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]

[Perhaps, but as long as he isn't actually ambush-predating. . .as it stands, Alice manages to get them both through a decent chunk of the ice cream before Chester starts reaching for her bowl] What, you want the strawberry now? Well, you can try a bit. [gives him a spoonful, which he sucks down greedily]

[palmerthing]

*Palmer has been very good about not predating if he does say so himself.*

He seems to like it.

[save_us_alice]

[Alice chuckles as Chester keeps trying to grab at her strawberry bowl] Yes, he does. It's my favorite flavor, so -- maybe this is another thing he gets from me.

[palmerthing]

You really have such a great family, it's good to see.

[save_us_alice]

[shoots Palmer a smile] I do. I never -- after my parents died, I never thought I'd have a family again. And now. . .

[palmerthing]

May we all recover so well.

[save_us_alice]

Really. I'm very aware I'm extremely lucky. [hugs Chester, causing him to squirm because he doesn't want affection, he wants more ice cream]

[palmerthing]

*Palmer laughs a bit at the kid.* Regular little sweets fiend, isn't he?

[save_us_alice]

That he gets from me and Victor, if it's not just "standard small child personality trait." [she'll relent and give him a few more spoonfuls of both types of ice cream]

[palmerthing]

It's also a small child personality trait, though, so it's likely doubled now.

[save_us_alice]

Heh, you're probably right. Especially given how he tried to hug his ice cream before. [Chester attempts to get the spoon away from her, but she pulls it out of reach] Nooooo, you're not allowed to accidentally choke yourself on this.

[palmerthing]

Fairly sure that's not how you eat ice cream, kiddo. *He chuckles as the baby tries to steal the spoon.*

[save_us_alice]

[Chester whines briefly, but shuts up as Alice gives him another little spoonful of ice cream] He'll learn eventually. When he's older, and has better hand-eye coordination.

[palmerthing]

Right, that. Sometimes I almost forget that not everyone is born effectively an adult. I mean, he's small and hasn't got the best grasp on language, but I forget how much more to it there is.

[save_us_alice]

Well, you can -- er. All right, maybe you can't remember Palmer being a baby, that might be a bit too far, but surely you can still remember his childhood? For reference?

[palmerthing]

Yeah--but it's not my first thought, you know? I have to remember it, instead of it seeming blatantly obvious.

[save_us_alice]

Right. . .humans must be weird from your perspective. Actually, all animals with a proper juvenile stage where they need a parent to care for them must be weird.

[palmerthing]

Yeah, it seems so inefficient. Dangerous, too.

[save_us_alice]

Unfortunately I am not privy to the whims of evolution. Though I think at its base it's a species putting more effort into fewer offspring that live longer? Sort of the opposite of how fish and frogs and whatnot do it -- leaving a bunch of eggs to make a ton of fish, most of whom don't survive.

[palmerthing]

I suppose I'm more on the fish side of things, then. Less easy to kill, but very much the 'every man for himself' approach.

[save_us_alice]

Mmmm. . . [feeds Chester a bit more ice cream] Do you ever feel sad if another Thing dies, or is it just a "well, better not let that happen to me" situation?

[palmerthing]

I don't I would care as much as if we were humans? But then I don't think I've really liked another Thing either, we were allies by desperate necessity at best. I mean, Norris wasn't terrible but he was . . . kind of in the background all the time. Made him a smart choice, but not really someone worth getting excited over, and he was the only one I really knew.

[save_us_alice]

That -- hmmm. I don't know if I was expecting Things to like each other, but I was expecting you to not just be "allies by desperate necessity." What would you say a Thing's general feeling toward another Thing is?

[palmerthing]

Our general feeling? Anywhere from indifference to vague irritation, with occasional mild gratitude if one happened to do something that helped the other. Basically imagine intelligent crocodiles. Doesn't help that we're hive minds, either, so identity gets tricky. Hard to really care about someone who might turn into three people tomorrow.

[save_us_alice]

But obviously you have some form of identity, otherwise every other Thing would just be an extension of yourself. You wouldn't think of them as separate beings at all. Certainly not something to -- no, wait, that's a lie. I get irritated with bits of me all the time.