trans_9 | The Sinking Feeling You Get When You Eat Magic Food

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The Sinking Feeling You Get When You Eat Magic Food

Welcome meatship crewmembers to the instrument of pure silly.

It had been a long period of waiting, but a prank was about to be issued after these dire dark times. As such, tables were set up around the WITCH Bus and other locations, unmanned stands where Lemonade and Brownies were available with the compliments of your friendly companions.

Do you dare risk chocolately goodness or sour-sweetness to discover it's dark delicious secrets?

(ooc: tag around, bug others and feel free to continue to madness. IC duration is about a day. Unless you deliberately take more with you. As a reminder, Lemonade brings you up ages to a good looking adultish level. Brownies turn you into kids. GO NUTS. Refer to the ooc post for details and ask questions there.)

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Oops. Billy didn't mean to bother his friend. "I would hate to see Stacy shrink, true. We may very well be safe enough. But what fun did you have in mind?"

He'll keep worrying, but he definitely won't push too hard. Not in this strange state.

"Well, we can gu..." Jamie had been about to say 'guddle fish' but then he remembers that Billy and fish don't really get along well. Somehow, Jamie thinks that teaching Billy how to tickle them so they can be grabbed out of the water might not go over so well, so he amends what he is going to say.

"...go to the Sensoriums and try our hand at bowl toss or some other games. Unless ye would rather go riding instead?"

Billy would appreciate that thought. He suspected that in this form, close to his age when the fish fear had started, he'd be even more averse to them than usual.

"Riding? What kind of riding?"

"Horse riding," Jamie says promptly, then looks Billy up and down for a brief moment, considering his friend's new size. He'll have to think of some small ones for both of them - something akin to a modern pony, perhaps - but he's confident they'll still be able to ride.

That is, if Billy has any experience. Jamie isn't entirely sure, never having thought to ask before. "Er...have ye ever ridden horses?"

"One horse and one pony," he answers. "Renne taught me to ride bareback, but I haven't practiced in a while."

Billy looks cautiously curious about the whole experience. He doesn't want to make a fool of himself again, but if he worries he'll never try anything new.

That's better than he had thought, and Jamie looks pleased. "Aye, that should be fine. I can help ye if ye need it." He's been riding horses all his life, so even in this smaller form he should be fine once he gets readjusted.

"Do ye want to give it a go, then?"

"All right. Just promise not to laugh too hard when I inevitably have problems," he said, still in that self-depreciating mode he was so familiar with.

"Lead the way, sir!" Though this might be fun, now that he thinks about it.

"Would I ever do that?" Jamie asks, rather dryly. "I know, I'll be sure to think up an especially wee pony for ye." He's not serious, of course, and there's a brief flash of his crooked grin as he heads off towards the Sensoriums.

Once there, it's easy enough to think of a open stretch of the moors he's so familiar with, as well as two appropriately sized equine companions, currently browsing contentedly on some coarse grasses nearby a handily situated rock.

"Now, are ye sure you'd not want me to think of a saddle for ye?"

"It isn't likely, but possible..." That smile was still the same, which was oddly comforting. They were still themselves.

Billy took a moment to breathe in the simulated air, eyes scanning the landscape around them. "I think I can manage it," he says nervously, and there's a saddle.

Now to climb up. Is he still as flexible and able to do this? Billy decides to watch Jamie first.

"Aye, all right." Billy may or may not get much help from watching Jamie, who has decided a saddle is completely unnecessary and manages to get on the back of his horse with very little difficulty - although without the aid of stirrups, that nearby rock is useful.

With a small clucking noise and the use of his knees, he guides the horse a short way out and away so Billy can also utilize the impromptu step if need be. He circles around and back so he can make sure everything will be okay for his friend.

"Let me know if ye need me to come over."

"Okay, here." Billy first tries carefully vaulting up, a move he'd seen Kimberly try on the gym mats many times. He fails to gain enough momentum and falls. "Oof, alright!"

He reluctantly clambers up on the rock, fixing one foot into the stirrup. He just has to swing the other over, not...fall. Again. By now, he's completely flushed with embarrassment and patting the horse in apology. "I'm sorry. Here, one more try," he calls, pushing up and leaning over rather awkwardly. Soon, he's straightened everything out and nudged---forward, right?

Fortunately, Billy has the world's most patient horse. Somehow, Jamie just knew something like that was going to happen, and he tweaked his thoughts appropriately.

Jamie's own horse moves in such a way that suggests it's impatient to be off, but the Scot murmurs, a soothing sound barely audible beyond the immediate area he's in. The horse flicks its ears back at him, but stays put. "That's a good girl," he says a little louder, rubbing her neck for a moment while watching Billy's attempt.

Forward it is, once things are settled, and Jamie keeps his mare to a fairly sedate pace, allowing Billy time to get adjusted. He does nudge her over so he can talk to his friend, however. "Wherever did ye learn that trick ye used to try and get on the first time?"

Billy, still flushed with frustration, tries to calm himself enough to stay focused. At least he mostly remembers the weight shifts needed for steering.

"When I started to learn how to fight, Kimberly trained me in gymnastics. It was to help build my strength and evasion, and it helped, but it's difficult to move that precisely with my radically altered center of gravity and limb proportions."

He pats the horse again, murmuring "I'm sorry you're to put up with such a clumsy rider."

"Gymnastics? Oh, aye, that." Jamie's voice has that tone in it that it gets when he's not entirely sure what it is someone's talking about, but is choosing to pretend otherwise.

"Her name's Fiona," he says then, referring to Billy's little mare. "Or it would be, if we were back in Scotland during my time." As opposed to the Scotland-in-Jamie's mind where they are currently. "We all learned how to ride with her help."

Fiona whickers at her name, and continues to plod along stoically, completely unconcerned with any clumsiness on Billy's end.

"She is...er, was...a good wee mare. You'll do fine on her."

Edited 2010-11-29 06:37 (UTC)

Billy knows Jamie well enough to catch that and waves his hand. "It's an athletic activity involving the manipulation of body muscles in complex pattern, producing an appearance that's interesting. It's highly dangerous, and Kim's hurt herself a few times. I'll show you when this is over."

If it's over. They are going to change back, right?

Billy pushes those thoughts out of his mind and proceeds with gently getting to know Fiona as they ride. He won't push her too hard. "You go on ahead. We'll catch up eventually," he offers.

"Aye," Jamie says, pushing similar thoughts aside. He still doesn't want to think about being stuck like this forever. Or, worse, going through puberty all over again. That would not be something he'd care to do at all.

He looks at Billy questioningly, uncertain about the offer he makes. "Are ye sure?" He's tempted to just go and let his own more spirited mare have her head, but is reluctant to take off without his friend. "I'd not want to leave ye behind."

Billy responds with a nod. He wishes he could gallop free and keep up, but lagging behind is his 'thing'. He's used to it by now.

"I'll take the the time to think. Go on, we'll meet again soon."

"Well...alright." Making sure he has a firm grip first, Jamie finally lets the mare do what she wants, and the small brown horse takes off at a high rate of speed. Jamie clings onto her back like some overgrown burr, and if the expression on his face is anything to judge by, he's enjoying himself immensely.

After a bit, however, Jamie brings the horse back down from a gallop to a walk. Even if she's a virtual horse, he doesn't want to run her too hard...and it'll give Billy a chance to catch up while he starts the cooling-down process.

Billy watches him gallop off, a faint smile on his face. He sighs, pats Fiona's mane once more, and manages to ride more steadily without an audience.

He nudges Fiona in invitation to trot at whatever pace is most comfortable for her, then lapses into his worries. If this age magic won't fade on its own, I need to either reverse it, circumvent it, or adapt. Obviously, losing my powers is one of the biggest problems. I need to adjust some small arms for my use and invent defenses comparable to that armor---assuming that the reversal fails.

There have to be some ways to reverse this process, though---causing cells to replicate and hormones to release at an accelerated rate shouldn't be too difficult. We just need a cocktail of stimulants, or...isn't there a growth property in the Power Morphers? I could look at that. That's enough cause to hang onto hope for a little while longer,

Fiona seems ready to speed up a little, so he allows her to with an encouraging tap. But his thoughts remain far away. Perhaps as far away as Jamie.

Further along the trail, Jamie is on his own horse - we'll call her Blossom - moving at a slow walk. He, too, is lost in his own thoughts.

I'd not realized how much I missed riding like this. That last time all I could think about was that I'd not be able to catch up to Lady Jennifer before the soldiers reached us. Aye, and look how well that turned out. I suppose it doesn't matter now, though. She's either in the pods or...well, no point in thinking about that.

Hey, I wonder where Billy's gotten off to?

Jamie cranes his head back to see where his friend is, and realizes that he's gotten further ahead than he meant to, even with the much slower pace he's currently using. Guiding Blossom to a stop, he slips off of her and thinks up a simple rope halter so he can walk her around in a circle for a bit. No sense in making Billy do too much riding, if he's not used to it.

Billy realizes, much to his further embarrassment, that he can't even see Jamie anymore. Maybe...yes, he should adjust his glasses. That helps, but he still needs direction.

Which way?

Helpfully, a cloud seems to point in a specific direction. Ah, there. He slides his leg back to steer, trotting off down the path. "I wonder if you're impatient too," he tells Fiona along the way. "I'm sorry. Anything that doesn't involve the physical sciences takes me an unusually long time to learn. I suppose it involves biology, but that isn't my best subject."

Before too much longer, Billy comes into view and approaches with that thoughtfully sad look. When they're close enough, he manages to bring the horse to a stop.

"I'm sorry I took so long."

Jamie shakes his head, feeling there's no need to apologize in this instance. "Och, not your fault. I got too far ahead of ye. I've not been able to ride for the joy of it in a long time."

He looks up at his friend on the horse. Billy seems more at ease in the saddle, but he's got that look on his face that means he's been thinking. And, if he knows his friend, worrying. Jamie could call him on it, or he could go for trying to distract him other ways. Hmm...did Renne teach Billy how to cool down the horse as well as ride it?

"Look, if you're done, we should probably start getting Fiona cooled down. Unless ye would like to ride a wee bit longer?"

"Don't worry, I've spent more time lagging behind in sport than anything else. If you ever get the chance, ask my friends---they'd tell you." It's too true, especially at the more intense sports.

Cool down? He knew the general idea, but definitely not the procedure. "Of course," Billy answers too easily, climbing down more gracefully than he'd gone up and giving a pat. "Er...how do I do that?"

"Aye, maybe someday I'll be able to." Although - he rather suspects that if Billy's friends wake up, they'll wind up having a lot more on their mind than discussing Billy's perceived lack of athletic abilities. Because, honestly? Jamie thinks Billy's doing just fine, even if he's not too familiar with horses.

He obligingly thinks up a rope halter for Fiona. "Walk her a wee bit first, and then we'll go from there."

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The Sinking Feeling You Get When You Eat Magic Food

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