Candy Corn #13, FOTD (skedaddle)
Title: Pardon Me, Sir. Do You Have The Time?
Flavors: Candy Corn #13 (scarecrow), Flavor of the Day (skedaddle)Rating: PG
Word Count: 1,629
Story: Changers
Summary: Blaire and Casey go for a walk, and Blaire talks about their lives.
Story Notes: The silver spoon tag is used here because the concept of "Changers" is explained. It's very likely you'll get lost if you don't read this piece out of the others in this story line. This story follows Disturbed Sleep, but it's not entirely necessary that you read it. Also, gender neutral pronouns are used in this story at one point.
Commentary: Ohoho. Two stories in one day? Madness! XD
I apologize for the kind of abrupt ending in this story. I was struggling with how to cut it off. Also, yay! I FINALLY FINISHED THE CANDY CORN FLAVOR! :D Whooo! <3 Oh and I'll try to fix up The Changers' directory and information page soon and will link these stories to it. :)
"Pardon Me, Sir. Do You Have The Time?"
“Is that scarecrow wearing a top hat?” Casey laughed and pointed towards one of the farm lots.
Sure enough, there was a black, top hat sitting on top of the straw scarecrow's head that was perched in the middle of the empty, farm field to the left of them. Casey struggled to hold in laughter long enough to joke in a deep voice, “Pardon me, sir. I hear the neighbors are quite nosy these days.”
Casey had to stop walking as laughter overtook him. While he was bent over himself, he urged, “Nosy! Get it? Because of the birds that peck at it.”
Blaire shook her head sympathetically to the joke. “You're so easily amused.”
“You should try it sometime,” Casey teased with a smirk before they both continued walking down the road again. “You need to laugh more.”
Blaire chuckled, “You make it sound like I don't laugh at all.”
“Well, you've been very quiet this whole time we've been out here,” Casey addressed. “This whole walk was your idea, and you've barely said two words to me this whole time!”
A frown formed on Blaire's face as she stared down at the dirt path. She kicked at a rock and watched as it skidded across the road. She reached up and fiddled with her seashell necklace. It was a single, beige shell with coral-colored patterns on it tied around her neck on a black thread. She apologized, “I don't know what to say.”
Casey lifted an eyebrow at her and hummed in patronizing disagreement. “Right. Sure. This doesn't have anything to do with the fact that I went through an episode last night and aren't a baby anymore.”
A grin stretched across Casey's face when he saw Blaire smile sheepishly in response.
“Ha! I knew it!” Casey exclaimed in triumph. He smirked and tutted. “You're so clingy, Beebe.”
Blaire's cheeks turned rosy, and she continued to look anywhere but directly at him. There was a smile on her face though. She scolded, “Do you have to be so loud?”
“YES!” Casey shouted at the top of his lungs before bursting into a laughing fit when Blaire nudged him sideways.
“You're very obnoxious at fourteen,” Blaire laughed in good humor.
Casey rolled his eyes. “Yori and I are the same age again, and I would very much like to go hang out with her. So, if you could get on with your feelings talk, that'd be wonderful.”
The smile slipped off Blaire's face. “We can go back to the house. I know we've been out here for awhile.”
Casey gave Blaire an odd look before smiling sincerely. His voice quieted when he reassured, “I like hanging out with you too, Blaire.”
The sun was beginning to set on the horizon and was casting bright amber waves of light over the fields. They had discovered that there were several rows of farms about fifteen minutes from their house in one direction. The main road out turned into a few dirt paths that were pleasant for strolling on. It was mid August, so the temperature was fair. It was cooler here in Vermont than it was in Ohio, but Blaire didn't mind the change. She didn't think it was too drastic.
The setting sun was making Casey's black hair extra shiny. It was longer than it had been when he was a toddler yesterday. Sleek bangs curled around his forehead, and his ears were just barely poking out from behind black tufts of hair that were falling over them. His cheeks dimpled out as a toothy grin stretched his face. “Besides,” Casey mentioned. “Super Casey has to make sure you're all right.”
Blaire's blue eyes brightened. She laughed, “You remember that?”
“Yep. It's weird. It feel like I dreamed it up. I hate how foggy episodes can be sometimes.”
“Well, you just aged ten years,” Blaire addressed with amusement in her tone. “I'm sure things are going to be a little foggy.”
Casey chuckled and shrugged. He poked at Blaire's shoulder and pointed out, “You went through an episode yourself, you know. At least all you did was flip a switch. You get to keep your job at the coffee shop.”
It had happened three days ago when Casey slept in Blaire's bed. Blaire had fallen asleep as a guy and woke up as a girl. Blaire had found out awhile ago that sometimes emotions triggered episodes. A guilty smile formed on Blaire's face. “Yeah, Rue wasn't too happy about that.”
Casey rolled his eyes. “When is Rue happy about anything? Oh well. Just another day in the life of the Changers.”
The Changers. That's what Casey had called all of them one day, and everyone adopted in the term. It was at least something solid, putting a name to this mishaps that was all of their lives. Blaire couldn't remember nir life past January of this year. One day nir was just this, switching sexes and aging forwards and backwards every few days and weeks. Ne had enough memory to know that this wasn't normal and hadn't always been nir life. Then it wasn't as if these occurrences happened to everyone either. The only problem was that ne didn't know what ne life was before all of this. It was unsettling to not know yourself. Blaire could be an eight-year-old girl or a twenty-eight-year-old man. Right now ne was an eighteen-year-old woman. Which one of these identities was the right one though?
Blaire wasn't the only one with this strange phenomenon. Slowly, they had all come together. They-unlike the rest of the people in the world-acknowledged the changes that happened. They weren't blind to these flipped details and twisted universes that happened whenever one of them had an episode. They stuck together because honestly, what were their other options? They at least felt somewhat normal with the others near because it was reassurance that they weren't the only one.
Blaire had more stability than the others because of nir identical twin, Rue. When Blaire changed, Rue changed in the exact same way. They were tied for whatever reason, and it was at least something positive to hold onto. It wasn't as if Blaire actually remembered, but ne always assumed that nir and Rue had always been inseparable. So when Blaire switched sexes the other day, Rue did too. It was needless to say that Rue wasn't too happy about it. Ne always got up in arms every time ne went through an episode.
“I'm worried about living here in River Bluffs,” Blaire admitted as she watched a bird fly through the sky overhead. “I'm worried about what it'll do to us.”
“Do you not like it here?”
“No, I do. I just hope this works. I haven't been settled into one place in awhile.”
Casey frowned and cast her a confused look. “We were in Lancaster for the summer.”
“For two months,” Blaire pointed out. “That's the longest I've stayed in one place, and now we're trying to settle down here in River Bluffs. Think about it, Casey. Have you ever stayed anywhere long?”
The frown remained on Casey's face as he considered Blaire's words. He shook his head and confirmed, “I guess I haven't. I was in Kentucky for maybe two months before I met you but not longer.”
Blaire smiled sadly. “I've just been thinking about all of that. Everything always changes with us...obviously, so I'm having trouble wrapping my head around us not moving around anymore. Dani turned twelve yesterday. We're not exactly stable.”
“Dani's never been stable,” Casey ridiculed but then offered after thinking better of it, “Fel's an adult now. How old is she anyway? I have trouble keeping up with her. Twenty four?”
“She's twenty six.”
“Yeah, that still doesn't reassure me any,” Casey mumbled. “At least Trace is an adult again.”
Blaire agreed that Fel was particular. She was sharply independent and didn't mingle with the rest of them too much if she could help it. She was one of the newest people to join their little group, only having gotten acquainted with everyone a month ago. Blaire assumed this was the reason for her disassociation. Blaire didn't place blame on Fel because Blaire was trying to get used to everyone too.
“She'll come around,” Blaire commented on Fel's behalf.
Casey shrugged noncommittally. “Yeah, I guess you're right.”
“We should start walking back if we don't want to walk home in the dark,” Blaire advised.
Casey nodded, and the two of them turned around to begin walking back. He smiled and asked, “So, did you get everything off your chest?”
The smile was returned. “I did. Thanks for listening.”
“Of course. I'm sure just talking to Rue all the time gets exhausting. She's almost as hot-headed as Fel is.” Casey stuck out his tongue after poking fun at Blaire's twin. “She's more uptight than you are even. In her own way.”
Blaire chuckled, “She's not that bad.”
“Hey,” Casey said after a few minutes. “I'll race ya back home. Come on! I'll even go easy on you, so you don't lose too badly.”
A smirk tugged at the corner of Blaire's mouth. “You're on.”
Casey grinned widely. “I'm supposed to wash the dishes tonight, so if I win, they're all yours! One, two, three, go!”
The two of them sped down the road. The sprint startled a few birds that were pecking at the ground nearby. Laughter poured from the two of them as they skedaddled, and the nearby birds did the same. They flapped their wings and ascended away into the glowing, golden, and red-violet sky as the sun continued to disappear.