(no subject)

[guppy_sandhu]

[oom: Guppy fails in his role as the fountain of all knowledge.]

Guppy makes it half way across the bar when he realises that a lot of the patrons are, well, kind of shorter and younger...

Hmmm.

He goes into the infirmary, and finds it as he left it (deducing from this that he has not gone back in time), except that one of his younger two (male) waitrats is attempting with limited success to feed a pair of tiny, eyes barely open half bald waitrats, still dressed in their now very oversized scrubs shirt.

"Aesclepius? Work Experience?" Guppy peers at the pair. The third waitrat, Backup, shrugs and hands him the syringe of milk.

"Wait, what happened?" he asks, but his remaining waitrat, tired by days of feeding every few hours, scurries off for a kip.

Five minutes later, he's got the two shrunk infirmary waitrats in a cardboard box on a warm towel, and is back in the bar looking for some answers.

Comments

[balancingminds]

Charles is getting some more tea when he sees Guppy and tries to look in the box, "Are those really rats in there?"

His at one point nice button down shirt is wrinkled and has some grass stains as do his dark slacks.

[guppy_sandhu]

"They're rats that work in the infirmary." Guppy says. "Something seems to have... de-aged them."

Kid looks familiar.

[balancingminds]

"Oh, yes, some weird magic thing, that's why I'm here and not in the kitchen at home. No one knows and some people are really worried like Claudia,"

The rats are cute.

[guppy_sandhu]

"Do you know what kind of magic thing?" Guppy asks.

"Claudia here or another one?"

[balancingminds]

"No, I don't. Yes, she has colors in her hair and works at a neat place that's out of a good story."

[guppy_sandhu]

"I'll look out for her. What's your name?"

[balancingminds]

"I'm Charles. They're so tiny," He waves at the little rats.

[guppy_sandhu]

One of the rats flops down, the other one gives him the peace sign. Both of them are still wearing their scrubs tops, massively too big.

"Nice to meet you Charles." Aha. "I'm Guppy. Yeah, one of the other rats wasn't affected, I wonder why."

[balancingminds]

"I don't know. Things don't make sense here. What do they eat?"

[guppy_sandhu]

"Same sort of stuff as we do, I think." Guppy says. "These two are currently on formula milk..."

[balancingminds]

"Oh, are you a doctor?"

[guppy_sandhu]

"That's right." Guppy nods.

"Charles, has anyone told you that you'll come here when you're older?"

[balancingminds]

"Yes, there was an older boy who thought about what I'll look like when I'm older. I didn't like him, he was a prat and a know it all."

[ostro_goth]

"Greetings, Guppy Sandhu."

Teja smells of the forge and looks truly weary.

[guppy_sandhu]

"Hey Teja... you aren't small, good."

[ostro_goth]

"Indeed," Teja says, "I was not here when the time-spell of the candy-coloured unicorns misfired."

[guppy_sandhu]

"The candy coloured... wait, explain." Guppy says.

[ostro_goth]

"Ponies," Teja says. "They call themselves ponies, and mangle the language to say 'anypony' instead of 'anybody', and such things. Have you never met one?"

Pause.

"They are the reason why some are small at present, including your poor rats."

[guppy_sandhu]

"Oh, yes, I have met the ponies. We will be having Words." Guppy says.

"Hm, I wonder why it only affected two of them though."

[ostro_goth]

"I hear it was something of a magenta-coloured shockwave," Teja says, "that only touched those in its physical vicinity at that point. The other rat must have been too far away."

Pause.

"The ponies are shocked, as it is; they are small themselves, and tell me that unless they reverse the spell, which they do not at present know how to, everybody would have to grow up again naturally. I do not wish to see the bar turned into an interdimensional boarding school for the next few years."

[guppy_sandhu]

"Surely we have enough magic users that someone isn't affected? What about Mia Ausa?"

[ostro_goth]

"I have not seen her," Teja says. "The ponies have put up a notice, and are working on a solution in the library; but I have no mages to send to them. I know not if any of our gods has enough power to do this by divine handwave. Belar might have had; Asar-Suti might have had -- but they are gone."

[guppy_sandhu]

"Hm, our magical fellows are outnumbered by an influx of psychiatrists and French people." Guppy muses.

"They'll work it out. I'll have a look in the infirmary library."

[ostro_goth]

Teja hides his face in his hands and hair, and groans.

[guppy_sandhu]

"On the plus side." Guppy says. "If we can't undo it, the psychiatrists may come in handy."

Beat. Glance around the room.

"Oh bugger, if they're both shrunk too. Assuming that's Hannibal rather than an alternate version of Sam Linnfer."