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

[palmerthing]

Evolution is weird, man. Seriously. Especially on other planets, because nothing is even based on animals you're used to.

[save_us_alice]

I would find it weirder if it WAS, honestly. You wouldn't expect anything familiar on an alien planet.

[palmerthing]

Well yeah, but that doesn't make it any less surreal to see a truly alien creature.

[save_us_alice]

Not disputing that. It's two different forms of surreal -- the completely unknown, and the familiar in a place where it shouldn't be.

[palmerthing]

Exactly. Funny how that works . . . and it's even stranger in my case, because I can wind up feeling a bit of both at the same time.

[save_us_alice]

Right -- I suppose being something that can shapeshift, and create new forms for itself on the fly, would lend itself to such duality.

[palmerthing]

Everything is normal and everything is horrifically other at the same time.

[save_us_alice]

Everything is horrifically other until you can make it one of yours, anyway. I assume that's how it works?

[palmerthing]

Pretty much, yeah. Everything needs to be mine.

[save_us_alice]

More like 'everything needs to be you.' Or at least your offspring.

[palmerthing]

Yeah, but saying it like that makes it sound weird.

[save_us_alice]

I'm the Alice whose best known for Wonderland, whose husband briefly brought back a corpse bride before getting yanked into another dimension, whose father-in-law is a steampunk cyborg thanks to a trip to Arcadia, whose cousin-in-law is also a victim of the Faeries, and whose sister-in-law is a DeLorean who can become a little girl. I kind of live 'weird.'

[palmerthing]

Ha! Yeah, I'm just sensitive about looking weird even when there's no reason to be.

[save_us_alice]

Evolutionary desire to fit in until you can claim the others, I assume?

[palmerthing]

Yeah, basically.

You seem remarkably blase about this stuff.

[save_us_alice]

Part of it is just being more or less used to all this weirdness at this point, and part of it is that I don't want him to get upset. [nods at Chester, who is carefully burying his foot in sand] He's going to have to be used to this sort of thing too, given where we live and all.

[palmerthing]

Oh yeah, right. Right. Don't scare the baby.

[save_us_alice]

Baby may cry loudly and trust me -- you don't want to have to hear that. I don't know where Chester developed the ability to scream like he does, but. . .

[palmerthing]

*A small smirk.* Good thing I can block off my ears, then.

[save_us_alice]

And, for the first time, I'm a bit envious of you. I do love him, don't get me wrong, but. . .he really has no volume control when he's upset. [pause, then sheepishly] I suspect he gets it from me.

[palmerthing]

I'm not sure if any babies have volume control when they're upset, honestly.

[save_us_alice]

This is fair -- I just don't have any experience with babies besides him, so. . .it's been a learning experience.

[palmerthing]

Don't worry, you're doing fine. I'm sure I have less experience than you do, at least experience that counts as mine.

[save_us_alice]

Right, right. . . I'm just doing the best I can. [watches Chester make another sand mound with a smile] I'm hoping it's enough.

[palmerthing]

Like I said, you're doing fine. Kid seems happy as a clam to me.