fandomhigh | So You Want to Be a Pirate!, Wednesday, period two

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pirating

So You Want to Be a Pirate!, Wednesday, period two

The class met in the state room today instead of out on the deck, with chairs for all arranged around the large central table. There was a set of Jack's name-and-pronouns stickers on the table for anyone who wanted to fill one of those out, too.

"Right," Duke greeted from his own seat. He was dressed simply today, in jeans, a tank top, and a flannel, having not really felt up with trying to find a more piratical outfit in his new, more lady-like proportions. His name tag said Captain Duke and Him. Mostly. "So I figured some of you all wouldn't be up for a lot of running around this week, but it looks like the island decided to get pretty much everything in on the action. So today we're going to chill a little, and talk about treasure maps.

"So the theory is, that way back in the golden age of piracy, pirate captains would stash their ill-begotten goods on deserted islands, buried usually, and make elaborate coded maps that led to the treasure's location. This — pretty much never actually happened." Said the man who had an as-of-yet unknown hidden treasure stashed on his own damn ship. "But it's fun to imagine anyway. I've got some examples here if you want to take a look, and lots of paper for you to try to make your own. So that's what we're doing today. What's your treasure? Where's it hidden? What are the names of the landmarks along the way? All up to you. Draw up a map using Fandom as your base, make it as confusing to follow as possible, and then find someone to swap maps with and see if they can figure it out.

"Or, you know, chill out and oogle each other's new bits. You do you. In whatever shape you're currently occupying."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He was doing an excellent job at pretending not to be weirded out by still being externally lady-shaped

He's going to be lady-shaped and surrounded by a curious and caring school of fish when they're done with their map. One of them may try to boop Duke's nose.

It was pretty easy to figure out which student the fish were -- once he decided they were a student and not, say, a glitch in the program. So while he startled a bit at the nose-booping -- that was a fish much closer to his face than he was used to anywhere but underwater -- he managed to smile at them anyway.

"Hey, Delirium. Enjoying yourself? . . . Selves?"

In front of the school of fish, the word 'Yes!' appeared in the air and then slowly faded into glittering sparkles.

And then, 'I like your new hair! It's pretty!'

"Thanks. Octavia helped with it." The braids probably could use some refreshing, but he'd wasted too much time this morning grumbling over still be girl-shaped to get around to taking them out or redoing them. "I like your -- scales."

'I have pretty fishies! I feel very fishies right now.' The school gave a tiny little shimmy to show off all those pretty scales. 'Did you feel smaller today? You're smaller.'

She had noticed some things! She was Paying Attention!

.. not, of course, the most obvious thing, no.

"I . . . am feeling a bit smaller," Duke confirmed, rubbing his smooth, bare chin. "Less, uh, fuzzy, too. Since Monday.

'I thought it just moved to your head.' Del confessed. 'Do you like being smaller?'

She was a little worried and didn't even know why. It was hard to pinpoint a single thought when you were a school of fish.

"It's . . . not the worst thing," Duke said. "It's taken a lot of getting used to, though."

'Fishies was hard the first time,' the words appeared. Del hoped they looked helpful. 'New is always hard the first time.'

"Well," Duke said. "You're not wrong there." He shrugged with a little smile. "Nice to know even an agent of change like yourself can still get thrown, though."

'All the time', the words appeared and glittered out, 'Being one thing always is hard. I never know what I'm going to be otherwise. New is hard but finding fun is easy and I try to find the fun in it.'

"That is a very good perspective," Duke said. "I think maybe I need to work on that."

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"Professor Crocker?" Jack handed over his map (Oz and Ev, the forest between, and a trail that lead to the giant frozen stone warriors) and shuffled his feet. "Does this happen a great deal? Um. Suddenly becoming a girl?" Please say no? Or yes? Or... maybe?

Duke actually glanced over his shoulder for a second, wondering if some distant, professorial relative had suddenly appeared there.

You never knew.

"Fuck if I know, kid," he said finally. "I've been here for a month."

"Ugh." Jack's attempt at being respectful sort of floundered in his disappointment there. "I need to know why this is happening. The school didn't tell you anything about this?" He'd had a vague hope that someone In Charge might have a clue.

"The school did not," Duke said, then took pity on the kid. "But I have heard about it from people in town. It's not supposed to last very long."

"Oh. Hmm." Relief, disappointment, confusion all chased themselves over Jack's face. "That's -- good? That we don't have to drink a potion or something, to make it stop." He shrugged uncomfortably. "Although this makes me understand my best friend a great deal better."

"Being a girl?" Duke shrugged, glancing briefly down towards his own chest. "It's . . . definitely illuminating."

"Being a girl without any warning," Jack explained. "Only it didn't wear off for her. Him." Jack's face was confused again, but also a slight dawning of oh crap. "Am I still a him? I think I'm a him?"

Boy, Jack, the word is boy.

"You tell me, kid. I only just found out those were exchangable."

"Pretty sure I'm still... unless I don't change back." Like Tip hadn't, and oh, that whole thing made more sense now. Except. "I think I'd still be male, though." And it shouldn't matter, really, but it did. "Next time I see Tip I'm going to have to apologize quite a bit."

"Gave 'em kind of a hard time, did you?"

Jack turned flaming red. "I - she - he. Was. Pretty," he stammered. "And, um. Very upset. And..." The red faded away, and Jack just looked shame-faced. "I thought kissing her, I mean him, would help. Which it didn't, at all."

". . . Yeah, never try that again," Duke advised. "Kissing isn't for calming people down."

Especially not unprompted.