Welcome to Horsethief (Rina!)

[Katie]

"Horsethief?" said Lissa, sliding off the gelding. "Well, don't that sound promisin'."
Ly chuckled. "Sounds better than the street names."

"The street names are boring." Lissa hitched her horse up to the post and then did Ly's. "Lucky it's only a supply run."

The inside of the general store was relatively cool, and there was a rickety air conditioner in the back window buzzing along steadily. Ly headed for the back, looking for the flour and the sugar, and Lissa went to the front desk.

"Hey," she said, smiling at the woman there. The woman didn't smile back. Boring. "You got fever medicine here? Or even somethin' to sooth the throat?"

The woman opened her mouth to answer, and then the door opened and she went silent. Lissa turned, and in the back aisle Ly turned too. The man who'd just come in didn't look that interesting, although he was unusually pale, but if he'd made her go silent that like there had to be something interesting about him.

[Anonymous]

Icarus loved the effect he had on a room. Most people in town knew him well enough to know they didn't want his attention. He was dressed impeccably, as usual and he tipped his hat at the pretty young pair, not recognizing them, "Well, hello. What lovely new faces. What brings you into Horsethief this fine day?"

His psychic senses slid out, probing lightly at the couple to see what their unfiltered brains would tell him.

[Katie]

"Oh, just supplies--" Lissa began, and then the man's mind brushed against hers and Ly's and there went the binary. Both bodies winced.

"Now that wasn't very nice," they said softly, inadvertently speaking with both mouths. The woman behind the counter squeaked and they realized their mistake. Bloody hell, re-fusion was disorienting. (Of course, that wasn't really the problem, the problem was Lack had been here all alone, too many times to count, with a telepath, and there was nothing they could do to fix anything that had been done. Stupid of them, not to check the town before they sent him, but there was no fixing a hatched egg.)

"Do you have any idea how long it takes me to get that to work right?" they demanded, talking with the Lissa-body and walking back up to stand beside it with the Ly-body. "Actually, no. Never mind that. My real concern here is if you've been doing that to my hired man."

[Anonymous]

Icarus's pale eyebrows lifted upwards, "Well, that is fascinating. I've been wondering what I got out of that tattooed gentleman's mind." He smiled, still looking calm and unruffled, "What exactly are you?"

[Katie]

"I'm a Gestalt," they said, trying their very best not to be very angry and ignoring the way their stomachs were clenching. Lack had been fine that morning, except for the fever, and it was ridiculous to blame a telepath for a fever. Lack had been fine before he got sick. They needed to be calm here.

Of course this man had been inside Lack's head. He'd just said so. Rather more than he'd been in theirs, because Lack didn't have a defense mechanism designed to surprise people out of his mind. Calm was hard when you thought about that.

"But that isn't important," they went on, switching over to the Ly-body. If they spent too much time on one voice box then it would start reflecting just how unhappy they were, and they couldn't have that. "Have you done any lasting damage, that's what important."

[Anonymous]

"Oh, I disagree. I think that's very important. Or interesting at least." Icarus smiled again, amused at their reaction. To think, something this strange had been going on right under his nose. His mind reached out again, probing theirs, wanting to see how everything worked.

[Katie]

And there. He. Was. Again. It was annoying, like a fly buzzing in their ear. Two jaws gritted and then were relaxed with a conscious force of will. Wouldn't do to look too freaked. "It's not very interesting to me," they said. "Since, you know, I've been like this for a good long time now. Anyway." They walked the Lissa-body up to the man (and they  still didn't know his name) and poked him in the chest, both bodies smiling all friendly-like. "I'm a private kinda person, and I ain't your little puzzle box. You can get out now."

[Anonymous]

"Oh no. I think not. It's so wonderfully interesting. What secrets are in here, hmm?" Icarus pried a little more, making sure they could feel it too, his mind worming around inside theirs.

[Katie]

Alright, that hurt.  And he was getting pretty much everything, too.

They hissed with both bodies and flattened the Lissa-body's hand against his chest and shoved as hard they were able with just one set of muscles. "When I say get out, I mean it. How about we try again?" That was the Ly-body, but they kept the voice soft and friendly. They could still pull out of this if they wanted, they were sure. And if they didn't want, or it didn't work, well, they had two sets of everything and if things went too sour they were good at running.

[Anonymous]

"I'm sure you did mean it." Icarus's voice was honey smooth, "But meaning counts for little when you can't back it up. If you want me out, give me something more interesting. Or I'll just want to keep prying until my curiosity is sated."

[Katie]

The bodies locked eyes (more for the convenience a feedback loop offered than for appearances), and they had an argument with themself that went a little like this:

I'll let him watch the division process.
That's giving in to the enemy!
Get over it. I need to it anyway and I'd rather not break the store. All my supplies come from here, remember?
Fine.

And they turned both bodies back to the annoyingly dapper Icarus, whose mind hadn't receded a bit. They would switch on the TK next time they hit him, they decided. And go for the face. See how much he liked that.

"Well? How about it?"

[Anonymous]

"Really. It's not a good idea to discuss plans against me while I'm inside your brains." Icarus smiled brightly, hooking his thumbs into his vest, "Tell me something to amuse me and I'll leave your fascinating little brain alone for now."

[Katie]

"Oh, you were s'posed to hear that," they reassured him with the Lissa-body's mouth. "D'you want to watch me divide or what?"

[Anonymous]

"Ooooh. Kinky! And in public!" Icarus beamed, gesturing for them to continue.

[Katie]

Okay, they had to give him points for that--it had actually been funny. He hadn't seemed like the type.

Dividing was easy--sort of like pinching off, sort of like building a wall, and sort of like both at once. When it was done, Lissa shook herself all over (she always did; it was one of the individual quirks they had assigned that half). Ly shook a bit, too, because there were always kinks (hah) after re-division that took a while to be ironed out.

"And there we are," said Lissa brightly. "Now--"

"Our man," Ly finished.

"Quite," said Lissa, "You been doing anythin'?"

[Anonymous]

"No, not much. Have no worries." Icarus smiled and gave a little bow, "Though I will have to see that again sometime. Very, very sexy."

[Katie]

Neither of them was entirely certain he was telling the truth about that--but Lack wasn't displaying any lasting effects, which suggested he was just skimming. Which he'd done to them, and it hadn't hurt. So they could put up with it. For now.

And besides, once you got past the whole psychic thing, he was somewhat likable.

"Maybe you will," said Lissa, and winked.

"Now, if you'll 'scuse us," said Ly, "We got some supplies that need purchasin'."

[Anonymous]

"Of course. Though, next time, I think you should do it naked and covered in chocolate. Just my suggestion." Icarus smiled again and gave a small bow, "Do come have dinner with me sometime. I find your...condition so interesting."

[Katie]

They looked at each other and tried very hard not to laugh. Both failed. Didn't matter anyway, it wasn't like he couldn't tell.

"Waste of chocolate," said Lissa.

"And Lack would be jealous," said Ly.

"But maybe sometime."

"Once we're not swamped. Sugar in the back?"

"Looks like."

"I've got it, you're on medicine." Lissa turned, her braid swinging, and was off towards the sugar. Ly nodded at Icarus once, and turned back towards the cashier, who was attempting some semblance of not being terrified. She was doing fairly well, considering.