Olivia and Sebastian

[Avenger Assembled]

Olivia was born in Illyria, Iowa about sixteen years ago. Her mother teaches English at the local high school and had planned (after consultation with her father, who ran the local funeral home) to name all her children after Shakespearean characters - but it was a difficult birth and there was only ever one of Olivia. That was all right, she was happy enough being herself. Of average build and average looks, she got through middle school and high school fine - until some peculiar things started to happen. 

 

It started with small things at first - bizarre dreams about being in a male body especially. Olivia reluctantly confided in her parents and was happy enough when they told her that if this was her way of coming out, they were completely supportive of her. But after a few weeks of thinking about that, even as the dreams and sensory impressions got more intense, she decided that wasn’t right either. Therapy tried to dig down to the roots of whatever was causing this but it didn’t really solve the problem. She wasn’t sick, just changing. 

 

Olivia is a once-in-a-universe anomaly, a cosmic gateway point between Earth-Prime and the universe sometimes called Earth-XX. She trades places with her double on that Earth whenever they sleep, a change so abrupt she even wakes up inside his clothing. (With this in mind, they’ve both taken to dressing in a gender-neutral style, especially to sleep.) She shares enough of a psychic and empathic link to Sebastian that they can communicate with each other in times of great stress, and generally they have a hazy impression of each other’s world that’s strong enough they can get by. 

 

Sebastian was born in Illyria, Iowa about sixteen years ago. His father teaches English at the local high school and had planned (after consultation with his mother, who ran the local funeral home) to name all his children after Shakespearean characters - but it was a difficult birth and there was only ever one of Sebastian. That was all right, he was happy enough being himself. Of average build and average looks, he got through middle school and high school fine - until some peculiar things started to happen.

 

It started with small things at first - bizarre dreams about being in a female body especially. Sebastian reluctantly confided in his parents and was happy enough when they told him that if this was his way of coming out, they were completely supportive of him. But after a few weeks of thinking about that, even as the dreams and sensory impressions got more intense, he decided that wasn’t right either. Therapy tried to dig down to the roots of whatever was causing this but it didn’t really solve the problem. He wasn’t sick, just changing. 

 

Sebastian is a once-in-a-universe anomaly, a cosmic gateway point between Earth-Prime and the universe sometimes called Earth-YY. He trades places with his double on that Earth whenever they sleep, a change so abrupt he even wakes up inside her clothing. (With this in mind, they’ve both taken to dressing in a gender-neutral style, especially to sleep.) He shares enough of a psychic and empathic link to Olivia that they can communicate with each other in times of great stress, and generally they have a hazy impression of each other’s world that’s strong enough they can get by.