{ The AU meme }

[unrelatedname]

 Ever played out something and then later wondered "What if?" Ever wondered what it'd be like to play your character a different way, but didn't feel like making a full thing dedicated to it? Now's your chance to play it out!

Using RNG you'll roll 1-3 for the level of the change, and 1-6 for the change itself, or if you want, pick your own based on what you wanted to do.


1)  Small Change: The flap of a butterfly's wings can cause tsunami's on the other side of the world.

-1: "A minute too late"- What if you missed something by a minute, or more? You missed the big meeting, the girl, helping that person, all because you were too late, what happens next?
-2: "The nick of time"- Just like the first, only that instead of missing something you got, that if you got something you missed because you were either too late, or just messed up? Congratulations! Let's just hope it's what you really wanted.
-3: "A little too early"- One more, what if you showed up early? It's suppose to be a good thing, is it this time?
-4: "The other choice"- You had two choices, left or right, heads or tails, Coke or Pepsi, now you get to see what would have happened with the other choice.
-5: "Oops!"- You slipped up, and made a mistake. Is it bad, or a blessing in disguise?
-6: Wild card/Pick your own- Thought of a slight change that'd make all the difference, or had one you wanted to play? Here's your chance.

2)  Medium Change: Didn't really see that coming, did you?

-1: Turning point change- That one thing that would have turned things in your favor went against you, and vice versa. How will you handle this critical change?
-2: "A Razor's edge"- That one moment that could have went either way has gone the opposite way of before. Is this a good thing, or a bad thing?
-3: Crossroads- You reached a point in your life where you had several choices before you, now's the time to go down another road and see where it leads.
-4: The Road less traveled- "Two roads diverged in the woods, and I took the one less traveled" Will it make all the difference?
-5: Interference- Something blocked you from getting something you were going for. What do you do once the moment is gone?
-6: Wild Card/Pick your own-Thought of a medium change that'd make all the difference, or had one you wanted to play? Here's your chance.

3)  Large Change: Why do all the people here have goatee's?

-1: Good/Evil- Use to be a good guy? Welcome to the dark side, here's your cookie. Former bad guy? Hand over the cookie tray and join the side of good. How will the change of moral compass change you?
-2: A different person- You're now a completely different person, literally. Are you taller? Shorter? A robot? A pony? Powers? No powers? Your call.
-3: The other sex- Rule!63 is in effect. Now how does this effect your relationships with the other?
-4: A change in history- Something that happened in the past now has completely change or is now gone. One domino toppling the rest. Now that you've changed your past, how will it effect your future?
-5: Giving up- You walked away from something important to you? Do you regret it? Are you happy?
-6: Wild Card/Pick your own- Thought of a large change that'd make all the difference, or had one you wanted to play? Here's your chance.

 

Comments

[maxwellsdaemon]

"Hey, why am I getting the looks?" Duo laughed, hands held up in mock surrender. He was just an innocent bystander here. No fair glaring at him. Though he did wince when he dropped his hands again and hid it with a smile as he stood.

"Let's go see Sally. And yeah, we can talk more about it at dinner." That's what he'd been hoping for. Another reason he'd wanted some simple fast food. Something they wouldn't need to cook and could just sit down and relax with while they hashed things out.

[pilot05]

"I know what it looks like when you're hiding an injury," Heero replied blandly. "A field dressing isn't sufficient treatment."

"Don't bully him just because I've bullied you," Wufei scolded absently, stepping out of the office and putting back on her 'look all you want but speak at the cost of your life' expression as she made her way down towards the medical suite.

There was exactly one poor fool that said anything on the way, poking his head out of a cubical. "Holy shit," and that was all he had to say before he ducked down as Wufei's gaze lasered in on him.

[maxwellsdaemon]

Duo just stuck his tongue out at Heero. He was totally an adult and mature about things. Really. He wss a catch. Wufei wss so lucky to get him.

"See you later, Yuy." a flash of a grin and Duo was off and jogging after Wufei. He almost laughed when some guy popped out, shit himself and ducked back into the room before Wufei could beat him up. He had to step up to her side and lifted a hand to rest on her shoulder. "Relax. You've scared everyone silly, thing they've all got the point now."

[pilot05]

She hummed softly, though some of the tension faded from her shoulders when his hand settled there and she let out a sigh. "I think you overestimate the intelligence of some of these people," she grumbled under her breath, but she toned the death glare down to sub-Yuy levels, and once she did they were no longer attracting quite so much attention. Still a few double-takes, but no one completely stopped working when they walked past.

And then they were in medical, and she let herself relax the rest of the way.

"She's expecting you, room two," the woman at the front said, gesturing to a hallway without looking up from her computer. "No boyfriends," she added, finally looking up to frown at Duo.

[maxwellsdaemon]

"I'm a patient." Duo corrected with a grin. "Got shot. Totally here to see the doc. Go ask, bet she'll make an exception for me. I was always her favourite!" he was doing his very best not to laugh and tried so hard to be serious.

[pilot05]

"WHAT?!" Sally's head popped into the hallway before the receptionist could say anything.

"He's fine, I bandaged him up myself," Wufei replied dismissively. "You should check the one on his arm, though, make sure he doesn't need more than what I did, and we both need a post-mission eval."

"Well you can start with three days of rest," Sally replied with a frown, waving for them both to come back. "The first one is never fun. Hell, none of them are. Get your asses in here."

[maxwellsdaemon]

Duo flashed the receptionist a winning smiled and silently mouthed 'see?' before he turned around with a laugh.

"Totally fine! Shoulda seen the other guys." He was still laughing as he joined Wufei in following Sally. "Wufei did a great job though. Only hurts when I laugh."

[pilot05]

The receptionist rolled her eyes, and went back to her work as they went past. "Weirdos," she grumbled under her breath when she thought they were out of earshot.

"The other guys are in body bags," Sally replied dryly, and patted the exam table. "You're first, Duo. Show me where it hurts, and if you make that into a dirty joke just remember I have access to all the needles," she smiled sweetly.

On a tray tucked away by the door were all the things Sally would need to put in an IUD, and exactly none of them looked fun. Speculum, needle, and something about the size of a drinking straw, and a whole pile of gauze. And Wufei was very intentionally not looking in that direction.

[maxwellsdaemon]

He'd have agreed with her had he heard her and would have taken pride in it too.

"You're spoiling all my fun, Po." Duo grumbled but he still stripped out of his jacket and the shirt he wore, carefully as he could, and then hopped up onto the table. "See? Fit as a fiddle. I only said that to get past the Gatekeeper out there."

[pilot05]

Sally hummed dryly, peeling off the bandages and getting a good look at the wounds. She used what amounted to a cross-marketed baby wipe to gently clean off the wounds before putting new ointment on them and bandaging them back up again. "They look good, but I'm going to write you a prescription for antibiotics just to be on the safe side. If you notice any swelling I want you back here right away, got it?"

She set her hands on her hips, and turned her attention to Wufei. "Your turn, princess."

Wufei's death glare was back at maximum intensity.

[maxwellsdaemon]

"Told you, Wufei did a good job of patching me up." Duo somehow managed to sound proud of that. But he wss glad that he wouldn't need anymore poking and prodding. Despite his words the wound in his arm hurt like a son of a bitch and he really would like to avoid more pain.

"Ahem, Empress." Duo corrected Sally with a grin. "And careful. Glared like that and you'll be on this table next." He was laughing as he hopped off and eased himself back into his shirt. Something that was easier said than done.

[pilot05]

"I believed you, but she's not a doctor," Sally replied with a shrug, utterly unphased by Wufei's glare. "And don't you worry, I've long since developed an immunity to Her Majesty's glares," Sally grinned, and handed Wufei a robe.

Wufei got up, stepping into what looked like a closet off the exam room to change. She came back out with her arms tightly folded over her chest.

"And that's your cue to step into the hall, sir," Sally said, opening the door for him. "Go grab a coffee, we're gonna be about twenty minutes."

[maxwellsdaemon]

He'd had no intention of staying around, at least unless Wufei wanted him to. But he did wait around until he could at least give her a warm smile and a wink. "Remember what I said? Relax. I'll be right outside the door."

And with that he left. And did exactly what he'd promised. He closed the door behind himself and leaned against the wall beside it to wait.

[pilot05]

She smiled back, relaxing a little bit at that.

The rooms weren't particularly well soundproofed, so Duo was treated to the muffled sounds of conversation as Sally did what she needed to. It wasn't until that twenty minutes was almost over that there was anything eventful. Sally, letting out a surprised yell that sounded an awful lot like You're WHAT?!, followed by a door slamming -- the one to the changing room probably.

The door popped open and Sally poked her head out again. "Really?" She asked. "The two of you?"

[maxwellsdaemon]

Duo had been humming a tune to himself, eyes closed and thinkinh about the kind of burger he was going to get later. And fries. Damn but he was going to get fries too. And a milkshake. Strawberry. Definitely strawberry.

He near jumped when the door beside him opened and Sally's disembodied head appeared. "Huh? What?" Duo turned to look at her with a puzzled look. "What did I do this time?" a blink, and then it clicked. He laughed. "Oh, that? Why not?"

[pilot05]

"That's not funny," Sally hissed. "You know she doesn't do anything halfway. She's going to expect you to act like a husband." And oh, boy, was that a loaded sentence.

[maxwellsdaemon]

And just like that Duo lost his smile.

"You don't think I know that?" he asked her with deceptive calm. He liked Sally. He really did. But it pissed him off just a little that she wasn't giving him any credit. Did she really think he would have gone into this lightly or without knowing what was expected of him?

"I know what I'm doing. And I know what it'd mean for her."

[pilot05]

Sally sighed heavily when he dropped the smile, stepping into the hallway to face him properly. "I mean that she might say it's just a means to an end, but it won't be. She was torn up badly enough by losing her first husband, and she hated him. She doesn't hate you."

[maxwellsdaemon]

"I'd hope she doesn't hate me. I..." Duo shook his head and sucked in a deep breath before letting it out with a low laugh.

"Not important. Yet. But the difference between me and him is I don't plan on going anywhere." unless she wanted him to, of course. Duo would stick by her for as long as she needed him to. But he kind of hoped that she'd keep on needing him.

[pilot05]

Sally took a moment to size him up, letting out a sigh as she nodded. "Well, good. And if you need help with anything. Broken bones, stitches, wedding plans," she flashed a grin. "You know where to find me."

"The depths of hell," Wufei replied dryly as she emerged from the changing closet, straightening her jacket as she went for the door.

"Remember, Wufei. Two weeks," Sally said, and gave her a moc bow as she passed.

[maxwellsdaemon]

"I'll remember." He promised Sally, but it was a much more subdued Duo Wufei would find once she joined him again. Still he gave her a smile and reached out a hand to gently touch one of hers.

"Everything good now?" Duo had no idea how any of that stuff worked but he had to imagine it couldn't have been pleasant.

[pilot05]

Sally nodded, and went back into the room, no doubt to do all her charting.

Wufei slid her hand into his, giving it a squeeze. "Yes," she replied. "The implant was gone, and a new one is in. Apparently it takes two weeks to become 'effective'," she said, lifting a hand to make air quotes around the last word and rolling her eyes. "I just need to stop by my desk, call Une, and then we can go."

[maxwellsdaemon]

"Let's go then." Duo said with a nod, fingers easily curling around hers.

He wasn't as familiar with this building as he probably should have been so had no idea where her desk was or even Unes office, so he let himself be lead around to those places. But he was quieter now. Lost in his own thoughts.

[pilot05]

She led the way and, this time, left her hand in his while she did it. People were distracted enough by the sudden change in her body enough that they weren't even looking at their hands, anyway.

She spent twenty minutes at her computer, shutting the laptop down as she called Une, and stuffed it into a bag. "Yes, well, you try convincing them of that," she grumbled into the phone, a beat of silence. "I'm marrying Duo." More silence, as she was apparently being lectured if the way she cast her gaze to the ceiling was any indication. "I don't care," she said blandly, folded her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair. "You're only four years older than me, and you're not my sister. No. No. Yes, because I'm an adult and I can make my own damn decisions, or did you forget why you hired me in the first place?" She drummed her fingers on the desk, frowning at her ceiling. "That must be very nice for you. I'll get you my report before the deadline. Goodbye," and finally hung up.

"Okay," she sighed, hefting the laptop bag onto her shoulder. "Now we can go to my place and actually sort through all of this," she was a little tired of having their decision questioned, especially when she was still busy questioning it, herself. She just hadn't the mental downtime to think too hard on it, but she'd have some just as soon as she got home.

[maxwellsdaemon]

Duo had dropped himself in a chair to wait for Wufei to finish what she was doing and only listened with half an ear to the conversation with Une... though he wished he could hear the whole of it. What he could hear was making him feel pretty shit. He felt bad for Wufei. Having to go through all of this and deal with everyone... and him.

He'd expected people to be surprised but what he hadn't expected was how little they supported her. And now little they believed in him. It made him wonder... a great many things about himself. And whether he was even worthy of going through with this. Whether Wufei deserved to suffer the indignity of being forced to marry him just to get the elders off of her back.

His eyes closed after a while and he settled back in his seat, almost looking like he was dozing. But the moment that Wufei stood, his eyes opened and he was on his feet. Duo gave a quiet sort of nod and followed her out of the office.

From somewhere he managed to summon up a smile, not his usual cheery grin, but good enough.

"So... you said something about a motorbike?"