Chapter 8: Practice Makes Perfect (Mort)

We got back from the doctor's a short while later, and I relayed Sarah and Anna's discovery's. D suggested I practice grabbing things with my tongue, since this could prove to be a useful skill in attaining snacks quickly, and with stealth.

Joyce rolled her eyes at this and went to make some tea. D set out some objects to practice on, and reluctantly, I tried to grab them with my tongue.

It took some time to work out how to use my tongue consciously, and I quickly discovered there were limits to what I could grab, weight being a factor, and also how good a grip I could get on things. I found I could lift a surprising amount. Though even given there were limits, it also took a lot of goes to get my aim in. Still, after some practice I could grab objects at range, and pull them up to my mouth.

At this point we had some tea, and I demonstrated my new skills by stealing biscuits off the plate before D could get them. This soon became a game of stealth and cunning, as D tried to trick and outwit me. Joyce seemed fairly amused at our antics. Eventually I got tired of the game, mainly because I'd had more than my fill of biscuits, so we just finished our tea.

After we were done Joyce said, "Why don't you two go out for a bit, and get some fresh air?"

"Yeah, we could go to the park. You can test out your body a bit, see what the doc meant about you being stronger, etc." D said.

"That sounds like a good idea, but make sure you're back before it gets dark." Joyce told us.

I followed D out of the house, and we headed down the street. I felt quite nervous and exposed, but since D was there, I didn't feel too bad. I still had a tendency to hunch up and try to look small, (which next to D was easily achievable without any effort), as well as keeping my hand and stump hidden in my pockets.

Joyce's and D's house was in a typical Victorian terrace, with small front gardens. So we passed quite a few houses where people were out taking advantage of the nice weather to do a spot of gardening. A few people waved to D and said hello, they didn't seem at all by my presence.

If I had done the same thing at home, I likely would have had insults or worse hurled at me. It was a strange feeling to wander about openly, and be treated as essentially a normal person.

I wondered whether it was just this neighbourhood that was friendly to those who had been changed by MORFS, or if maybe, the unfriendly places like Greenvale were the exception, rather than the rule. Buoyed up by the feeling of acceptance, I tried to stand straighter, and free my hands from my pockets.

We soon arrived at the park, was a small section of greenery with some paths for walking or running, a few wooded areas, and a large open playing field, as well as a small pond. There were a few people out enjoying the afternoon. D took us over to a set of what looked like kids climbing frames. On closer inspection, they were more rugged, taller, and not brightly coloured enough to be aimed at kids.

"They put these up a few years ago," explained D. "It is part of a fitness run you can do through the park." She took me over to a wooden wall that had some rough had holds on it. "Let's try some climbing to start with. With only one hand it'll be tougher, but I'll be here ready to catch you, should you slip"

I eyed the wall warily. It was quite tall, even given my increased height. Still, I decided to give it a go, and took a grip on the first hand holds. My sharp talon like nails gave me a good grip on the wood, and I found using just the nails and the tips of my fingers worked quite well. With some careful manoeuvring I was soon quite a ways up the wall. I had never been good at climbing, lacking the strength required, so it was a surprise to find it reasonably easy, even lacking a hand. I had to be careful of my grip, since I had to hold myself on three points, but I found that with some care it was possible.

My feet didn't grip quite so well and I was beginning to wonder if I would be better off barefoot, where I could use my similarly talon-like toenails for additional grip.

As I was thinking this, one of my shoes slipped, just as I had my hand away from the wall. I started to fall and scrabbled for a grip. Out of instinct, I slapped my hand flat against the wood, my fingers flat against the surface, just as my other shoe lost its footing. I found myself hanging by my hand which seemed to have stuck itself to the wood. I hung there, bemused for a bit. I realised this must be the increased grip Sarah had mentioned.

I found new places to grip with my feet and then tried pulling my hand free, it was stuck. I pulled for a bit, then relaxed and tried to manipulate my fingers so they would unstick. Next, I tried bending my fingers in, but given my hand was more or less flat on the wall I couldn't move them much.

Just as I had visions of having to spend the rest of my life glued to a section of wall, I relaxed my hand, trying to flatten the fingers so maybe they would come away from the wall. I was rather surprised when they kept bending from flat, and bent back on themselves, in the process, peeling themselves loose.

I realised it was a bit like Velcro, very strongly bonded unless you peeled the two halves apart. It seemed my digits were now all double jointed, so I could disconnect my self from a surface.

I jumped down to the ground and stood examining my hand for a while. "That was cool, I thought you were going to fall, but you just stuck there like you were glued on." D had a big smile etched into her features.

"It was a bit odd, just hanging there. I was a little concerned I was stuck for good for a bit," I replied, "It didn't take as much effort as I would have expected. The finger thing was a bit weird..." I bent my fingers back on themselves experimentally, and tried flexing my toes the same way.

I suddenly had an idea. "Hang on a sec! I want to try something."

I slipped off my shoes and socks, then walked over to the wall again. The rough stony ground didn't hurt as much as I had thought it would, I guess my scaled feet were tougher than normal skin.

I put the pads of my fingers flat against the wall and felt them stick, then hauling myself up a bit, pressed the toes of my left foot against the wall. I felt the same sensation of it sticking itself to the wall I'd got with my palm.

I repeated the process with my right foot. I was now hanging from the wall using none of the supplied hand holds, simply using my finger and toe pads to grip the wall. I slowly started to climb, getting the hang of using my double jointed fingers and toes to ungrip the wall. Below me, D let out a laugh as I soon scrambled my way to the top. Then, feeling adventurous, I turned round and climbed back down, head first. I didn't get dizzy or disorientated from the odd angles I was at. I guessed this was some aspect of my new body.

"That was so cool, you were like one of those little lizards running up a wall." D told me.

"That's probably where I got it from," I replied with a smile "It'd be even easier if I had both hands, though if the doc is right, that may well not be a problem soon."

"Let's try some more stuff", D exclaimed excitedly.

I put my shoes back on and we ran over to some more of the exercise equipment. D had me do some one arm pull-ups, which seemed reasonably easy. Then she had me practice jumping. I was surprised by how high and far I could jump, a lot further than I could have done before.

We then tried out my balance, which was still a little off, due to me not being used to my new body. D assured me that would improve given time.

I decided to play a trick on her by combining some of my newly discovered skills. I quietly slipped off my shoes and socks, then, when D's back was turned, I leaped up, and grabbed an overhead smooth metal beam, gripping it with my finger and toe pads. Then I switched on my invisibility and hung there motionless.

D turned back and I sensed her confusion as she looked round to see where I had gone. Then she noticed my shoes, and I felt the glitter of amusement even before she began laughing. "Damn, girl. If you work out a way to hide your shoes, you'll play a mean game of hide and seek."

Suddenly a voice called out, "It has finally happened! You've flipped, and are talking to an empty pair of shoes."

"Well I can't say I'm surprised you went nuts, though I'm amazed it took this long." a young girl said with a hint of amusement in her voice.

"Jane! How's my favourite human lie detector TK chick?" D said.

I twisted to get a better look and saw a small red headed girl with intense electric blue eyes walking towards us.

"Not bad, not bad. Seriously though, why are you talking to a pair of shoes? It makes you look like a real nutter."

"I'm not talking to the shoes, I'm talking to Little Miss Chameleon, whose shoes those are. She has hidden herself around here some place. Any hints, o' great telepath?"

"Hmm, ... I can normally sense people, but I can't get a fix on your friend there. Now that I'm trying hard, I can sort of tell there is someone there, but not localise it." Jane's voice sounded puzzled.

"Weird, guess Missy Stealth has some sort of anti telepath option on her invisibility shielding." D told her. "Anyway, come out, come out, wherever you are, as I don't want to get carted off to the funny farm for talking to a pair of shoes."

I laughed at that, and both D and Jane looked up at where I was hiding. I switched off my invisibility, which made Jane jump a bit, then unstuck my feet and lowered myself down by my hand. When I had my arm straight, I unstuck my fingers any dropped to the ground.

"Pah! Show off!" D smiled.

"How did you grip like that? It was as if your hand was stuck to the metal bar," Jane asked.

"Magic fingers," I replied, showing her my finger pads. "They grip things. Something to do with lots of really small hairs and intermolecular forces." I wiggled my fingers then bent them back on themselves.

"Gah! Don't do that!" said D. "It freaks me out."

"So, you're a telepath?" I asked Jane.

"Barely," she replied "I can sense people, their emotional state, and usually, tell if they are lying. I can't make out what they are thinking. It's like people talking just beyond your hearing. You can tell its talking, but not make out what's being said. If someone nearby mentally shouts at me, I can sometimes pick it up, and I can project thoughts at people, but my range sucks. I have a little bit of telekinesis as a side bonus, but it's pretty weak though. I can grab small objects and move them."

She turned towards D and prodded her then said, "So, D. Are you going to introduce us, or what?"