Atlas Gym, Tuesday Afternoon

[firstofitskind]

It hadn't actually taken Liam all that long to adjust to his new (temporary) physical reality. It helped, probably, that he had Beckett's memories at his disposal. He knew what it was like to move with a different center of gravity, and though he'd never before had long hair or worn a bra, knew what it was like to deal with both of those things. Hell, he probably would've been able to manage walking in heels just fine.

Not that he was walking in heels right now, because he was in the gym, hair braided back out of his face in a tight French braid despite the icon, going through Tai Chi forms. Like you do.

[ooc: open. so open. the openest!]

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[okteiviakom]

After yesterday, there was only really one man left that Octavia hadn't seen yet during this new bout of weird, and so today she was checking up on him. The gym seemed like a decent bet.

Even if she was, again, running into the problem of not knowing which unfamiliar face was supposed to be a familiar one. No one but Shunsui had the decency to be very recognizable even as a woman, apparently.

"It's fair to guess you're Liam, right? Under the circumstances?"

[firstofitskind]

The gym was absolutely a decent bet.

He raised an eyebrow. "A fair guess," he conceded. "Under the circumstances."

Liam's current activity meant his hands- more specifically, the palms of his hands, with those distinctive marks that looked like burns- were plainly visible. Which, if Octavia were the type of person to notice such a thing, would confirm that guess. Moreso than his actual out-loud response, anyway.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia was the type to notice, especially now that she'd come a bit closer. And, so:

"That's not an answer," she drawled, "Liam."

[firstofitskind]

"Okay, okay, fine," Liam replied, grinning. "You got me."

[okteiviakom]

"And the island got you," she noted with a little nod towards his... everything, really. "But you seem to be doing okay."

Outwardly, at the very least.

[firstofitskind]

Inwardly, too! Mostly.

A shrug of one shoulder. "It's still my body, just... different." It helped that he was coming at this with a perspective on gender, sex, and, well, physical form in general that was somewhat influenced by a race that had possessed none of those things. His mind was still his own, and that was the important part.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia nodded, because she could follow that logic, even if she had no experience of her own to compare it to. "Good," she decided. "Some people seem to be kind of struggling."

But the ratio, out of everyone she'd met, seemed to be in favor of at least some level of ease with this thing. And that was comforting, somehow.

[firstofitskind]

"I get that," Liam nodded. Because he also had human influences on his perspective. "It's an unexpected change. And gender is- an important part of identity, for a lot of people." Not that physical sex and gender were the same thing, but suddenly presenting as one when you'd been another your whole life... yeah. Liam could see how that would bother people.

[okteiviakom]

"So I've gathered," Octavia said. She shifted her hair back over one shoulder. The sparkles on her nails caught the light, as she did.

No, she never usually wore nail polish, ever.

"I don't know if the weird timing is making anyone extra uncomfortable, too." Because she thought the non-weekend thing was iffy.

[firstofitskind]

“That could be part of i...” Liam’s statement trailed off as he caught sight of those sparkles, because that was absolutely new, yes.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia raised her eyebrows, moderately confused.

"What?"

[firstofitskind]

“Looks like those of us who woke up with different bodies aren’t the only ones experimenting with new things,” he commented mildly, gaze flicking down to those painted nails of hers.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia followed his gaze, then did an 'oh, right' sort of an eyebrow raise before holding her hand up.

The nails were very sparkly.

"Duke," she said as if that explained anything. "Also Magnus, kind of."

[firstofitskind]

“Looks nice,” he said cheerfully. Of course, knowing Octavia, chances were they’d be chipped by the end of the day. Didn’t meant it didn’t look nice though. That Magnus influenced that decision didn’t surprise him at all, but “... Duke, really?”

[okteiviakom]

It was a small miracle they weren't already chipped, honestly.

"Apparently Magnus gave him the idea?" Octavia offered, shrugging as she lowered her hand again.

[firstofitskind]

“Yeah, that I can see,” Liam said, with a smile and a shake of his head.

[okteiviakom]

"So Magnus is doing pretty well with this thing," Octavia said, faintly amused. "Obviously."

And surprising no one.

[firstofitskind]

“Is there anything that would actually rattle him?” Liam wondered. Magnus seemed to be a very much roll-with-the-punches kind of guy. Literally.

[okteiviakom]

"I'm not sure there is."

No, actually, she had some guesses, but she didn't want to say them out loud and put them into the world, lest the island take it as a suggestion.

"It's kind of nice," she admitted after a pause. "That there's someone who isn't all that affected, whatever happens."

[firstofitskind]

“I’ll bet.” Not that Liam talked to Magnus much, personally. “Verity took it pretty well.” Especially considering yesterday morning had involved waking up with someone who looked like a stranger.

[spectre_alenko]

Kaidan felt like hell and probably looked as good as he felt. The gym had a steam room and that and a sauna sounded like heaven, so off he went with a pair of swim trunks and a spare sports bra for it. He'd done one up on Jack's stickers and printed himself a waterproof tattoo that read, "Kaidan, male pronouns" and slapped it where it was visible outside his tank top, on the high side of his collarbone.

Kaidan took in the view at a glance and then asked, "Steam room open, Liam? I could use it."

[firstofitskind]

“So far as I know,” Liam nodded. Even if Kaidan hadn’t been wearing a nametag (of a sort), Liam would’ve recognized that particular crackle of biotic energy that surrounded him. “You look like a rickshaw ran you over.”

[spectre_alenko]

"Feels like it," Kaidan agreed with a lopsided, if wan, smile, "Hormone imbalance due to my birth control implant going wacky. Nothing I can do about it until I'm back to my usual self, so for now, treating it like the world's most awful recorded case of PMS. How are you holding up?" Liam didn't get fussed by much.

[firstofitskind]

The things he tended to get bothered by involved mental changes as well as physical. But this? Not so much.

He winced a bit in sympathy at the PMS comment since hey, he actually did have... well, not personal experience, exactly, but memories of what that felt like? "Went shopping yesterday, since all my regular clothes fit weird and I didn't have, you know, breasts to deal with," he said, cupping a hand under said breasts to emphasize the point.

[spectre_alenko]

And there went Kaidan looking right up at the ceiling with a laugh. "Liam," he protested, "I kind of noticed them already, buddy. You didn't have to go and heft them at me. I just got done telling you my hormones are out of whack, here."

[firstofitskind]

“What?” Liam blinked at him. “Oh. Sorry.” he added, sounding a little sheepish.

[spectre_alenko]

"No harm done," Kaidan said, "I just threw a gym bra over mine so I don't have to deal with 'em. Have you been through this before?"

[firstofitskind]

“Not myself, no,” Liam admitted. Ha’gel, on the other hand, had been dozens of sexes, genders, and combinations thereof in his lifetime.

[spectre_alenko]

"Me either," Kaidan admitted, "But it's good to know you're not dealing with shock. Kanan's having a heck of a time. The island thought it'd be funny to turn he and Duke into spitting images of Dani - the dark haired pretty lady at my birthday party? So they not only look alike, they look like someone they've both met. Not taking it too well, even if Dani said she doesn't mind."

[firstofitskind]

Liam shuddered just a bit, because that, yeah, pinged his discomfort button right there. Yes, neither Duke nor Kanan had actually turned into this Dani person, but it was close enough.

A sharp intake of breath, and he was pressing the thumb of one hand into his other palm. “Wouldn’t like that much either,” he admitted.

[spectre_alenko]

Kaidan frowned at all that obvious distress. "Liam? Something wrong?"

[firstofitskind]

“Just not a big fan of being in someone else’s body, you know?” Because of him, that had also involved feelings and memories that weren’t his. “If this face belongs to someone else as well, I hope i never find out about it.”

[spectre_alenko]

"It's not Dani, it just looks like her," Kaidan assured him, "Jack texted her to be sure and to make sure she was okay with it, because both the guys were a little off. Kanan has his own eyes, I guess Duke still has his tattoos."

[firstofitskind]

“That’s good to hear,” Liam said, some of the tension leaving his body at Kaidan’s statement. “Still weird, though.”

[spectre_alenko]

"Yeah, we're putting it down to 'the island thinks its funny'," Kaidan agreed. "Maybe because both of them really do look enough like Daniela that they could all be related." He gestured at his face, "This could be my sister, if biotics had blood siblings."

[firstofitskind]

“Huh, yeah,” Liam said thoughtfully. Siblings were another thing that were kind of weird to think about, now that he knew he had... an indeterminate number of them, back on his version of Earth. “I hadn’t really considered that, to be honest.” Especially since he bore no physical resemblence to any of his biological parents.