This follows the last entry of this character set, by about a day. Janace escaped with Carl from an R&D facility, found that the rest of their party had disappeared in their absence. After making contact, Carl and Janace start traveling to where the party is. This happens along the way.
Carl and Janace trek into a village.
The first place they go to is the bar. Here they learn about where they can get lodging and just where in the world they are. Once their need for information is satisfied, they have dinner. Everybody in the place leaves them alone.
They check into a hotel, and decide to just get one room to conserve money. They have to specifically order separate beds.
In the room there are some awkward moments. The seals on the suits are on back. While the suits are self-contained, they only have about a week’s limit to this. They then require some cleaning out.
Janace walked in, and threw her bag on the bed closest the restroom. She then striped out of her cape. She unloaded her vest/cape, spilling all its various pockets onto the bed. She then hung this up. Carl tossed his bag on his bed. Carl just removed his harness and LB-vest and dropped it on the floor with his gun and sword still in their holsters. He then hung his cape up, and turned as Janace opened the upper seal of her suit, and pulled the neck piece over her head, to get at the main seal that ran down the back. Her back was to Carl and he walked past, and deliberately pushed her off balance.
She had grabbed the draw cord that opened the suit and was pulling it to open the armor down the spine when Carl bumped her. She took a step to catch her balance, and realized why he did that.
“Sorry.” She gathered her toiletries and towel out of her bag, and went into the bathroom closing the door behind her.
She finished pulling the seal open, and then crossing her arms she pulled it off either shoulder and pealed it off her torso. She then pulled her arms out of it. The inner most layer was slightly sticky and clingy, but came off easily. It also showed salt stains where that layer of the suit had not yet processed her sweat. Janace pushed the suit from her waist over her hips and bottom, and sat down on the closed commode and peeled the suit off her legs, turning it inside out in the process. Fully thus, she could see where it had connected to her cyber-muscles through her skin and drawn excess heat out. She dropped the suit in the tub.
Fortunately the door had a full-length mirror. Janace looked herself over for the first time since getting body-switched. She was more trim than she had been, and showing considerably better tone for both skin and muscle. Otherwise there were no major changes. The cut on her pinky had closed and was healing quickly. Her hair was a rat’s nest. One last thing she noticed was that her face was slightly different. Her cheeks bones slightly more pronounced, and her jaw slightly more narrow. Janace shrugged her shoulders, noting that her bust did not look as old as it had, and got into the shower, and commenced to run it completely out of hot water.
First she pushed the suit aside so as not to stand on it, and washed her hair, and then the rest of her. She noticed that her body was not just firmer in look, but had much less softness to her muscles. As if they were always flexing. This made her legs a bit more shapely, but was of no other real concern. Once done with herself, she picked up the suit and rinsed it off, washing the sweat and other body residue off of it. The material let moisture right through it, not holding any, and soon the suit was waterlogged. But this helped to rinse it out. Janace opened the drink tube and let the water drain from it. Next she opened the pouches at the groin and thighs. These she rinsed thoroughly, dumping the solid matter down the toilet. Once it was completely free of any residue she dropped it on a bath mat, and then let the water just run over her, as she rinsed out her hair, and worked to untangle it.
Finally she got out, and toweled off. She then picked the suit from its puddle and let it drip in the tub while she finished toweling her hair. Once done, she wrapped her hair in a towel, and another around her. She then took the suit and left the room. She placed the last dry towel under the suit and hung it to drip dry.
Carl was asleep on his bed, having just lay down on top of the blankets, not having removed his suit. He stirred as she finished with her suit. She noticed as she began going through her bag.
“I used all the hot water. You may want to wait.”
Carl nodded vaguely and settled back down. His breathing evened, and he was soon completely gone to the world.
Janace found what she wanted in her bag. Her last clean underwear and her flannel nightgown. She put the underwear on, and the gown, discarding the towels as she did. She put the one up to dry, and left the other around her shoulders as she brushed her hair out. Finished, she turned down the covers and then knelt in prayer. As she lay down, she spread the towel on the pillow, and then spread her damp hair across it to dry as she slept.
Carl showered in the morning. He was only slightly surprised that he was still on top of the blankets when he awoke. His disorientation passed quickly. He rinsed out his suit then washed himself off. He also took some time to look himself over in the mirror and see just what had been changed. He came out clad in fresh underwear to find that every other bit of clothing, both his and Janace’s, was gone. As was Janace. Carl hung up his inside-out suit next to Janace’s and then sat down at the foot of his bed and began to sort through his vest and equipment and make a shopping list.
Janace had woke up to the sound of the shower and decided that now was as good a time as any. So she gathered all her dirty clothes into her cape, then did likewise with Carl’s, and carried both bundles to the laundry next to the hotel. She had on only her nightgown and underwear, and was not disposed to look for trouble. But some tried to find her in the guise of some local punks at the laundry.
She divided the clothes into two sets and ran four loads. His and hers under things and towels, and outer things. As she sorts the clothes and starts the loads, the punks take notice of her. One of them makes a loud comment about the old lady in her nightgown. Janace thought briefly about tossing it and her briefs in with her other underwear, but decided not to. The punks would be nothing compared to official trouble.
As she moved the clothes into the dryers, the punks got more boisterous about the old lady washing the old mans clothes. Janace still let their insolence pass. As the first load stopped, they got in her way before she could fold them.
“What’s the matter? No washer at home?” For some reason the rest of the youths thought this was funny.
Janace just looked at him. “Go away child. You bother me.” Her expression and tone steeled as she spoke.
They all mockingly cowered.
“Ooh. Is that a threat?”
Janace put her hand on the shoulder of the one in her way, and pushed him firmly aside.
“No. It’s a friendly warning.”
Janace combined this with a psionic impression on the wisdom of leaving her alone, marbling this with contained danger. She squeezed his shoulder a bit too firm to reinforce this, feeling his bones move slightly.
She pulled her laundry out and turned to put it on the folding table. This load being her under things. She opened her senses to the whole group. As she did the one she had touched finally backed off.
“Let’s go.” He started to head for the door as the most vocal of the group began pressing harder. Needing to massage his pride.
“You afraid of a little old woman?” He came and stood right next to her. “I’m not scared of you.”
Janace just kept sorting her pile, folding things as she did.
The punk crowded closer. “You scared of me?”
Janace continued to ignore him, hoping he might be different than the many barflies’ she had swatted for similar behavior. He proved it a vain hope.
She turned her back to his as the next dryer stopped, and he moved after the laundry she had folded. He never got there.
She turned back, and grabbed his wrist. In an instant crushing pain focused his universe to his wrist, as Janace squeezed the bones together. He being slightly taller than her she reached up with her other hand and pulled his ear, and head down to her eye level. The pain in his eyes was mixed with anger.
“Go away, before you injure yourself.” Janace looked him in the eye as she said this. She spared him any psionics, not wanting to bother. She then let go of his ear, and pulled him as she spun and sent him moving toward the door. He got a few steps before loosing his footing and falling on his face. He yelped as he landed on his bruised wrist.
The rest just stood for a moment, the fun of tormenting having just disappeared.
Janace just turned back to her laundry.
The leader decided this was enough. He picked up the one from the floor, and they left, all but two of them following. These two were actually doing their own laundry. They gave Janace a wide birth as they finished theirs.
When done, she repacked everything into the capes and carried these back to the hotel. In the room she gave Carl back his clothes, neatly folded in his cape. She then carried her bundle into the bathroom and dressed there, in her street clothes.
She came out, Carl having likewise dressed in street clothes, and they packed, stripped the beds, and checked out. They walked to the bus station, and purchased tickets to the town where Yory was in the hospital.
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