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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Of course he is. Kaylee would think there was something wrong with him if he wasn't having fun with this. He does like showing off, after all.

She eyes the new path carefully. "So he ain't gonna pop back over 'n see what we're up to, then?" Not that she thinks Jamie would put her anywhere she might get in trouble with a big angry alien creature, but it doesn't hurt to check. Kaylee reminds herself of that and steps out onto the path, looking back to make sure Jamie's coming.

For answer, Jamie reaches up and breaks off a very large leaf with a long stem. It releases a pungent odor that - while not unpleasant - certainly does not smell anything like people. Setting it down for a moment, he unsheathes his dirk and cuts a bit of vine for good measure, then ties the leaf to it.

"This should keep him away from us," he says, putting the dirk away again. "I'll just drag it behind us while we go."

He does just that, hanging back a step or two behind Kaylee so the leaf masks their trail. He's close enough that if there's danger, he can step in. There's not, though, and they walk that way for awhile before coming to a small bend in the path, with a glimpse of the clearing just beyond. Jamie reaches over to stop Kaylee, dropping the leaf in the process. They're far enough along that they don't need it now.

"Wait! Before ye go in, I need ye to close your eyes."

Well, he's just thought of everything, hasn't he. Kaylee walks cautiously ahead, just in case the Areent decides to double around and catch them from the other side. It never does, and before she knows it the clearing is in sight.

Jamie's hand on her arm is enough to stop her, and she gives him a somewhat exasperated look. But she listens and does it anyhow, closing her eyes and putting her hands over them for good measure.

"You steer me into any trees 'n you're gettin' your ears boxed."

"Would I drag ye all that way just to do that?" Jamie comments dryly. Truth is, however, he could never do that to her - even jokingly. Hopefully she knows that. There's another reason for his request. He gently places his hands on her shoulders, turning her so she's facing the most open portion of the path.

"Ye can hear it better, if ye aren't looking at first."

What 'it' is becomes evident as he guides her down the trail, carefully avoiding any trees or other obstacles. There is a faint hum at first, then as they get closer, the sound becomes more distinct, sounding almost as if someone is singing softly. The music blends surprisingly well with the whispers and other faint noises of the jungle, so it's not until they step fully into the clearing that it'd be even loud enough to pick up on by anyone distracted by looking around them.

Jamie stops, then, and murmurs to Kaylee, "Ye can open your eyes now." If she does, she'll see what looks like a large waterfall at the opposite end of the clearing, although the water looks rather more like it is made up of tiny crystals rather than liquid. The singing noise from earlier is clearly coming from that location, although there are a few birds in the area that seem to be joining in.

"Well, what do ye think?"

"No, s'pose you could'a saved half the trouble and directed me toward one at the beginnin', but then it wouldn't be a surprise." Mean surprise. Thank goodness she knows Jamie isn't mean, but it never hurts to check.

It's hard to relax into letting him lead her at first, especially with shadows from trees playing with her eyes. She flinches once or twice, worried there might be a tree there, but Jamie's true to his word and she never once runs into or trips over anything.

As they get closer to their destination, Kaylee's worry fades into curiosity. She focuses in on the sound, and can't help but wonder what it is and where it's coming from. Upon opening her eyes she simply gapes at the scene, trying to take every little detail in.

"It's měilì," she whispers.

[[ Translation: beautiful ]]

Now that was an expression Jamie was hoping to see, and it makes the entire adventure a success in his mind. However, there's one other thing he owes her for her troubles. So while she's looking around, he's scanning the edges of the clearing, looking for a certain tree.

"Ah!" he exclaims once he's spotted it, and he steps away from her side. She's perfectly safe here, and he won't be too long. It does wind up taking him few minutes to get what he wants, mostly because he's shorter than normal. It makes gathering things a wee bit more difficult.

Eventually, however, he's able to master grabbing and pulling down the branch he wants while cutting off two pieces of fruit. Unlike the giant peaches - which weren't actually peaches - these look to be perfectly normal sized starfruit. Perfectly ripe as well, judging by the color of the skin. Walking back over, he offers her one.

"Ye can eat this one, if ye like."

The little mechanic is far too busy taking everything in to mind (or even notice) Jamie moving away. There's just so much to see, and it's all beautiful, and she wishes she could pocket up every inch of it and take it back to Serenity with her to look at whenever she wanted.

Not that Jamie would approve of that, given his stance on pictures.

"What is it?" The fruit handed to her is looked over with confusion. She's never seen one before, and she's not sure how to go about eating it.

He might be willing to make an exception to some pictures - especially if she happened to take them while he's nowhere to be found. Even he has to admit this is a beautiful place.

"It's something called a star fruit. It grows on Earth too, from what the Doctor's said. There was a colony here at one point, and the Doctor thinks they must have brought it with them."

Unsheathing his dirk, he uses it to trim off the brown edges of the fruit he's holding, then cuts off the end of the fruit and discards it. It's been a while since he had the brownies, and he's gotten comfortable enough with the knife that it doesn't take him much longer than normal to do so. Cutting off a slice, he holds it up. Once cut, it looks like a star.

"Here, try this piece first and see if ye like it."

Grows on Earth. Huh. Kaylee inspects the fruit carefully, turning it over in her hands several times. It's...kind of understandable that it's called a starfruit, based on its outer shape. Once Jamie cuts it open she understands the name a bit better.

"Where's here?" she asks, taking the slice from him. She bites into it slowly, as she does with every fruit. Fresh fruit is hard to come by, and is meant to be savored, the end. Anyone who doesn't take time to appreciate it, well...they're probably Jayne.

The starfruit is sweet and tangy and wonderful, and Kaylee nods her approval to Jamie between bites. Minus the gorram brownies and her being stuck as a kid, it's actually turned out to be a fantastic day. A note is made, somewhere in the back of Kaylee's mind, that she really has to do something amazing for Jamie in return. For now, though, she'll stick to appreciating her snack.

While Kaylee is testing out the starfruit, Jamie cuts himself a slice as well. It's been awhile since he's eaten this particular fruit, and part of him hopes that Stacy's able to fill in the gaps with the taste.

"New Oberon," he replies. "At least, that's what the colonists called it." According to the survivors they had found, anyway. Jamie doesn't really want to get into what had happened during their time here, as it would spoil what has also been a good day for him as well. So he concentrates on eating his piece of starfruit.

It tastes rather like he remembers, and he's distracted by it long enough that he doesn't notice the rather odd sensation accompanying it immediately. However, since he's got the belt on the kilt cinched in, the fact that it's suddenly gotten much tighter does register after a few seconds.

"Hey?"

Looking down, he realizes two things. One, the brownies seem to have worn off and he's his normal size again. And two, between the belt and the rolled up sleeves and legs of the plantsuit, he's a wee bit uncomfortable.

New Oberon. Well, wherever it is, Kaylee likes it. Even if it does have giant Areents guarding the shiniest parts of it.

Kaylee's about to start in with more questions when Jamie's, "Hey?" catches her ear. One look over at him--up at him, rather, how weird--and she's giggling before she's able to stifle it.

"Should I turn 'round while you adjust?" Come to think of it, if Jamie's changed back it's probably a good idea that Kaylee checks over her own clothes to make sure they're ready for when the brownies she ate wear off.

He's actually already considering try to make it to the side of the clearing - because the belt is starting to press into his skin through the plantsuit in a way that's downright painful, but that would work too.

"Aye, if ye don't mind," he manages to get out, trying not to let it show just how uncomfortable he is right now. Good thing he didn't age down any younger than he had, or things could have been considerably worse.

"Won't take me long."

"Not a problem."

Kaylee turns around, and even takes a few steps back toward the trees to give Jamie a little more privacy. She's got to check over her own clothing anyhow, which is also easier if Jamie's preoccupied...

The sleeves go over fine, and she straightens them out with am extra tug to make sure they're over her wrists alright. It's not until she goes to unroll her pantlegs that she realizes that, somewhere between turning around and tugging at her sleeves, she's turned back too.

Ah, well, makes life easier. "You alright, Jamie?"

A few adjustments later, and Jamie lets out a internal sigh of relief. Things are no longer threatening to strangle other things and this is very good.

Kaylee's line of thinking works well, as he's too distracted by everything to even really look at her. So it's not until she speaks up that he realizes that she's turned back as well. "Aye, I am. I don't know about ye, but I'm glad that part of it's over."

The rest of it, though, he finds he doesn't particularly want to end just yet, if he can avoid it. Retrieving his dirk, he cuts off another few slices of the starfruit and offers her another piece. "Do ye have time to finish these or do ye need to get back?"

Kaylee has to agree: nothing like being little again to make you appreciate being big. "Makes you appreciate growin' up just a bit more, yeah?" Even if she does miss the playing aspect of things.

The piece of starfruit is accepted and bitten into without complaint, and Kaylee chews on it thoughtfully as she double checks her Omnicom. "I can spare a moment or two, 'specially for somethin' like this. Ain't somethin' you see often, and you gotta enjoy things as they come."

Engineering can wait a few minutes before she gets there. Right now there is fun to be had.

It does just that, and Jamie nods, in complete agreement with Kaylee's statement. "Aye," he says, rather fervently.

He nibbles on his piece of starfruit while she checks the Omnicom, and when she agrees to stay, he looks rather pleased. He could point out that since it's the Sensoriums he could think it up again whenever she liked, but then she might decide to go. So he keeps that thought to himself, and points over towards the waterfall.

"There's a wee area just up ahead where a tree's fallen over. We can go sit there."

It's a very bonny place up close. So it's there he chooses to enjoy those last few minutes with her, until they head their separate ways.

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The Sinking Feeling You Get When You Eat Magic Food

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