The pretty Rain from those sweet Eaves / Her unintending Eyes [closed]

[apidae]

Well, rain isn't the worst thing that could have happened. This was meant to be the day Daine helped her set up the new hive, and it wouldn't be impossible in the rain, but it doesn't feel very welcoming, and it wouldn't allow Bee to spend all her time up on the roof like she would wish. And no one would want to come up to join her! That wouldn't do at all.

She'd sat in her apartment for a while, picking at the book Spike gave her, alternately pouting at the rainbeaten window and staring glumly at the ceiling - wondering if she should try to foist her company on one of her new friends - before she finally decided to snap herself out of it on her own. Which is how she found herself in the park, in the downpour.

Shoeless and armed with an umbrella she just bought from a convenient little sidewalk kiosk, Bee marches through the puddles, enjoying the smell and sound of rainfall, willing herself to feel better. This is certainly preferable to sitting inside. And if the weather clears up tomorrow, then she can set up her hive, and all will be well.

There aren't as many walkers out as usual, given the conditions, but it's not too long before she gets a glimpse of the telltale Rift-patterns - another rifty nearby. She focuses her gaze, seeing a young woman walking a dog - oh, how sweet, wearing a matching raincoat and little boots! Bee's delighted by the sight, so she comes a little closer, focusing on the dog, and - no, no, not a dog at all. It came through the Rift as well - and it isn't of this world. She stops and frowns intently. What on earth?

She comes a little closer, deeply curious, discerning scales and teeth beneath the raincoat, and...

A name flashes through her head: Quarkbeast!

Suddenly she remembers her dream - so real and so eventful, so many people she'd met! And the little man, Aglet, who told her about his friend and her Quarkbeast, who eats metal - what was her name? Jennifer? Yes, Jennifer.

No amount of practiced social grace and keep Bee from hurrying up in excitement and exclaiming, "Are you Jennifer?" to the unsuspecting fellow rifty.

Comments

[jennifer_strange]

"No one is stepping on anyone," Jennifer says, her tone gentle but firm. She waits until Bee's at the bookshelf before cautiously stepping closer to where Aglet is huddled on the chair. At his current size, it's a precarious position, and she's more worried about him falling off the chair and hurting Bee in the process than she is about the woman getting stepped on (which is far easier to avoid, especially now that she's so close to the shelf).

She hesitates for a moment, then extends a hand. "Come on." Adopting a more professional, knowledgable tone - the one she'd use for particularly prickly clients back home - she adds, "It'll be safer for both of you if you stand up."

[watchesthebeans]

Aglet stares at Jennifer with wild eyes, still clutching the chair back in a death grip. He hardly even recognizes her when he's not looking up at her (or, alright, looking down at her sometimes, it's not like this is anywhere near the first time something like this has happened). He swallows and nods, but twists to check on Bee's position before he deigns to take Jennifer's hand and very gingerly climb down off the chair. He wants to go stand against the wall, but he also doesn't want to move for fear he'll smash Bee with his giant clumsy bean feet, so he just wraps his free arm around himself and tries very hard not to move at all.

"You look really different like this," he says suddenly. Remembering there are more important matters at hand, he turns again to look down at Bee. "Um. I...this happens sometimes."

[apidae]

"It's fine!" she calls up, distractedly. "I'm sorry I startled you!" It would be impractical to attempt a climb up the front of the bookshelf, but Aglet managed it somehow, from the back. She scampers around to the dusty corners in between - really lucky she doesn't get dirty now, isn't she? - and examines the back panel for a moment. It's a tight fit between there and the wall, but she can manage it at this size. And there she can see his handholds! She giggles excitedly and starts hoisting her way up. "Aglet, this is amazing!" she exclaims.

[jennifer_strange]

Jennifer cracks a smile. "So do you," she says. She's still not over seeing him the same size as she is - especially because his posture still suggests that he expects to be stepped on or eaten at any moment. It's understandable in a borrower, but for a human, it's rather pitiful. She keeps ahold of his hand, giving it a little squeeze. "I guess we'll have to give you one of the big cups of cocoa." Assuming Aglet's even willing to do anything human-sized. Bee seems perfectly happy to run around all titchy, so Jennifer's not sure if she really ought to push them to switch back right away.

What's so amazing behind the bookshelf, though? Jennifer's brow furrows, and then she releases Aglet's hand so she can check out what's going on back there. When she sees Bee scaling the back of the shelf, she's startled - moreso when she sees exactly how. "Did you carve these?" she asks, looking back at Aglet and then turning to examine the hand-holds again. God, they go all the way up the shelf. "You do realize this isn't technically our bookshelf."

[watchesthebeans]

Aglet lets out a little whimper at the suggestion that he has to drink from the big people cups now; he just wants to switch back with Bee and maybe go hide in his room for the rest of his life. It takes him a moment to realize what Bee must have found and he literally flails in an aborted move to grab at Jennifer and stop her from going and looking. He grimaces; he'd known she wouldn't approve. "Yeah," he says, choosing to be defiant instead of apologetic. He juts out his jaw. "It's borrowed."

[apidae]

Bee doesn't pay them any mind just now, though it takes some mental adjustment, their voices now so much louder and heavier than before. She continues clambering up until she finds a little gap between the back panel and a shelf - can she fit through there? It's tight, but she can manage it. She squeezes through scurries along the somewhat claustrophobic line of books until she finds a little passage where a book has been removed. She steps out through and looks down. She hasn't actually climbed very far, considering what effort it took.

"Sorry," she says, still grinning. "I'm having a bit of fun. Can we switch back easily?"

[jennifer_strange]

Jennifer gives him a look of well-worn exasperation. "You know that when humans lend things, they expect to get them back in the same condition," she says. Her weary tone suggests this is a conversation they've had several times before. "Not with loads of little hand-holds carved into them." Granted, she doubts anyone would notice this particular enhancement, but that doesn't mean it's a good thing. God only knows how many other small-scale alterations he's made to the place.

[watchesthebeans]

"They won't notice. You wouldn't have even noticed," retorts Aglet defiantly. Really, she ought to look at it as him making the place more livable for any other borrowers unfortunate enough to drop through the rift and find themselves in need of ROMAC's assistance...never mind how unlikely it is that she'll get a borrower colony started in her flat. He's not about to tell her what he was doing to the cabinet a while ago, either.

Turning to look at Bee -- and wow, it's hard to spot her for a second even though she isn't hiding; being this big really does make you blind -- he nods, though he keeps his hands tucked into his armpits for the moment. "I just have to touch you," he says, embarrassed. "Really, I'm sorry about this, I haven't done it on accident in a long time."

[apidae]

"It's not your fault," she replies with a big smile. "I suppose I should be on the floor for this to work right, though? Um... just a minute." She scurries back through the books and out the back of the shelf again. Climbing down is a lot harder - she has to grope around for each foothold. But she's not too daunted. Before long she's back on the floor, coming out to stare up at the two giants.

"Ready!" she calls up, once she's reasonably sure she has enough space to grow.

[jennifer_strange]

Jennifer sighs, part exasperation and part disappointment. It'd be interesting to get more than half a minute with a same-sized Aglet, but it's not fair to make Bee stay tiny - especially when both of them so clearly want to switch back.

So she steps back to stand by the Beast, still obediently stretched along the ground (though by the way it's straining its neck forward, it's taking some effort not to go give Aglet and Bee a good sniff).

[watchesthebeans]

Someday maybe she'll find a willing third person...and someday maybe Aglet won't be terrified of stepping on everything and also being terribly, terribly visible. He starts to back away from Bee as if she's chasing him or something, but then he thinks he might move his foot the wrong way and step on her so he stops where he is -- and then is stuck for a few moments once she declares herself ready. What if he squishes her when he goes to kneel nearby?

"Okay," he says, psyching himself up to Deal With This. "Okay."

It's good he at least isn't looking at the Beast, because it would only be slightly less terrifying at his present size. Instead he crouches and then kneels with exaggerated care before shuffling forward and slowly extending a hand, bringing it within about half a foot and then waiting for Bee to close the gap. As soon as she touches him he'll make the switch...and find himself in the middle of the floor, but that can't be helped.

[apidae]

If Bee had any idea of all the consternation going around here she'd have immediately volunteered to stay tiny for as long as Aglet needed to familiarize himself with his new size. As it is, her powers of perception are unusually swamped by her own delight at the whole fiasco, and the sense of Aglet's urgency to get back to normal. She giggles at the excessive care he takes - really, she's not incautious, he clearly has a very skewed idea of the clumsiness of 'beans' - and she comes over to his hand obligingly, reaching out to touch his finger.

Instantly their sizes reverse back to normal, and she's momentarily dizzy as she rises back up, recovering her misplaced mass. She immediately takes a gentle step back, bracing herself on the chair, making sure Aglet has enough space to feel comfortable, or as comfortable as possible.

"There, now," she murmurs softly. "All better." She looks at Jennifer and grins. "Shall we have that cocoa now?"