For Whom The Bell Tolls
Steven's POV
I sat in the living room of hell house listening to Axl, Izzy, Duff, and Slash discussing ways to get Nikki to return to planet Earth and actually put in some leg work on trying to resolve this shit. They have plotted a thousand ways to simply get this motherfucker to give. They're going about this all fucking wrong. All they gotta do is get Nikki to simply admit, out loud, that he likes being Duff, that he envies him. I just know that's all it's gonna take. How fucking hard could that be? Shit, and they say I'm the idiot.
Finally I just snap. I don't know what sets me off really, maybe their redundant plotting. But I jump up and yell at them to listen to me. I get the normal fucking shit telling me to sit down and shut the fuck up, but it's time somebody fucking listens to me. It's when I chunk my beer across the room that their bellyaching starts to stop. Now they're all looking at me with wide eyes.
"All the fuck you have to do is get him to admit he envies Duff's life! That's it! Don't you guys fucking see that?! It's plain as day! I'm sure Duff will gladly confirm that he was in awe of being Nikki! Same shit with Nikki! Look at these two lovebirds," I point at Axl and Izzy, "It took all of three fucking words to change them back! And that's all the fuck it'll take with Duff and Nikki! Three fucking words! I! Envy! You!!"
"Steven..." Slash sighs.
"No! Goddamnit, I'm right!" I shout.
"Come on Stevie, just calm down," Izzy calmly says in his calm Izzy way and it just further pisses me off. I'm fed the fuck up with nobody taking me fucking seriously.
"You've tried everything else! Why not try this?! What the fuck do we have to lose?! It either works or it doesn't! But it will!" And I don't know why I'm right, but I am. I just know I am. It just made fucking sense when nothing else did.
"What if he's right?" Duff asks looking at me with one of Nikki's defeated looks.
"I am!" I assure them.
"Stranger shits happened I suppose," Axl sighs and extends out another beer to me. A peace offering.
I take the beer and sit back down and swill it. They're not looking at me like I'm an idiot anymore at least. But they don't think that it'll work. I don't give a shit what they think as long as they give it a damn try. It hurts absolutely nothing to try this. If, by some strange reason it doesn't work, well then they can come up with whatever they want. But I'm fucking right!
"So how do we do it?" Izzy asks me from behind a cigarette and a plume of smoke.
"Easy. Him and Duff can hang out. Get drunk maybe. Duff can just try to get it out of him. All he has to get Nikki to say is 'I envy you'.," I try to explain as simply as I can.
Duff nods Nikki's head, "W...What if I can't get him to say that?"
"You have to. You're the only one who can," I tell him.
Duff turns Nikki's head to Axl and Izzy. "What's it feel like when you switch back?"
"The world started spinning," Axl says and swirls his finger.
"It was kinda like a spinning acid trip," Izzy adds.
"Yeah, definitely tracers," Axl nods.
Duff smirks the side of Nikki's mouth, "Great, so when I start tripping, I got it right?"
Axl and Izzy merely nod. Damn if switching back involved feeling high Nikki might actually like it.
"Guys I'm sorry shits kinda on hold because of me," Duff hangs Nikki's head.
"It's not you man, it's Sixx," Slash tells him.
"He can't possibly just become you. It's Nikki. He's gonna get bored or something I mean no offense Duff, but how fucking great can your life be?" Izzy shrugs.
"Guess it's better than I thought," Duff huffs, "he's holding my entire life hostage. At least with you two it was different you know... You guys were just so ...I dunno, but it's not like me and Nikki. I want my fucking body back. Every time I look in a mirror it just feels like it's me. Like I'm becoming him. Sometimes I feel myself thinking like him. Some things I can't even control anymore. I'm scared you guys. I'm scared of becoming him and losing myself."
"Don't worry Duff, we'll never let that happen," Slash consoles him.
Duff just looks at him, "What if it already has?"
