When Birdie woke it was to the smell of sugar in the air and the feeling of the sun on her face. Which was odd considering the last thing she remembered was being struck by lightning in a field with her best friend. Her brows furrowed as she blinked, her eyes open. Only to be greeted by vibrant nearly neon green eyes staring into her own inches from her face.
“Ah!” On reflex her hand shot up and clocked the person in the jaw as she sprang up.
“OW!” The man stumbled back, falling on his butt, “Birdie what the fuck!”
“.... FRITZ?!” Now that she got a closer look at him, she could vaguely recognize him. Though that was mostly based on peer vibes and the way he held his jaw, both hands covering the small bruise that was forming where she hit him.
“Yeah?” He pauses before adding, “Why is my voice so deep?”
“... Bestie YOU’RE A MAN.” Birdie gestured to him.
“I'm a fucking what now?” Fritz looks down at her? Him? Self. “Where did my tatas go!?” He or she, Birdie was very conflicted on what their pronouns were at this point, exclaimed feeling their chest.
“Oh my god, the lightning took your tatas.”
“Oh my god the lightning took my tatas.” Fritz stared at his chest in horror, then intrigue.
Birdie deadpanned at him, rolling her eyes. She took a look around while Fritz was groping himself. As she did so confusion hit her like a freight train. Her surroundings didn't make any sense. Not that anything in this situation did. As she took in her surroundings, she noticed the world around her looked oddly... candy like. The grass seemed sugary and felt almost gummy like under her fingers. The flowers around her looked to have stems of green colored chocolate, leaves of thin hard caramel and the petals looked like laffy taffy to her. The rocks looked more like rock candy and the entire area look unnaturally bright and colorful.
“... This is actually better.” Fritz words cut into Bridie’s musings
She blinked refocusing on him, “What didn’t like your tatas to begin with?”
Fritz ignores her comment, “No more back pain.” Fritz muses with awe in their voice. “No more periods!”
“... bitch--”
“Look at this muscle!” Fritz flexes.
Birdie scowls at him, mildly jealous. “You look like a highlighter.”
Fritz rolls his eyes, “I do not.” He argues back glaring a little at her.
“The lightning made you neon.” She retorts.
“The lightning made me a man.”
The two stare at each other for a long moment, scrutinizing each other's appearances like true best friends.
“Your hair is fucking orange.”
“Yours is green.”
Bridie picks up a stand of her hair and looks it over, “Its a mint color!”
“Your pastel!”
“You're a man!”
“You said that already!!”
“What even are your pronouns now!?”
“She- mmm actually.” Fritz looks at himself, “He/him.”
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“Good for you bestie.” Bridie’s voice drops to one of sincerity.
“Thank you.” Fritz places a hand on his chest, smiling.
As Bridie opened her mouth to say something when she was cut off by a different person, their voice cold and cutting.
“Ehem.” A masculine person judging from the octave clears his throat.
Both Birdie and Fritz’s heads snap in his direction. As they catch sight of the man they freeze, slightly startled by his appearance. Which they probably shouldn't have been considering everything that had happened in the last few minutes.
“Who would you two be and where are your badges?” The man’s voice was carefully monotone, his face a blank mask. He wore a green earthy toned uniform with a brown shield shaped badge with a stylized M on it. On his hip was what looked like taser or gun, Birdie couldn’t be sure.
“Uh... I'm Birdie?” She hesitates for a moment, this guy was definitely a cop.
“Fritz.” Fritz pauses before adding, “And as for the badges...” He trails off struggling to figure out what the right thing to say was.
“You do understand not wearing your badges is a crime?” The cop’s tone is sharp and pointed.
Birdie straightened up, “We don't have ours yet!” She snaps her fingers.
“I find that hard to believe.” The man glares voice still cold and calculating.
“We’re new here you see, we haven’t had the opportunity to, uh, acquire our badges.” Fritz adds, nodding along a little too quickly.
The man scrutinizes them, looking them both up and down, “I see... you fall into the trailmix category then...” He looks thoughtful.
Birdie mouths the word ‘trailmix’ back visibly confused before Fritz elbows her in the ribs.
“Immigrants.” The man clarifies.
“Oooooh... yes.” Birdie flashes a sheepish smile.
The cop face remains blank, “Follow me.” He turns on his heel gesturing for them to follow without another word.
“Ope- okay-” Birdie briefly hesitates before following in step, Fritz beside them. They walked out of the secluded area, which now that they had a chance to look around Birdie realized they had been in the middle of a park.
They walked onto the streets and Birdie couldn’t help but look around and marvel at the surrounding buildings and people. The ground was a marbled white in pink, smooth and stone-like. The general color pallet of the world around them was a mix of vibrant colors and pastels. The buildings all looked pastel, but the plants were a vibrant almost neon color. On top of that everything, much like the park, looked edible and sugary, like candies and pastries. The lamppost reminded her of suckers, the long white post topped with an orange circle with a darker orange swirl. The bushes looked to be made of thin leaf shaped caramels and the branches of colored chocolates.
“Keep up.” The cop's voice is sharp, cutting into Birdie’s focus, redirecting it.
Bridie shakes her head and blinks, tearing her focus away from the scenery around her back to the cop leading her. He had gotten further ahead while she was checking out the area. She picks up the pace, pulling Fritz by the arm with her. As she followed the cop, she noticed the people around them parted seamlessly, allowing them to catch up relatively quickly. As they walked Bridie can't help but let her eyes wander, looking at the colorful hair and clothes the people all around her wore. Aside from that, one thing stood out to her in particular. Each and every one of them wore heart shaped badges with a stylized S on them. Each person the badges were worn on the person’s chest right where their heart was, visible to everyone around them.
Birdie was so caught up in her observations she nearly ran into their guide-cop. As she looked forward again, she stops abruptly inches away from the cops' back. She took a step back as the cop turned to face them.
“We’re here.” His tone was clipped, straight to the point.
Birdie eye wandered to the building behind him. It was a small little thing tucked away in an alley. Above it was an old sign reading immigration office.
“Well that would explain why we couldn’t find it.” Fritz muses keeping up with their story.
Birdie nods along, “This place is rather tucked away isn't it?” She give a nervous smile to the cop.
He did not seem amused. Birdie’s smile dropped. Without a word the cop turns and opens the door, ushering them in with a stern look as he holds the door open. As Birdie and Fritz entered, they noticed the place was nearly empty. The only other person in the place was an elderly woman with thin snow-white hair and pasty skin. She wore a pair of glasses and a white sweater. She sat behind the counter, a slight scowl on her face. On her chest was a different badge, unlike the cops shield shaped badge or the towns folk heart shaped badge she wore a diamond shaped badge with a styled T.
“Mrs. Madeleine.” The cop greets, his tone curt as always.
“Andy” She greets back, her tone matching his own, “Why are you here?” Her voice is gruff and gravelly.
“Two new immagrants, they need their badges.” He keeps in short.
Madeleine looks Birdie and Fritz over her gaze scrutinizing. “Well, I’ll take them from here.”
With that Andy the cop nods, turns on his heel, and exits without another word. Leaving Birdie and Fritz alone with the mildly creepy woman.
“... Cops am I right?” fuck. That’s not what she meant to say.
The old lady raises a singular eyebrow at them.
Birdie gives a nervous smile.