Going Swimmingly

[palmerthing]

 *Palmer has found a lake today and is giving it an uncertain kind of look. Not only is such a large outdoor feature a bit unexpected when there appears to be nothing in particular dividing it from the couches and chairs in the main area of the nexus, not only would he probably start turning into something aquatic on automatic as soon as he tried swimming, but he's fairly sure that he saw Gollum from The Lord of the Rings swimming in there and that's just too much weirdness for him. Not that he has any room to talk, but he's not up for that meeting yet. So he sits on the beach and watches the waves. Hopefully there won't be any merfolk or cartoon fish, one fantasy character at a time is bad enough.*

Comments

[save_us_alice]

[Alice is TECHNICALLY a fantasy character, but she's an entirely human one -- as is the little baby boy she's bringing to the beach, both of them wearing matching floppy hats. She stops a little ways away when she sees Palmer] Oh -- hello. Didn't expect to see you here.

[palmerthing]

*Palmer grins and waves at the kid, although he might be too small to properly wave back.* I wanted to see how good I am at swimming now.

[save_us_alice]

[the kid does wave back, though it's rather uncoordinated. Alice smiles] I see. Just how good are you, then?

[palmerthing]

I haven't checked quite yet, I'm trying to decide whether it still counts if I grow fins. Also I could swear I saw Gollum in there, and a mermaid, because this place is insane.

[save_us_alice]

Ah -- I can't speak regarding the mermaid, but I am pretty sure Gollum does live around here. Marty found him, having apparently fallen through the volcano and into the Nexus. Rather like you, he decided the Nexus was a good place to avoid the problems inherent in returning to his own world.

[palmerthing]

Problems like coming back out in Mt. Doom? Yeah, I'd do the same. *Palmer considers the beach for a moment, then kicks off his shoes and wades into the water. It seems fine so far--not that he thought the water would hurt him in any case. Part of his mind is definitely yammering about needing gills and fins, and another one is scared about her seeing him as though gills weren't more subtle than most of his changes, but when he ignores that the water is nice.*

[save_us_alice]

That, or meeting any of the various people who would want him dead -- which I'm sure is something you can sympathize with.

[Alice stays on the beach, sitting down with Chester (aka the kiddo) and scooping up sand to start making a simple sand castle mound. Chester "helps" by grabbing big handfuls from the ground and flinging them about] Having fun?

[palmerthing]

Oh yes, I know all about that. Wish I didn't, but . . .

*Palmer chuckles at the kid's attempt to help, then nods.* Yeah, man, water's nice. Being human in the water is a bit awkward, but that's alright.

[save_us_alice]

[Alice nods sympathetically] You seem to be making the best of it.

[She raises an eyebrow at his mention of being human in the water being awkward] How so? Do you just automatically try to shift to something more -- fishy? Or perhaps whaley, as the case may be?

[palmerthing]

Yeah, kinda. Humans aren't really made for swimming, so I want to just . . . literally become a better swimmer. Long fins, gills, maybe some changes to the eyes so I can see more clearly underwater.

Of course you being here and able to see me makes that a little worrying too, but since you guys haven't panicked about me so far that's a secondary issue.

[save_us_alice]

Interesting. . .so changing your shape to automatically better fit your environment is kind of an instinct for you? I can see the latter, hiding from anything that could actually harm you makes sense, but I thought you'd have to actively put some effort into changing, rather than into not changing.

[palmerthing]

Usually it's not, but with water the unpleasantness of getting water in my lungs would be bad enough that I want to grow gills in the same way that other people would want to hold their breath.

[save_us_alice]

Ahhhh -- so it's more a response to uncomfortableness or danger. Fair enough -- if I could grow gills underwater, I probably would. [smiling] The Mock Turtle once declared me an "honorary reptile" for helping him in Wonderland, but that only allowed me to hold my breath longer, not stay under indefinitely.

[palmerthing]

Makes sense, reptiles don't have gills after all. *He smiles back, then decides to just go with it. There are some strange noises as gills open along his sides, followed by the splash of him diving in.*

[save_us_alice]

That they do not, to my annoyance when I kept having to go up for air while fighting snarks.

[she continues building the castle while he goes for his dip, showing Chester how to pat down the sand so it stays in shape]

[palmerthing]

*Palmer is underwater for quite a bit longer than normal, but comes up eventually to watch the kid play. It's cute, and the Thing isn't used to children, so watching it is.* Snarks are the ones in that one poem, right? All I remember is that they like bathing machines.

[save_us_alice]

[Chester is alternately patting down and then scooping up sand, giggling all the while. Alice laughs along with him] Perhaps I should put you to work digging the moat. . .

[she looks back at Palmer once he surfaces] Sort of -- the way my mind imagined them, they were awful fish with legs and the ability to shoot acid spit and drag you in with a long sticky tongue. And way more agile underwater than I wanted them to be.

[palmerthing]

I was never sure what a snark looked like, or a boojum either. Maybe a groundhog for snarks, and some kind of big groundhog-cougar combo for boojums? *He's slowly changing as he talks, as though growing fins were a completely normal thing to do during a conversation. But then Alice is the one person who's probably used to that, what with the White Queen being a sheep and a chess piece so often.*

[save_us_alice]

[Alice is mostly used to that, though it is an interesting process to watch] I think the point of the poem was never to specify. . .in my head, though, the two are completely separate creatures. Snarks are those awful legged fish, and boojums are skull-headed ghostly creatures with a scream that can literally send you flying off into the void. Both real pains in the bum to fight.

[palmerthing]

I wonder how anyone ever got them confused then.

[save_us_alice]

Well, you have to remember, I didn't write the poem. Reverend Dodgson clearly had different creatures in his head.

[palmerthing]

Fair enough, I suppose.

I'm curious what he was imagining now . . .

[save_us_alice]

I don't know -- probably something closer to your hedgehog-ish creatures. He did just like making up nonsense words, which my younger self loved.

[palmerthing]

Maybe he wasn't thinking of anything in particular at all. The description in the poem doesn't mention much in the way of shape.

[save_us_alice]

That's also a possibility. Maybe the intent was just for everyone to make up their own monsters. [Chester giggles and flings some more sand around, getting some in Alice's face] Like my little monster here -- please do not blind Mummy.