honey i shrunk the pups plot

[moonandstar]

Garyn couldn't have been in a worse place when the blue flash went off. Granted, there's not really a good place to be shrunk to the size of an action figure, but the blast had caught him on his way out the back door to practice swordsmanship. The first thing he sees as he stumbles to his feet is the enormous door, slowly sealing him off from the inside of the bar.

For the better part of the next day, he's trapped, left to fend for himself among the weeds that now tower over him, armed with a sword the size of a large toothpick. But after biding his time and waiting for the next big person to open the door for him (remaining out of their sight as he does - he'll be damned if he lets someone pick him up and rob him of what dignity he has left), he's finally made his way in, sliding in just as it slams shut behind him.

Garyn slumps his shoulders and exhales. The worst is over now. Now he can rest for a bit before finding help.

He certainly can't think of any reason to look behind him at the moment - particularly not for any large, meowy furry thing that has mistaken him for a small animal that wandered in from outside.

[OOC: First thread is plotlocked to Teja's cats and Ibani. You can catch him while he's still outside if you like, but he'll refuse your help.]

Comments

[herr_bookman]

Autor has been out running, unwittingly taking advantage of his full size to speed around the lake in his tennis shoes. Sweat beads at his temples and on his upper lip, and dampens his chest and back. He's beyond ready for a drink of water, so he returns to the bar, completely unaware of the tiny people shenanigans. He stops just before he opens the door, peering into the grass. Was that movement?

[moonandstar]

No, Autor. No, it was not. You see nothing. The grass absolutely does not rustle again as the person who is not there does not retreat back as Autor fails to open the door as quickly as he expected.

Because, as narration has made clear, a doll-sized Garyn is most definitely not hiding here.

[herr_bookman]

Autor's first thought is that the movement might be from a demon bunny. His second thought is that there's no hissing, followed closely by the third: no demon bunny would come this close to the main bar.

So he crouches down and parts the grass with a hand, not sure what he'll find.

[moonandstar]

There's more rustling and a faint yelp as whatever it is tumbles backward, desperately searching for space to hide that isn't there anymore.

This time narration can't pretend. That is clearly a person.

[herr_bookman]

"Oh! Hello," Autor says, trying to keep his voice pitched quiet so he doesn't burst a tiny eardrum. "Who are you?"

[moonandstar]

Garyn sits up, rubbing the back of his head.

"Erm...nobody. And I'm fine."

Beat.

"Please, uh, go away. To where you were going before, I mean. I don't need any help."

[herr_bookman]

Autor blinks at the tiny stranger. "Well. If you're sure," the boy days, and then stands from his crouch. He turns, glancing over his shoulder, and then opens the door to pass through.

[moonandstar]

Garyn waits as long as he dares before making a dash for the entrance. Silly and dangerous as it may be, he doesn't want it to feel as though he's being directly helped or carried to enter a door. This is something he can do on his own, godsdammit.

[herr_bookman]

Autor does his best to ignore him, passing through the door with full-sized steps. The boy only keeps out of the tiny man's way.

[galen_erso]

There are two furry creatures, and they are both very curious about the unusual not!mouse.

One is black with a white bib, the other is white and ginger, and they are both young and boisterous.

The ginger one reaches out a paw and bats at Garyn's feet.

[moonandstar]

Too late, Garyn realizes his mistake as he sees the forge cats from the corner of his eye. He has just enough time to realize how very screwed he is before the paw hits him.

The overwhelming force from the playful bat of the adorable kitty sends Garyn sprawling onto his stomach. The cheap leather scabbard at his hip separates from his belt and tumbles out of reach.

Woozy and out of breath, Garyn lies on the floor, grasping in vain for his sword, even as he knows it would do no good against the enormous, fuzzy instrument of his impending doom.

[ostro_goth]

A black paw comes down on him and pokes him; a triangular black nose sniffs at his bottom.

[moonandstar]

Garyn wheezes as his face presses down onto the hard floor. It's as though he's being run over by a soft, fluffy truck. His little sword is only an inch out of reach, but it might as well be miles away.

Gods, this is it, isn't it? This is how I die.

[last_kallig]

Ibani feels Garyn's distess, his Force presence, long before her more physical senses kick in.

Her heart is in her mouth as she snaps "NO, Bad kitty!" at the cat and forms a regular human sized force shield around Garyn. (No time to adjust it, no TIME. It could EAT him, she could lose him!)

[moonandstar]

With his face pressed into the floor, he hears and feels what's happening more than he sees it. The pressure leaving his back, the shrill hiss of the startled giant floofbeast, the tangible presence of the field that now surrounds him.

It takes him a moment to catch his breath and clamber up to his knees. His gaze turns slowly up, from the giant pair of boots that dominates his vision, up up up along her legs and the curves of her body, until they reach the familiar set of eyes that now look down on him with concern from what seems like a hundred feet in the air.

Oh. Oh. This is...not unembarrassing. By which narration means Garyn is blushing as he has never blushed before in his life.

[last_kallig]

Ibani kneels down in an attempt to tower less over him. "If this is someone's idea of a joke, they're going to be VERY sorry," she mutters darkly.

"Are you injured?" she asks, since he's obviously not okay, what with being shrunk.

[moonandstar]

"Only my pride."

Garyn finds a nice collection of dust a half inch from his feet and decides to examine it as he runs a hand through his hair. As it turns out, the sight of Ibani bending all the way to the ground just to see him clearly isn't making him feel any less small. To be fair to her, pretty much nothing could do that.

"Whenever this clears up, I'd prefer we never spoke of this again."

[last_kallig]

"Good," she says, breathing out in relief. "But wounded pride's no fun either." She's been there. She sits down on the floor, not that that helps much.

"We'll never speak of this again, unless you want to," she promises. She'd like to hug him, but that's not really feasible right now.

She closes her eyes. "And I was starting to think of Milliways as a safe place." Her tone turns bitter with the last words.

[moonandstar]

"Milliways is a lot of good things," Garyn says. "Safe isn't one of them. Neither is normal."

He looks back up at Ibani. Even like this, a monumental statue more than a person, she's still beautiful to him.

"On that subject, could you, ah...take me to your room? I'm less likely to get stepped on there. Or eaten. Or...seen by other people."

[last_kallig]

"I should have thought of that," she replies. "Err, should I just put my hand down, or..."

What IS the etiquette in this situation?

[moonandstar]

Garyn blushes even harder.

"That...that'll do."

[last_kallig]

Ibani carefully puts her hand down next to Garyn, palm up. FORCE, this is such a bizarre situation!

"Definitely never talking about this again," she mutters under her breath.

[moonandstar]

Garyn takes a tentative step onto her finger and carefully tightropes his way onto the palm of her hand. He probably would still have room to lie flat and roll over.

Welp, the easy part's over. Now to be carried upstairs.

Gulp.

[last_kallig]

Ibani smiles in what she hopes is a reassuring manner and cradles her hand and Garyn close to her body for stability as she climbs the stairs.

Ibani doesn't bother with trying to get the key out of her pocket in this situation, she just reaches out with the Force and jiggles the tumblers of the lock and pushes the Door open without touching it.

"Should be less crowded up here." The room hasn't changed since the last time Garyn was in it. Interior decorator Ibani is not.

[moonandstar]

Ibani does her best - the journey is not as bad as Garyn had feared. But at a size where even the smallest bump feels like an enormous jolt, there's only so much she can do. Still, Garyn is able to avoid the worst of the fear and discomfort, so long as he doesn't look down.

The view is much better looking up anyway. Ahem.

He is nonetheless relieved when they finally arrive in her room. He exhales deeply.

"This isn't the most dignified I've looked in front of you, but I'm glad it was you who found me."