Alexander and Alisa

"Good gods, I’m gorgeous." Alexander smiled seductively at his reflection and ran his hand through his hair. The sunlight streaming in through the window reflected off his shoulder-length golden locks as he bound them with a leather tie. His deep blue eyes caught the light and reflected it back as a spark of mischievousness. His glossed lips parted in a smile again as he winked and posed for himself. He never considered himself vain, but he figured it was never good to self oneself short either.

"Are you coming or not?" The face of his more homely half-sister appeared in the mirror and it didn’t look happy. "We promised we’d be there by noontime, and the morning’s half gone!"

"Alisa, Alisa, Alisa." He turned to face her. "You can’t mess with perfection."

The younger girl glared, her green eyes flashing angrily. "One day someone’s going to smash your perfect face in. Get a move on." She threw him his sword belt, complete with weapon, and stalked out of the room. Alisa was a girl of average height, about 5'4", with medium brown hair that hung to her chin. Her eyes were green, and seemed to change colour with her emotions, earning her the nickname ‘Dragon’. She was well-muscled and well-tanned and very self-assured, and proud. She was not drop-dead gorgeous. In fact, Alisa could politely be termed homely, but, after years of wandering the world with her brother, the younger girl knew looks were over-rated. Most gorgeous people got no where on looks alone. In fact, she’d met many men just like her brother who were nothing more than farmhands with a pretty face.

Alexander, on the other hand, was not just a pretty face. Although gifted with the looks of a god, he worked hard to keep his other attributes up to par as well. He was well-built and well-learned and, surprisingly, -not- the first to mention that. He liked people to think he was only a beautiful exterior because...well...he had a beautiful exterior and it was always good to surprise an enemy. According to Alexander and Alisa, one of the best damn mercenary teams on the face of Pern, everyone was an enemy.

Alisa leaned against the Hold’s wall as she waited for Alexander to join her. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining brightly and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Unfortunately, they had many miles to travel and only a few hours to go the distance. The pesky men who were examining the two stunning runners beside her were not improving her mood. Alisa was confident that she could kick their butts if they so much as tried anything, but that would take precious time and she didn’t have any to waste. She sighed and kicked at the ground with her leather boots. "It’s my own shardin’ fault for letting him sleep in so late."

"I need my beauty sleep." Alexander stretched as he walked into the sunlight, causing the ruffians to back away from his younger relation. The sight of a 6'5" hercules of a man putting his arm around the smaller woman made her suddenly seem like a much more difficult target.

Alisa snorted, her eyes a dark green, reflecting her dark mood. "You need more beauty like I need an arrow in the back. Let’s go."

Alexander laughed and lifted his half-sister to the runner’s back. "Okay, you need your beauty sleep Dragon."

Alisa’s scowl darkened as Alexander climbed to the back of his own mount. Without a word, not wanting to discuss her private business in front of the entire Hold, Alisa kicked the rented runner into a gallop, leaving her half-brother in her dust.

Alexander sighed, wondering why Alisa was in such a completely awful mood. Knowing that his comment about her looks couldn’t have helped much, he clicked his tongue and urged the large horse forward in a vain attempt to catch his sister. He might excel at many things, but riding had always been Alisa’s strong suit. Her smaller size and sheer self-confidence meant that she would win any runner-race between the two siblings. Alexander knew she’d let him catch up when she calmed down some. He swallowed nervously as he saw her at the top of the next hill, sitting atop the runner at a dead stop. He knew she was angry, she practically glowed with it. The runner flicked it’s tail and stomped it’s feet. A four second sprint ending in a dead stop, had left it in a bad mood as well. Alexander sighed and slowly let his runner trudge up to meet the furious girl.

"I didn’t need your help back there!" The reins were held loosely in her right hand and her arms were crossed. Her eyes were narrowed and looked black as they glared at Alexander out from under her bangs. The fact that the sun was pretty much directly behind her added to the general aura of anger she was radiating.

Alexander, who’d faced down bandits, thugs, wild-cats, and even a raging wher once, cowered beneath his younger half-sister’s fury. "Aw, Alisa. I was just fooling around..."

"I -can- mount a horse!! I’ve done it a million times!!" She was talking in her normal voice, not wanting their conversation to carry all the way back to the Hold, but her intonation clearly indicated that she’d be clawing his eyes out given the chance.

Alexander smiled weakly. While even a weak smile could melt the heart of your average girl, his sister was completely immune to his charms. "We’re a team Dragon..."

"UGH!" Alisa clenched her teeth together and took several deep breaths. Her hands were balled into fists. "I can take care of myself! I’m not a kid anymore! I’m nineteen turns!" She threw the reins away from her and cracked her knuckles, a gesture that Alexander knew was synonymous with ‘if you weren’t my brother...’.

Thinking it wise to leave the entire topic of this morning behind, Alexander started his runner moving forward slowly. "We’ll talk later." When you’ve calmed down. "We’d better hurry if we’re going to make it to Nyterwyrm on time." Bringing up the business usually got Alisa’s attention. He moved a few paces before realizing that his half-sister wasn’t following. "C’mon Dragon. The roads are dangerous, you’ve gotta stick with me..."

Alisa’s eyes seemed completely black, if you ignored the obvious fury raging within them. "And I didn’t need help with those thugs!" She hung her head and put her hand to her forehead. "I don’t need you protecting me if you have better things to do!" In a flash, Alisa grabbed the reins and kicked the runner, who, in turn, leapt forward into a gallop.

Alexander’s runner, who’d been barely moving, was startled by his counterpart and reared. Alexander, who, of the two human and two runners, had been the most unprepared, fell from the saddle like a bag of firestone. He moaned as his runner took off after it’s stablemate, and Alisa showed no signs of letting up. Alexander flopped back down with a sigh, gazing up into the amazingly blue sky. "And she thinks I call her Dragon because of her eyes..."

As the hot sun burned down on Alexander’s perfect shoulders, threatening to burn them to a cinder, the twenty-two turn man prayed at least Alisa made it to the Hold, and their potential employer, on time. If she did, he prayed the man had not laughed a single small female teenager out of his presence when she offered herself and her non-present brother as the people to do his dirty work. If he had, Alexander prayed, for the man’s sake, that Dragon had calmed down by then and not pummelled him into a fine powder.

He sighed deeply, feeling immensely sorry for himself. On foot, the distance to Nyterwyrm Hold seemed to have doubled, and the whole way he couldn’t stop thinking about what he could have possible done to piss Alisa off so much. He ran over their conversation in his mind a hundred times, and on the one-hundred and first playback, the reason struck him like lightening. He stopped dead in his tracks and smacked his forehead with his palm. "Oh!" He shook his head as he continued walking, after all, he did want to make it to Nyterwyrm before nightfall, epiphany or not.

Her last comment had been the key to his brilliant insight into the female mind. "‘I don’t need you protecting me if you have better things to do.’" He shook his head sadly. "She’s sore about something I missed last night when I was...otherwise occupied." Even as he began to feel guilty, he smiled remembering the beautiful woman with whom he’d been otherwise occupied the night before. With looks and strength galore, Alexander rarely had trouble finding some girl to warm his bed. Alisa had a much more difficult time finding ‘friends’, partly because of her looks, and partly because her older half-brother still expected her to be a virtuous virgin. He taught her to wield a sword and shoot a bow. He’d sat up with her the night she’d killed her first man and hadn’t been able to sleep. He’d bought the drinks the night she decided she was old enough for alcohol. But he’d be damned before he saw any man do to her what he did to the women who threw themselves at his feet. Death and drinking were two rights of passage he could help her through, protect her from, and share with her. Sex was another thing entirely.

"She goes on and on about how horrendous she looks, but she doesn't know men at all. She just shakes her hips and she's got them, and she doesn't even know. Men like a pretty face, but they love a well-built body." He realized he was talking to himself and shut up. You may think you're a dragon, but you're still my little sis. I gotta look out for you.

He sighed again, realizing there was probably no way for him to get out of this one. Alisa was going to be furious for a while, and he was almost glad she’d taken off, at least this way he wasn’t around to be her verbal, or physical, punching bag. He shook his head sadly as he muttered yet another prayer to the afternoon heat. "God help the first man she meets!"

"Stupid Alex with his stupid looks and his stupid ‘holier than thou’ attitude." Alisa stalked back and forth in front of the gates to Nyterwyrm, using every bad word she’d ever picked up from her brother. Anyone who tried to question why she wasn’t coming in got a stern glare and a silent warning that anything they told her would be the last thing they every said. Only one young lad had spoke to her and lived. He’d been given a coin and the message to tell Master Vayne that Alisa and her good for nothing brother...wait...change that to Alexander, were going to be late. The girl continued her monologue undisturbed.

She knew, from her last comment, that Alexander would jump to the conclusion that something bad had happened to her while he was off with the wench he’d picked up for the night. Although not the complete truth, the assumption was not a total lie either. Nothing had happened to Alisa, -NOTHING-. She’d hung around all night in her room staring blankly at the wall. Re-evaluating her situation did nothing but make the girl more angry. She spun and thrust her fist into the wall, disturbing a few insects and bruising her knuckles. "Damn rock!!" Alisa continued pacing. "That muscle-brained dolt! He just walks into a place, lets the beautiful girls flock to him and then takes his pick!" Alisa, rage finally beginning to subside, threw herself to the ground, leaned against the wall and sucked on her bleeding knuckles. "Everyone thinks he’s god. If he had any idea what it was like to be me." She snorted. "Better yet, if he had any idea what it was like to be a girl, to fight just as hard as he does and still be lifted over his stupid manly head with ease."

The stupid manly head itself appeared on the horizon. Alisa stopped her rant as he got closer. "Hey." Alexander was obviously a lot calmer as well. His normally flamboyant personality was held firmly in check by the anger he still saw smoldering in his half-sister’s eyes. As perceptive as ever to his sister’s moods, he also noticed the sadness. "Look, you gave me a lot of time to think things over and I’m sorry."

Alisa glared. "For what?"

He smiled, unable to remain solemn for a thirty second apology. "Everything you’re mad about?"

Alisa growled deep in her throat and flung herself to her feet. She stormed towards the gate, but was stopped by her bigger brother. He held both her wrists tight, not realizing that the fact he could so easily keep her at bay was part of the reason she was so furious. "Look, Dragon, I’m sorry. Not because I know precisely what’s pissing you off, not because I know I can make it better, not because I understand." She turned to face him and he let her go, the same stupid smile on his lips. "I’m sorry because I’ve done something to make you mad at me and I don’t like it when you’re mad at me."

Alisa cuffed him in the shoulder. "Men!" She stalked towards the gates and the two guards moved to let her in quickly.

Alexander grinned, knowing he was forgiven as he’d seen the slight smirk on her face as she’d hit him. "Now that, I’m not sorry for!" He hurried to follow her.

She whirled, hands on her hips and smile on her lips. "If you had any sense you would be." The light danced in her bright green eyes. "Of course one of the prerequisites to being male is a lack of sense."

Alexander snorted and stretched his road-weary muscles. "Women."

"Alex, don’t." Alisa was not the one who normally gave commands in their relationship, but this was definitely a time when a woman needed to take the reins. "Alex! Alex! Look at me!" She waited until his eyes met her’s. "Don’t."

He smiled. "Come on Dragon, you must think more of me than that."

Alisa raised a brow, letting him know with a look exactly what she thought of his ability to restrain himself in the presence of a beautiful woman.

Alexander snorted and mounted his runner. His half-sister leapt onto her mount with a whistle of approval from one of the drunks laying in the alley way. They moved the two horses closer together so they could talk as they headed back to the home of their new employer. The employer himself, and his beautiful daughter, whom they were to guard on her journey to Adanuk Weyr, were remaining at the bar a little longer so Mistress Vayne could finish her goodbye’s.

"Don’t worry about me Dragon. I’m immune to her womanly charms." Alexander batted his eyelashes, mocking the daughter’s flirtatious ways in the bar.

Alisa snorted. "Yeah, but is immune to yours?"

Alexander grinned. "Let’s find out."

"Let’s not." Alisa was in no mood to fool around. "If his daughter happened to let it slip to daddy dearest exactly what her body guard shared with her, Vayne might remove the source of the problem." Alisa accompanied the threat with a meaningful gesture.

Alexander, subdued by the threat, glared. "Where’d you learn that?"

Alisa smiled sweetly, eyes bright green and shining with assumed innocence. "They say younger sister’s learn from watching older brothers."

Alexander fumed all the way back to their rooms in Master Vayne’s spacious rooms. That thought was -not- one that had ever crossed his mind, and definitely not one he ever wished to confront again.

Alisa laughed. "That’s what you get for making sure our rooms were always right beside each others." She pointed to the two doors left open for them. "You are right in thinking you’ve protected me from the evils of men Alexander, but you’re the one who taught me to keep my ears and eyes open." She retreated back into her room quickly, but her laugh lingered in the hallway.

Alexander slammed his door moodily. "Should have learned to keep my fool mouth shut."

From the room beside his, he heard a faint laugh. "It wasn’t you who was making the noise Alexander." He could almost see the broad grin on Alisa’s face. "Unless of course you scream your own name..."

He slammed the door again to cut off the last part of his sister’s sentence. "You!" He called at the wall. "Are sleeping with ear plugs from now on."

Alisa laughed.

Alexander sighed and shrugged. "At least she’s in a good mood..."

"So," Mistress Vayne was turning on the charm so thick Alisa was surprised every male in a four mile radius hadn’t come running up to her, pants around their ankles. Alisa, riding just in front of her brother and their charge, would kill Alexander if he so much as smiled at her. Seductive witch.

Unable to hear Alisa’s inner dialogue, or see Alisa’s outer rage, Mistress Vayne continued. "Are you and Alisa married or something?"

"Not exactly ma’am." Alexander, on the other hand, was obeying every one of his sister’s silent commands, so far. Her body language was definitely a tongue he was fluent in. One wrong move and Alisa might be the one to remove the ‘source of the problem’.

"What do you mean, not exactly?" Mistress Vayne fluttered her eyelashes. "You’re either together, or you’re not."

"She’s my half sister, ma’am." Alexander thought of how amazingly stunning their charge looked riding gracefully, put immediately put the thought firmly out of his head.

"Half-sister?" Mistress Vayne realized that she was beginning to weaken his defences. "Mother or father?" She manoeuvred her runner closer to Alexander’s so she could lean in.

Alexander smiled at her and noticed she smelled like roses. Alisa grit her teeth and noticed the woman seemed desperate for Alexander. She made a mental note to dump the two of them in the first lake she saw. The colder the water, the better.

Alexander, brain shutting down as other parts of him took over, brushed a strand of honey coloured hair out of Mistress Vayne’s eyes. "Mother, ma'am. She was ... very popular." The pause he’d left in the description left no doubts in anyone’s mind what he meant by ‘very popular’. "Dragon and I have been on our own since we were old enough to run off. Neither of us wanted to live under her less that sparkling reputation."

Although you seem to think it’s your duty to follow in her footsteps. Alisa was past furious. If she could have killed Mistress Vayne with a look, the woman would be dead on the ground, save for the fact Alisa was refusing to turn around and acknowledge either of them.

"How noble of you to take care of your little sister like that." The fact that Mistress Vayne was practically whispering led Alisa to believe that the two must be obviously close.

That’s it! She whirled quickly in her saddle, pleased to notice that the other woman almost fell from her saddle as Alexander pulled away quickly, hoping to avoid his sister’s wrath. "Why don’t we stop for the night?" It was supposed to be a question, but her tone left no doubt that it was a command. Alexander sadly slunk from the saddle and went about the duties of making a camp for the night. Alisa helped him, making sure she stepped on his foot, scratched his arm and elbowed him once or twice for good measure. The pain made it through to Alexander’s brain and he remembered Alisa’s threat. He decided to blame this entire situation on his younger half-sister, after all, it was she who was stopping him from having a good time tonight. Like the beautiful, amazingly seductive woman staring longingly into his eyes would ever tattle to her father. He grinned to himself, his mind made up. Like Alisa would ever find out if I played my cards right.

"You might regret this..." Vayne whispered the words in his ear as Alexander planted kisses on her neck. The woman had wanted to go for a midnight stroll, and Alexander had decided to follow her in case she got in to trouble.

"You’re not going to tell your father, are you?" He smiled back at her and leaned in to kiss her on the mouth, but she backed away.

"Never, lover. But he said there was a curse..." Her hands rubbed his back as he undid the clasps along the back of her dress.

"I don’t believe in magic." He actually thought it was kind of funny, a father scaring his daughter to purity with the threat of a cursed kiss.

She put both her hands on his cheeks and pulled him closer until their noses touched. "But love is magic."

"ALEXANDER!!" Alisa grabbed his arm and attempted to pull him off the woman just as their lips met. She’d followed them, telling herself that her half-brother was too smart to try anything, and then remembered that he was male. She’d arrived just in time to catch him before the kiss.

As a result the light engulfed her and the magic obviously decided she was part of the curse as well. Alexander and Alisa both lost consciousness as the full force of Mistress Vayne’s accursed kiss overwhelmed them.

Mistress Vayne, seeing the two who had brought her this far out for the count, scribbled a note back at the campside and took one of the runner’s. She’d travelled the countryside many times, and didn’t really need the protection. She’d just demanded her father hire them because they amused her. She laughed as the portal she summoned swallowed both her and the beast. Playing with mortals was so much fun!

"Ugggghhhh....." Alisa moaned as consciousness, and the worst headache she’d ever had in her life, forced themselves upon her. Keeping her eyes closed, she brought her hands to her forehead to massage her aching temples. For a moment she struggled to figure out why she could possibly be in the middle of nowhere, waking at about noon, with a bad headache, but the memories of the night before hit her like a ton of bricks. "Damn woman. Probably hit me with a branch."

"EIIIIIIIIEEEEEEE!" A high-pitched woman’s scream caused Alisa to shudder.

The pain intensified with the noise. "Mistress Vayne probably saw a bug or something." She sighed and opened her eyes.

Mistress Vayne was no where to be found. Neither was Alexander.

Assuming the worst, Alisa swore and stood up, realizing she felt...different...maybe taller or something. Brushing that feeling off as part of the concussion she undoubtably had, Alisa searched for the source of the shriek. Sitting on the ground, a few feet from Alisa, was a beautiful woman. The strange female was staring at her reflection in a looking glass that Alisa carried in her pack and seemed like she was seeing herself for the first time. She was muttering something about this whole situation being impossible.

Oddly, she looked familiar. "Hey." Alisa was going to say more, but was stopped by how much deeper her voice sounded. Concussion. She told herself.

The woman looked up at Alisa. She had deep blue eyes which were at the moment filled with tears, and stunning golden blond hair which hung to her shoulders. She was well-built and probably stood at about 5'7". She stood slowly, biting her lip and running her hand through her hair.

Alisa smiled. When she does that she looks almost exactly like the female counter-part of... Her jaw slowly dropped. Alexander...

The woman smiled a smile that was painfully familiar. "Hey Dragon." Her voice was deep for a woman’s but definitely higher than it was before. The leather clothes hanging off of her were obviously too big, but even as a female Alexander could look amazing in anything. With an evil grin he turned the looking glass so Alisa could see herself... "How’s my brother doing this morning?"

Alisa felt like fainting at the sight of the 6'2" man staring back at her from the mirror. He had her green eyes and her short brown hair, but he was obviously missing some of her other more prominent features. And from the way that the now too small clothes were practically hanging off of him, he’d obviously gained some body parts that Alisa did not feel prepared to deal with. "Great gods Alex." The deep masculine voice sounded funny to Alisa’s ears, but Alexander recognized the intonation.

Alexander forced a smile, obviously having reached the conclusion that there was nothing he could do about the situation. The girl that was Alexander folded her arms across her ample chest. "Yes?"

The man that was Alisa sank to the ground and held his head in his hands. "When I say don’t, don’t."

Alexander smiled. "I suppose you’re going to blame this all on me."

Alisa’s green eyes darkened and Alexander was pleased to notice that they still were the windows into her/his soul. "If you had been thinking with your head instead of your..." The two had to laugh, somewhat hysterically, as they realized where that sentence was going.

Alexander tossed her the note. "Our little magical charge has wandered off with one of the runners and left us a thank-you note."

Alisa skimmed the note quickly. It basically told them not to worry about Mistress Vayne, her father had come for her in the night and they’d been left with a little money, and new bodies so enjoy. "This is bad."

"I don’t know." Alexander couldn’t stop joking to save his life. "I think I make a beautiful woman."

Alisa glared. "Keep that up and you’re going to make a beautiful corspe." The younger sibling sighed. "I guess we may as well continue on to Adanuk Weyr."

Alexander smiled and made the very same obscene gesture that Alisa had made two nights previous. "I think we should find better clothes."

Luckily, with a few modifications, Alexander’s old clothes fit Alisa, and an old dress Alisa had been carrying fit Alexander. The fact that they were both dressed in each other’s hand-me-downs was the first thing the Headwoman of Adanuk noticed when she went out to great the weary travellers who’d arrived on the same runner just after dinner. The young blond girl was a pretty little thing, and the young man was obviously her protector. He hovered over her, seeming to wait for her instruction and had to help her off the horse when she got tangled in her skirt.

Poor darling’s probably worn out from the long journey. Media clicked her tongue. "Good eve strangers. Welcome to Adanuk."

The two looked up at her, they’d obviously had a very long day. Finally, the man spoke. "Good evening. My bro-sister and I were wondering if we could spend the night."

Media smiled knowingly, believing she’d unravelled the mystery. Instead of brother, the Headwoman assumed the man had almost said betrothed. "Of course sir." The blond twittered at the word sir, but Media believed it was the exhaustion setting in. "We’ll want to get both of you out of those filthy rags and into a warm bath." She took the girl’s arm gently and led them towards the main building. "You must be exhausted after such a long ride my lady. Men." She shook her head. "They don’t understand what a fragile thing a young body like yours is."

The man coughed loudly to hide the woman’s giggles. Media wondered if the poor thing hadn’t been driven a little bit batty from starvation or something. She opened the door to one of the many guest rooms, obviously expecting them to share. A tub of hot water was sitting in the corner of the room, waiting for their arrival. "I’ll have fresh clothes sent up for the both of you." She turned to talk to the man. "And dinner. By the way, I’m Media, the Headwoman." She extended her hand for the man to shake.

"I’m Alis...Alisar. And my br-sister is Alex...Alexia." He shook her hand and bobbed his head. "Thanks for everything."

"No problem." Media smiled, weaving an amazingly romantic story where the two betrothed had ran off together into the night, totally unprepared, as their parents would never consent such a marriage. "Just call if you need anything. If you’re willing to take on a few chores, both of you, you can stay as long as you need."

"Thank you." Alexia smiled at the Headwoman.

Media clucked her tongue at Alisar. "You shouldn’t force a dainty little flower like her to ride hard all day...it’s bad for her complexion."

As the door closed Media thought she heard roaring laughter coming from the room behind her. Her mind told her it was actually sobs of joy from the fair Alexia that she and her true love had finally found a safe haven. Media smiled as she continued with her duties, wishing the couple every happiness.

"Alisar?" Alexander had never laughed so hard in his life. It was worrying him as the laughter began to take on the edge of hysteria.

"I had to think fast." Alisa glared. She pulled off her shirt angrily, a part of her telling her it was not polite for a lady to run around topless and another part answering her that she didn’t have to be a lady anymore.

Alexander, who was amazingly aware of his feminine attributes, was struggling with the clasps of the dress. The damnable things seemed a lot easier to undo when they were on somebody else. "Give me a hand Dragon."

Alisa obediently undid the dress for her older brother, and turned quickly as he began pulling it off. "Who gets to bathe first?"

Alexander grinned. "Ladies first." He stepped into the hot water and let it soak away the dirt from the road.

Alisa flung herself onto the bed, realizing that with her new height her feet hung off the end of the bed. "Don’t take forever."

Alexander was quiet for a good long period of time. The two both watched the sun as it began to set. "I think I get what you were angry about before."

Alisa raised her head. "Mm?" She’d almost dosed off.

"When I lifted you onto the horse...before we went to Nyterwyrm. I think I get why it pissed you off." The beautiful blond exited the tub, towel wrapped around all of herself, not just her waist like Alisa had feared. Alexander smiled. "When that Headwoman called me a fragile flower I was torn between laughing my head off and decking her."

Alisa smiled. "Finally, I get some respect."

"Gallons of it." Alexander laughed. "I respect anyone who can ride in a skirt." The two laughed as the sun finally dipped all the way beneath the horizon.

In a flash of bright light which left them both temporally blinded, Alisa and Alexander were subjected to the same feeling that overpowered them the night before, only this time not quite as painful. They opened their eyes to see each other across from them and they both cried out in joy, running to hug each other. It was then that Alisa realised she’d taken off her top while she was still a guy and Alexander realized that the towel was now a little too small. They both blushed, turned their backs to each other and grinned.

"The curse must have worn off!" Alexander would have kissed Mistress Vayne again if she were present.

"Boy will Media be surprised in the morning." Alisa, although still red, was amazingly pleased to have her own body back, something she never thought she’d be.

Alexander sighed happily. "It’s good to be me."

The next morning, when Media went to check on the young couple that had arrived last evening, she was surprised to find Alisar and Alexia in an even worse mood if physically possible. She’d left them with breakfast, a request to pop in and say hi to the Weyrwoman, and the knowledge that a search was taking place that afternoon. She figured the couple might have had a minor disagreement the night before and were going to work it out that day. Young love was so fickle after all.

"Damnable woman." Alexander muttered, glaring at his reflection.

From across the room, Alisa smiled. "Are you talking about Mistress Vayne or yourself."

Alexia glared. "Don’t."

Alisar smiled. "You kissed her."

The two sighed. Obviously the curse was a little more permanent than either had believed. "Should we say hi to this Magika character?" Alisar asked the blond beauty sitting at the vanity combing her hair.

"Eh." Alexia had to admit to herself that she was gorgeous. "Do you want to turn out for the Search?"

Neither of them had ever been present at a search before. They'd never been asked before. Alisar smiled. "Don’t you think we might confuse the dragons?"

Alexia smiled, learning quickly how to use this feminine beauty to her advantage. "It’ll be fun."

Alisar shook his head. "How do you do that?"

"What?"

"You’ve been a girl for less than a day and already you’re using your curves like I never could."

Alexia smiled. "It’s in the hips." She flipped the hair over her shoulder. "Besides, you’re using that big, hulking muscled thing to intimidate and terrify like I never did."

"You did too....just not intentionally."

Alexia raised a brow at the man who was his sister. "Believe me, you used your hips."

"Is that any way for a brother to talk?"

"Just looking out for my younger sis." The two laughed, and both were pleased to note that neither was verging on hysterical. Maybe they could live with this whole thing. The two smiled as they heard the dragon’s bugle which signalled a Searchdragon’s arrival. Maybe they could find a dragon to live with this whole thing too.

As they were whisked off the Healing Den the two felt Destiny’s grasp on them tighten, and it was surprisingly comforting. It felt good to think that this entire mess was fated and it gave them someone to blame. They approached this as they approached everything, with an abundance of self-confidence that some people found rude, but honestly they figured they both had a pretty good chance of impressing. After all, this was the cross-gender frenzy they were standing at.

Alexander and Alisa are candidates at The Healing Den.
Background from Morion Designs.