[For Neil (Nessa)] Waking up as a Bell

[poetic_apostle]

Julian awoke to a cold, wet nose on his chin and the morning sun filtering through the leaves outside, lending a warm yellow-green quality to the light filling the bedroom. With a soft chuckle he pushed Keats' face away from his own and rolled over to smile at the person in bed next to him as the beagle jumped to the floor. "Morning, Nessa dear,"

Comments

[loveintriangles]

Oh, fuck.

It's a slow, painful struggle transitioning from sleep to consciousness. Drifting in a haze, feeling the bed shift, a dog snuffling near my face, and all those things aren't so unusual. Then I realize I'm not alone, and fuck, I can't remember going to sleep next to anyone last night? Did I take someone home? Shit, I don't know, but then I feel the brush of lips and it's pretty obvious.

Eyes cracking open, the light filtering in stings my eyes, and it's a few more moments before I can make out the words. Before I can make out the face. "Huh?"

[poetic_apostle]

Julian chuckled softly, propping himself up on his elbow as he regarded his mother's confused face with fond amusement. "I asked if you wanted some tea. Breakfast? I could bring it back, take Keats for a walk..."

[loveintriangles]

Okay... fucking twilight zone.

I'm so wrapped up in this place being completely unfamiliar, along with that face, that it takes me a little too long to notice I don't feel right. Rolling up onto my elbows with a groan, I take a look at my hands -- at the body peeking out from under the sheets, and my eyes just about pop out of my skull.

"Oh shit..." Yeah, okay, definitely not my voice.

[poetic_apostle]

Julian's smile melted into a concerned expression as he sat up fully. "Nessa? What's wrong, darling? Are you ill?"

[loveintriangles]

"That's... that's a really fucking huge understatement," I lifting the sheet to have a look, an annoyed grunt catching in the back of my throat. "Look, man, I'm... I'm not Nessa. I think the island's fucking with us again," I say, calmly, squashing down this weird urge to reach out and lay a comforting hand on the guy's shoulder.

[poetic_apostle]

"--What??" Julian frowned, shaking his head. "What do you mean? You're--that's not possible!" Perhaps she truly was ill. He wondered if anything like this had ever happened to Virginia. Not that he could recall, but lord only knew what sort of things might have happened that Leonard and Nessa had kept to themselves. "Then just who are you?"

[loveintriangles]

"Neil McCormick," I answer, almost gently, pushing hair back from my face and sitting up straighter, sheet pooled around my waist. "You do know shit like this happens here, sometimes, right?"

Maybe he's new or something.

[poetic_apostle]

Julian nodded slowly, still frowning. He didn't care much for any of this. Oh, of course he knew of the island's occasional forays into strangeness, he'd had to make his way out of the dinosaur territory with Michael because of it. He'd even heard of this sort of thing happening before, but it was one thing to hear about it and quite another to have one's mother announce that she was someone named Neil. "Good lord. Where is Nessa then?" he asked suddenly, climbing quickly out of bed to find his trousers. He had to find her.

[loveintriangles]

"Maybe she's stuck in me," I shrug, climbing out of bed and searching around for something that looks like I could wear. "So, who the hell are you?"

[poetic_apostle]

Julian paused in dressing, giving the person wearing his mother's face a rather consternated look. "It's damned odd to be introducing myself to my own mother, I must say," he commented as he stepped closer to the bed to offer a hand, "but I'm Julian Bell."

[loveintriangles]

Mother.

Looking back and forth between him and the bed as I distractedly slip on a robe and belt it around my waist, I arch a brow and just huff out a noncommittal, "Huh."

Well, that's interesting.

[poetic_apostle]

Julian returned to dressing, ignoring the excited beagle running in circles around his feet as he quickly buttoned his shirt. "Where do you live?" he all but demanded. "I have to find her." God, what in the world would he do if she wasn't in Neil's body?

He'd just have to deal with that when the time came.

[loveintriangles]

"Just south of the Hamlet," I say, weaving my way around the bouncing dog and slipping on a pair of comfortable sandals. "The hut with the white car parked out front. Can't really miss it."

[poetic_apostle]

"Thank you," Julian replied with a nod, grabbing Keats' leash and snapping it onto her collar. He started for the door, then looked back and gave the man a strange little smile. "Be careful with that body, the woman it belongs to means more than anything to me," was his parting comment as he headed for the door, Keats barking with excitement as she trotted at his side, perhaps sensing something was not right with her master.

Or perhaps just eager for a walk.

[loveintriangles]

"Sure..." I murmur distractedly, watching him go and then sitting down heavily on the edge of the mattress, the sheets crunching under my weight. Her weight. Fuck, this is weird. It's weirder than last time, and now that I'm alone, I mutter an annoyed, "Thanks for the help," looking around for something I can actually wear out of here and wondering where the fuck I even am.

The sun's barely up and this day already fucking sucks. Great.