Evasive maneuvers

Ivy took point on leading the duo into the mall, remarking on the plan the whole while. Both she and Beth looked totally different, like absolute strangers with the outfits they'd borrowed and the faces they'd randomized, but since Amy had seen them and could recognize their face and outfit, they had to find a new plan fast. It took a few tries for Beth to randomize Ivy into a different look that wasn't a bit goofy--some of the purely randomized results look a bit out of place on a body, and she didn't want Ivy to stand out for all the wrong reasons, like an overly gigantic nose.

"Why don't we just hide in the bathroom or a dressing room right now or something?" Beth asked, glancing around the mall. It wasn't huge, but it offered plenty of stores to duck into, as well as a food court. She spotted a couple people she knew from the high school wandering around.

Ivy glanced at the other high schoolers. "Partly because we couldn't hide long when mall security and staff get suspicious when people are in a those places for long, but mostly because of others from school. Dean's well-connected, and if he posts online that he's looking for us and Amy tells him what we look like, there's a good chance that a few eyes in here might look around and would probably say something if mall staff started making a fuss about someone who wouldn't get out of the changing rooms."

A buzzing in Beth's hand eerily confirms Ivy's suspicion. She looks at the phone, and her eyes widen. "Look at this," she said and showed Ivy. The car had a camera in the rearview, probably for security purposes. "I think it came on when we parked, but... it shows me literally taking off and putting on a new face! They're going to know we can change faces!"

Ivy pondered for a moment, and frowned, seeing others look down at their phone and then glance up and around in the mall space. "We're going to have to get drastic, c'mon." Immediately they ducked into a clothing store, one that was popular with middle-aged moms. She starts grabbing clothes on the sale rack: mom jeans, chinos, some understated long-sleeve blouses, a baseball cap. She didn't really care what she picked, as long as it was done quickly, and she hurried to pay for it all. The process only took a couple of minutes, but when they peeked their head out of the store as they looked toward the bathrooms to change, they spotted Dean and Mark across the way, looking in a different store that would've been more likely for Ivy and Beth to enter if they didn't have the schemes of Luke to work with.

They hurried to the bathroom, and picked the extra large stall, keeping quiet as they both changed. Beth frowned at the attire--when she put on the mom jeans and blouse, it made her feel like she was going to pick up her kids from soccer practice or something! Ivy did the same, before pulling her blonde hair back into a ponytail and feeding it through the back of the hat.

Beth tried to stifle a giggle, a small respite of humor in this serious game of cat and mouse. "You do look like Mrs. McCall, like... remember when she took us camping in girl scouts?"

Ivy rolled her eyes. "AscendOS face parameter, age up twenty." Beth didn't see it, but when she repeated the same command for Ivy, she almost gasped as she saw the face naturally age before her eyes! Crease lines, bags under her eyes, and digitally applied makeup styles to match the older crowd all ended up on Ivy's face. It wasn't like she'd turned into a wrinkly dinosaur, but she did look like she was late thirties, at least in her face. The clothing helped hide the rest, well disguised for the mall.

Putting their old attire into shopping bags--Beth decided she was going to keep those skirt-pants from Amy as a 'gift' for all the troubles and didn't want to lose them--Ivy peeked out of the bathroom stall to confirm that the coast was clear. The only thing they hadn't changed out was their shoes, but Beth talked Ivy out of going that distance. "Fine, but if we aren't changing shoes, we're doing something else, and you have to put your acting to good use. ...Plus, I'm starving."

Curious what Ivy might be thinking, Beth followed behind as Ivy slipped out of the bathroom and went to one of those rent-a-stroller stations nearby. She grabbed one stroller, put some of the clothes from the bag inside and bundled it up like a baby might, and then turned it around toward Beth. "Congrats on the new kid, hon! We're going to hide in plain sight, the food court. I'll get us something to eat, we can keep an eye out for Dean, and I'll text Kelly or someone for a ride as soon as she can get here."

Beth rubbed her forehead. "Ivy, this is so much, don't you think? I get coming here so we didn't lead Dean to your house, but..."

Ivy left before Beth could finish, leaving Beth stranded at a table in the food court with a fake baby in a stroller. She immediately went into acting mode once she sat down, checking on the 'baby', talking to it, rocking the stroller lightly, while occasionally glancing up to look around. Beth tried to see the scenario the way Ivy did: it probably felt more like one of her stealth spy games than anything else, where anyone could be an agent, or unwittingly help the opposition. She'd spotted Dean and Mark as they exited another store, cutting through the food court on their way to check their next lead from the posts they were getting on their phone..!

Beth didn't like this at all, if they were going to criss-cross through the food court as a shortcut all the time. She decided to take action, when they walked by, and she stuck that stroller out slightly into the walking path so Dean tumbled into it on his phone, tipping the stroller a bit. "Hey, HEY!" Beth said, adopting a bit of a midwestern mom accent. "Watch where you're walkin' dere, yous guys! This is precious life in here, don'tcha know!"

...She may have laid it on a little thick, as she usually did on stage. But it served its intended purpose. "Sorry, sorry, jeez," Dean said as he shied away from eye contact, and he and Mark hurried away from her. Beth smiled, knowing they probably wouldn't be coming so close in the food court after all that.

Ivy came back with a tray with one of the combo boxes from the teriyaki place, and a couple of drinks, eyeing Beth as she approached. "I saw what you did, that was a big gamble."

Beth picked up a soda--and then put the knuckles from her hand she'd used to punch Mark earlier against it. "Ah, that feels so good," she said, sighing.

For a while, the two just pretended to be focused on the baby, or glued to their phone, or silently ate some of their meal as things finally calmed down. Ivy could hear Dean yelling in frustration at Mark. They thought they would've spotted the girls by now, even if they could alter their faces. He was bewildered, wanting to sweep again, posting for friends to go so far as to watch the parking lot for him. It was frightening the lengths that Dean wanted to go to find Beth, not even knowing what he might do if they caught her...

"Thanks for, uh, sticking up for me back at the party," Beth finally said, looking up at Ivy. She finally felt safe enough to relax a bit, with Dean having moved somewhere further into the mall. "Even if I had just been full Beth, Dean would've been a big problem." She shuddered a bit at the thought of what that might have meant.

Ivy nodded. "And I'm glad you did the same for me and Mark. The last thing I want to do is anything that drives a wedge between me and Jim."

Beth smiled a little, as she leaned forward. "Even if your totally hot friend Beth were to, y'know, mix things up?"

"I mean," Ivy started, speaking through some suppressed giggles, "I dunno, I... I really like you like this. How I am right now. How we all are. This went way different than I would have expected, and it's kind of scary, but... I feel pretty safe with you."

"Agreed," Beth said softly. "Things went a little too far today, but..." she trailed off, looking into Ivy's eyes. The look said it all: The James half and the Beth half fed together into a powerful attraction for the girl before Beth. She could see that Ivy was feeling the same way--Luke and Ivy, combined, was seeing Beth in a new light, and the attraction was palpable. All in one body, they were each others' friends, dating material, and now heroes and partners-in-crime in a whole new way. In those two bodies, that only seemed to solidify bonds they didn't even know they had!

Beth could feel it again, as did Ivy, that strong attraction toward one another that they felt when James and Luke first ended up in the swimsuit-clad bodies at the pool party. But now instead of just being based off of physical attraction, there was so much more pulling them together.

Ivy's phone buzzed, and she looked down. "Kelly's here to take us home. North lot. We just need to keep the illusion up a bit longer and we'll get out undetected. Then... let's do something, just us."

Beth nodded, looking forward to whatever that meant. Still... they had been pretty safe in their food court bubble, but the thought of an enraged Dean and Mark still prowling around was scary. They still needed to make that final trip, and hopefully avoid detection, for just a bit longer...