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trans_92011-05-20 01:37 pm
hatngartersnake.livejournal.com) wrote in trans_92011-05-20 01:37 pm
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I Can't Sit But I Can Slide [open]
Down in the City, there was a very determined yellow snake climbing the outside of the bathhouse.
Princess Jeka knew that there was a warm place on top of the bathhouse. She vaguely remembered helping design it, or at least making suggestions about how it could be designed. She could technically go inside the bathhouse and get her heat there, but that’s a wet heat and she only liked wet heat when she was shedding.
As she stopped to catch her breath, wrapped around one of the supports, she wondered how she used to get up here so easily. Something about…flying or something. Well, she sprocking (hee hee! How daring!) well wished she could remember how to fly if she’d learned it!
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He thought he knew most the animals on the ship but it always seemed like there was someone else to meet.
Swooping down as a hawk he veered off so he wouldn't scare her and shifted back to human when he landed trotting over. To examine this one.
"Cooool!"
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"Ooh, are you a Durlan?" the princess asked excitedly, tightening her grip on the beam and leaning down as he approached. No Durlans had ever come to Orando, at least not officially. But they were the only shape-shifting race she knew of off the top of her head.
Of course, it was probably terribly rude to come right out and ask that. Oh dear.
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The princess tilted her head thoughtfully. "Human", was he? Green was a very odd color for a human, all the ones she'd seen had ranged from pinkish-beige to brown. Maybe he was from some distant off-shoot species? Very distant, if he'd never heard of Durlans!
"My apologies, that was a little rude of me, wasn't it?" She inclined her head in a bow in response. "I am Princess Jeka of the planet Orando."
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Princess Jeka tittered in response to his shifting. "I suppose that you don't share the average humanoid's fear of snakes, do you?"
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"Not really nope. I think they're...well you're, whatever, I think snakes are cool. There are so many species and each has something special about them!" If it was possible for the species of snake that he had turned into the grin he would have.
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Jeka cocked her head to the side as he hissed at her. She could read his body language with some confidence, but she couldn't make out what he was trying to communicate verbally. Her native language was Interlac, albeit with a tendency toward hissing.
"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't quite understand you like that," she said. "Could you repeat yourself?"
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"Oh, no trouble at all," the princess replied. "I just don't speak...whatever language you were speaking. I didn't even know there were sentient snakes on Earth!"
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"I suppose there must be some reality where Earth snakes evolved into a sentient species," Princess Jeka agreed. "But as far as anyone knows in my reality, Orando is unique in known space."
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"Would you like a lift?" He offered extending a hand. "I could probably save you some climbing. Unless you're having fun that is."
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Princess Jeka giggled. "I quite like the sound of it myself. And yes, a lift would be lovely. I don't object to hard work when it's necessary, but the climb isn't really the goal here!"
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She ended up being draped over his head and shoulders (she wasn't exactly a small snake), but she was shooting skyward on the head of some kind of bizarre creature before she could even worry she was going to crush him. "Yeeeek!"
Fortunately, he'd positioned her in such a way that she reflexively wrapped around his head instead of that ridiculously long neck. She laughed as he lowered her to the roof.
"How absolutely marvelous! Thank you so much!"
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The serpentine princess giggled again and bowed.
"Thank you ever so much for your assistance, Beastboy of Earth" she said in her best grand-ceremony voice. "We appreciate it."
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Walking past the bathhouse, the blue-haired girl stopped and noticed the snake climbing up one of the supports. She couldn't help but blink - the only snake-like person on the ship she knew was Jeka... was there another? Or did something wander out of hydroponics?
Curiosity took over as she approached the snake. "Um... you okay?"
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"Yes, I'm fine," Princess Jeka answered. "I'm just trying to get to the roof." She craned her neck around to see who was speaking to her, squinting thoughtfully and reaching out gently with her senses -- ah!
"Princess Sasami! How are you?"
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It wasn't that she was surprised that this who it was. She was surprised that this was how she really was.
It didn't deter her from wanting to help. "Get to the roof? But... can't you fly?" She remembered her floating before, so...
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"'Princess Jeka' please," the Orandian said primly. "I seem to have forgotten to instruct people to call me by my title, which was something of a lapse on my part." Father would have been furious with her. "And no, I don't believe that I can fly. I have memories of something that might be flight, but they're confusing. I mean, I seem to recall having hair and arms as well, of all the things!"
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...the clock! she thought, trying to hide her surprise. She calmed down enough so that she didn't worry her friend.
"Well, I do remember you being able to do so, Princess Jeka..." Sasami said. "...though, if you do need help, I don't mind giving you a hand. One princess to another."
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"So I'm not misremembering things then?" Princess Jeka asked, a little unhappily. "Oh dear. I'm certainly not complaining about the flight, and arms would be handy -- if you'll forgive me the pun -- but I'm not certain I like the idea of being transformed." She sighed. "I know that most humanoids find Orandians unsettling, but I like the way I look."
She brightened at Sasami's offer to help, though. "That would be lovely, thank you so much. Do you know if there's a ladder up top or anything?"
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At the mention of a ladder, Sasami took up a thoughtful post. "A ladder... I... think there might be! Hold on!" With that, she turned to run off to double check at least one place.
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"I do appreciate it, thank you," Princess Jeka said, smiling. As Sasami ran off, she slithered back down the support beam and trailed after her.
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Curious, she circled over head once before bringing herself down carefully on the roof of the Bath house, the roof now designed to take the weight of one such as herself landing on it since the addition of the upper level. Padding over to the edge she peered her head over the edge to the large yellow snake, assuming it was a crew member, though she didn't recognize her, at least she assumed her, from scent, "Hello there!"
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"Oh, hello!" Princess Jeka said, peering up at the person peering down at her. "I don't suppose you could help me up? This is a tad...inconvenient." She'd been thinking about saying "undignified", but no, she was a princess of Orando. Work and struggle was not beneath her dignity, her mother had made sure she knew that.
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"My goodness, how marvelous!" Princess Jeka squeaked when the dragon-like person lifted her up into the air without touching her. "Thank you very much! If it's not impolite of me to ask, can everyone of your species do that?"
She blinked at the mention of stairs and peered in the direction indicated. "Oh dear, don't I feel silly now."
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She couldn't help but give a small chuckle, shaking her head, "Don't worry about it," she replied with a smile before going on, "I'm Celena, a pleasure to meet you,"
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"It certainly seems like it would be!" Princess Jeka agreed, slithering into one of the sandpits without taking her eyes off of her conversation partner.
"I am Princess Jeka of the planet Orando, it's a pleasure to meet you as well."
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"Princess Jeka? Would you be the same Jeka that who helped in the construction of this upper level?" She tilted her head curiously, the other certainly looked near nothing like she had but it was far from impossible with the deaging going on about.
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"What else can you do with those energies?" Princess Jeka asked, tilting her head at an inquiring angle as she settled into her pit of choice. Mmm, such lovely warm sand!
"I seem to recall something along those lines, yes," she admitted. "Unfortunately, this deaging thing has left my memories in a bit of a jumble. I can't quite make sense of some of them."
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"I can imagine that such a process would cause much confusion through memories, especially with such a drastic change in form it would seem,"
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"My goodness, you can do all of those?" Princess Jeka asked. "How absolutely marvelous!" She leaned in to inspect the illusion Celena projected, cocking her head in confusion. "How odd, I have absolutely no idea what would cause a transformation like that."
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"It does appear to be a rather radical change from your current form to how you appeared when we first met, curious,"
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"The only species I know of in my reality that can shape shift are the Durlans," the princess said. "And they certainly can't do all of those other things without some sort of technological help!
"It is indeed," she agreed, still peering at the illusion. "...I don't look very happy, do I? And I don't recognize that symbol on the belt I'm wearing either. I wonder what happens -- happened? This aging backward thing makes tenses very confusing! -- to me to cause that."
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"It is hard to say, the topic had not come up in conversation between us, I would be interested in getting to know you better if you would allow once this is all fixed, princess," She dipped her head with a smile.
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"Magic, that would explain it," Princess Jeka agreed with a nod of her head. It wasn't particularly common on Orando, but there were rumors of objects with powers that could only be such within known space. And really, on a omni-dimensional spacecraft, it made sense that there were people aboard with magical abilities. "How very interesting!"
The princess' forked tongue flickered out, tasting the air as she considered. "No, I probably wouldn't have talked about it, whatever it is. But I certainly would not object to speaking further with you once the situation is rectified. Hopefully, I haven't changed as dramatically in personality as I have in appearance."