Looking For A Lost Friend

[museicalmarty]

Have a confused Marty wandering around the general question area, looking like he's searching for something -- or, rather, someone. "Where the hell -- okay, you know what? Place is for questions -- anybody seen Victor? He said he was going to 'clear his head' about an hour ago, and we thought he'd be back by now."

[For those curious, Victor does happen to be in the Nexus -- passed out on a rather large couch that Marty just hasn't come across yet, thanks to the weird way space and directions work in this place. Maybe it thought he needed the sleep]

Comments

[museicalmarty]

Well, you can't blame us for that -- that's evolution. For some reason.

I know, I know, but -- it's one thing to think about it, another to see it.

[palmerthing]

I'm so glad I don't have to worry as much about that kind of thing.

*Palmer rolls his eyes a bit, then changes back.* Better?

[museicalmarty]

Me, I'm just grateful I haven't choked on anything in a long while.

Hey, look, sometimes you don't know something is a bad idea until you actually do it.

[palmerthing]

Alright, fair. We probably should have thought that one through a bit more. *He smiles slightly.* Next time.

[museicalmarty]

Yeah, next time. [he smiles back] Thanks for indulging my nonsense, though.

[palmerthing]

Hey, any time. It's a lot more fun to indulge in nonsense than to actually need to use my powers, man. I mean, if I needed to use them something bad would have to be happening.

[museicalmarty]

Trust me, I'm aware. I'm perfectly happy sticking with the nonsense. Plus it must be good for you to stretch the old transformy muscles, so to speak, without having it be a life-or-death thing.

[palmerthing]

*He laughs.* I think 'transformy' is a new word. I've never heard it before, at least.

Anything else you want to see? Hopefully less creepy this time.

[museicalmarty]

[smirking] I sometimes spit out gems like that, yeah.

Hmmmm. . .what's the biggest you think you can go right now?

[palmerthing]

Depends on whether you want something that would actually work long-term or if a balloon would be fine. Shape's important too, a human can only grow so tall before you need to completely redesign the legs.

[museicalmarty]

Balloon sounds interesting, but I think it would be one of those things that turns out to be pretty creepy in practice. And now you've got me wondering what like the max height of a human even is.

[palmerthing]

After about eight feet you start needing supports, I think? It was in one of the books. You might be able to get a humanoid that's bigger than that, but you'd have to redesign the legs at least.

[museicalmarty]

Redesign them like how? I can guess that maybe the bones would need to be thicker?

[palmerthing]

Yeah. Bones thicker, feet more centered and better supported, maybe a few knee adjustments. More muscles, too, and lots of padding. There's a reason elephants don't have arched feet. Too damn heavy!

[museicalmarty]

Feet more -- centered? [Marty attempts to picture that] Oh, that just looks weird. . .but yeah, I figured. And the really heavy animals are in the ocean, right? 'Cause then they can rely on the water to help support 'em? I know blue whales are the biggest things that ever lived. . .

[palmerthing]

That's right. Thankfully I'm not heavy enough for that to be an issue. Unlikely to ever become so, either, unless there are a few elephants going spare.

[museicalmarty]

Look, you never know in the Nexus -- though admittedly, haven't seen that one yet. [pause] I am -- pretty sure somebody mentioned sky whales once, though.

[palmerthing]

They can't be as heavy as regular whales if they can fly, though. Not without a lot of magic at least. *He laughs.* And now I'm taking magic seriously, man.

Not sure what it says about me that my first reaction to sky whales is 'can I eat this,' mind you. *It means that he's still a ruthless predator under the surface, of course, but admitting that openly might scare away what's becoming a friend.*

[museicalmarty]

[Marty raises an eyebrow] Doc and I did mention the whole "kidnapped by faeries" thing, right? And did we get into stuff like Victor getting deaged and Alice getting aged up temporarily at one point? Trust me, dude -- take magic seriously.

. . .means you wanna know what it's like to be a sky whale? [Because that is sort of what eating something entails for him, if he's getting how Thing-ness works right]

[palmerthing]

Yeah, that's why I have to take it seriously now. It's just weird still.

Hah, yeah. But what's left of the old Palmer is still upset by it. It's weird, feeling the unhappiness of a dead man.

[museicalmarty]

Yeah, okay, fair -- it never stops being weird. Magic is just kind of inherently weird, I think.

Bet it is. . .but I guess it's just something you gotta live with now. As long as you're gonna keep being Palmer, anyway.

[palmerthing]

Yeah, it ain't very magical otherwise.

Don't worry, man, I still wanna be him. You'd know if that had changed.

[museicalmarty]

Suppose that's true!

Yeah, I bet I would. [pause] You, uh -- got any idea how long you're gonna hang onto him?

[palmerthing]

*He smiles reassuringly.* Don't worry, if I start losing track I'll find a world with no people and stick with that. I think I can stay being myself--himself--for a while yet, though. Maybe even years.

[museicalmarty]

[Marty smiles back] Glad to hear that. I do hope you stick around for a while.