
'Coffee?' Ianto had stayed in almost the exact same position, examining his body as Gwen worked his fingers across the keyboard. He was rewarded by a soft smile and a nod and he bounced into action, running down to the coffee machine to retrieve the cooling drinks he had made five minutes ago. It was only at that point that Ianto remembered Jack was still there, he had almost completely forgotten about the immortal as he focused his attention on Gwen. He found Jack on the phone, a large smile creasing his face as he gave a short laugh. Not wanting to interrupt and make it look like he was eavesdropping, he slid quietly to the desk and slowly picked up the coffee mugs
'Really? Great...will do. Bye.' Jack slid his phone shut and jumped at the unexpected appearance of Gwen. He was about to ask what she was doing when his brain gave him a kick and reminded him. He just knew that he was going to have a thumping headache by the end of the day. They needed to sort this thing out and fast; he just hoped his phone call would bring some kind of help. 'One for me?' He gazed at Ianto and was rewarded by a cup of his industrial strength coffee being shoved underneath his nose. He breathed the aroma of the nectar and savoured the moment, at least Ianto had retained his coffee making skills. There were small miracles in this job. Jack turned to speak to Ianto again, but found that the young man had left, carrying two mugs of coffee delicately in his smaller hands.
Gwen couldn't help but smile as she was provided with her usual stripy multicoloured mug. She had feared slightly that Ianto would insist on her using his mug, using something like appearances as a weak excuse. She wrapped her new hand around the mug, shivering slightly at how it both seemed strange but normal at the same time. Gwen knew Ianto was feeling the same way as he wrapped both hands around his usual brown mug, something which Gwen had never seen him do before. She smiled as a thought crossed her mind; without thinking, she lifted up her coffee and mimicked for Ianto to do the same. 'To new experiences,' she toasted, raising her coffee slightly higher.
'To new experiences.' Ianto lifted his drink before finally bringing it to his lips and taking a sip of the hot liquid. It didn't stay in his mouth for long as he swallowed quickly to rid his taste buds of the rank drink. He watched simply as Gwen simply spat the liquid back into her mug before coughing violently.
'Maybe it's because you're in my body,' Gwen started as she grabbed hold of a water bottle in front of her. 'But your coffee making skills might have just stayed in here.' She tapped Ianto's head as she took a swig from the water.
'I don't think that's it,' Ianto started, slightly offended that Gwen would think he would ever lose his coffee skills. 'Different bodies, yeah? Different bodies with different tastes. Looks like you're going to be on double strength Jamaican blend whilst I have to deal with cappuccino. I don't think I like this situation anymore.'
'That proves it then.' Jack made his way up the stairs to join his friends. He was about to pick up the alien artefact but was met by a riot of sound from both Ianto and Gwen. He simple nodded towards the object and continued. 'This thing has only swapped the electronic energy in your brains. Must have been a catalyst to absorb your minds and return them to the other party. Some of them transfer more; voice, taste, illnesses. You should be lucky it was a basic swap device, there are some which swap you and wipe your memory. Proved popular with the convicts on Colonial 22. Stay locked up in a rotting cell forever or escape into a different body and forget who you are. What a catch.'
'So you've seen these things before and you didn't bother to warn us about what they could do when one of them is sitting right in front of us?' Gwen's irritation had definitely transferred with her mind as it came out as thick as Ianto's deep voice.
'Heard of? Yes. Seen? No. Never actually came across one myself, but John told me about this one time he picked up these three girls...' Ianto could see the cloudy look forming in Jack's eyes and prayed for some kind of interruption to snap him out of memories past, especially those which include a certain Time Agent Ianto wished he could easily forget.
'Can we just refocus on this one, Jack?' Gwen cut into Jack's memories as she tried to bring the conversation out of sex for a change. No matter what conversation happened in the Hub, that topic would always seem to weave its way into the conversation, provided more times than any by their illustrious leader.
'How much exactly have you heard about them? I'm hoping your knowledge exceeds just naming their different types.' Ianto looked hopefully to his partner and felt his stomach plunge at the defeated look on Jack's face; something which only increased when Jack gave a nervous laugh and looked around at Ianto and Gwen.
'Well, I know they come in different shapes.' And with that, two thirds of team Torchwood gave a loud sigh.
Oh dear, all does not look well for team Torchwood. But virtual Ianto coffee for anyone who can guess who Jack was on the phone to.