paixaorpg | Growing Pains [Completed]

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Growing Pains [Completed]

Character(s): Urd and Genie
Content: After doing some serious spellwork to save a life, a transformed Urd tries to sneak back home without Genie seeing her.
Setting: Urd's house in zone M6.
Time: Week 21, morning
Warnings: None.

When it came to bad days, having your normally dynamite body regressed to that of a child ranked pretty high. Urd had a lot of tools in her arsenal and never had to rely on her sexiness, but she already missed the power of her curves. No one would dare laugh at her the way Timon and the others did if she'd had her real body! Well...they'd laugh, but they'd get punished for it. As it was now, she couldn't even call down a patented Urd Bolt on their heads...unless she wanted to shrink even more.

So she'd finally made her way back to the house she shared with Genie and Yorda. Walking was so tedious! And with her energy levels all over the place, Urd was wobbling on her feet as the house came into view. This was bad...very bad! She needed her alternate source of energy. She needed booze. But there was no way she'd let Genie see her like this!

Urd made her way slowly, stealthily to the front door: so far, so good. She opened the door with focused determination, quiet as a mouse. From there, it was only up the stairs, down the hall and into her room. Somewhere in her potions and ingredients, there had to be a way to reverse this! She closed the door with a quiet click behind her and tiptoed her way to the staircase, quickly looking around her at every second.

After a moment, when the flashy djinn failed to appear, she allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief. He wasn't here! She sank down on the bottom step, her legs having gone weak again. "Just a little break..." Urd whispered to herself, clutching at the draping folds of her oversized dress.

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Just because the goddess had not seen or heard Genie that did not necessarily mean he was not there. Though Urd had failed to find him, he was still present inside the house. After their discussion over the journals regarding her whereabouts she had suggested he go shopping. Maybe it was a tad naïve of him but immediately the idea that they had been running low on things had jumped into his head. That was opposed to the more likely, or rather most definite, alternative that the goddess simply wanted an excuse to have him leave the house. Genie simply allowed the thought to wander over his head while he searched the cupboards and fridge for anything they might have required.

“Hm, everything looks good and accounted for - although, we really could use more milk.” Well, and the fact that all the cucumbers he had left out earlier appeared to have had a bite taken out of them. Genie scratched his head in puzzlement. Maybe that had been what the goddess had been referring to… Although why she would take a bite out of them all of them and then just leave them there was beyond him. He shrugged and carefully collected them before placing them in a bag and back into the fridge. He would properly wash them and salvage what he could from them when he got back. Poncho still needed to go for a walk, the fact that he had jumped right onto the table and walked right into where Genie was working was sign enough. This Lumen wanted, demanded, his attention.

He quietly shooed the feline away, who surprisingly left when asked, and in a bit of a hurry too at that. Genie looked back at Poncho as it rushed into the next room, wondering if perhaps he had been too harsh on the Lumen, but the felines angry hissing quickly lead him to believe otherwise. The djinn dropped the bag of cucumbers he had gathered and rushed toward the sound. It looked as though Poncho had found a rather unexpected visitor… And given Urd even more reason to resent him.

“Urd?” he asked, performing a double take to assure himself he had not just been imagining things. His surprise quickly turned into amusement while he pushed Poncho away from the goddess. “You just can’t stay out of trouble, can you?”

Urd froze in her defensive position against the Lumen, the angry scowl replaced by wide-eyed shock. Color climbed over her face as she slowly crawled up the steps backwards. With a sudden incomprehensible cry, she turned and flung herself up the steps, too mortified about her current state to take the time to lift up the trailing hem of her dress. She tripped over the excess cloth, falling heavily on the steps.

Slowly sliding down the stairs towards Genie, Urd sniffled. "You weren't supposed to see me like this." She pouted, folding her arms in the same haughty yet defensive gesture she did when she was much bigger, the result being less imperious and more adorable.

Adorable was right. Genie could have just eaten her up. Ah, well maybe that wasn’t quite the right expression. But he did want to lovingly pinch Urd’s little cheeks and dress her up in little outfits… Oh, the goddess was just too cute for her own good, especially when she was pouting. The amused look on his face failed to falter while he lowered himself to her level and pulled her dress up. Far too large for her now, it appeared to be sliding right off her shoulders. Genie could only begin to imagine how many times she must have tripped over it while returning to the house. Assuming, of course, she had walked.

“I figured that much.” He replied with a laugh, offering to help the shrunken goddess back on her feet. It looked as though he would have to get her some new clothes. Genie was doubtful her form was permanent but he certainly couldn’t let her go around tripping over her dress. He looked at her silently for a moment before speaking again. “I’m not sure if I want to know what happened but… Oh, I just can’t hold it in any longer! You just look so cute I just want to box you up!”

She blushed even redder and covered her face with her hand. "No, I'm not! Stop that!" Uh oh...she was on the verge of tears, her violet eyes much larger at this age. Even so, Urd glared up at Genie before quickly looking away again, unable to meet his eyes for more than a second.

She hiked up the dress over her feet and trudged carefully up the steps again. "I'm the Norn of the Past," she grumbled, huffing and puffing. "The symbols on my face are more than just decoration, you know. These emblems are control programs that manage my essential functions." She sniffled, tears of frustration swimming in her eyes.

"I tried to do too much and the program finally triggered a recursive loop to try to prevent any more of my power being unbalanced or used." As she reached the landing, Urd sighed heavily, placing her hands over her chest. "I hate this! How am I supposed to get any romance like this?"

“I’m sorry, I can’t help it!” Genie apologized and restrained himself the best he could from commenting further. She was rather notably upset over the matter, so much so that it appeared as though she were about to burst into tears at any moment… Which made her look so cute – but was still something that concerned him. He had no intention of upsetting her further, especially when she appeared this embarrassed about the entire incident. Instead he listened to her quietly, doing his best to remain serious regarding the matter. Although that grin had still yet to leave his face, even after he followed her to the staircase landing.

“You’re worried about romance at a time like this?” He asked, incapable of hiding his amusement. “I’d be more concerned about regaining my strength. You should be resting and we should get you some clothes that actually fit. You’re going to hurt yourself tripping over your dress all day if we don’t get you out of it. Oh! There’s this pink dress I saw that you’d look just a-“ Genie caught himself just before he was about to use ‘adorable’ and switched out the word. “Amazing in.”

Sometimes she could swear he was being purposefully obtuse. She was still pouting when Genie nearly made a fatal mistake, but she whipped around to growl at him, her little hand clenched into a fist. "I don't need a pink dress, I need a stable source of energy, dammit!" Urd stood up again, carefully making her way into her room. She hesitated, calculating the distance of her apothecary instruments and medicines to her much shorter stature.

Apparently deciding to tackle that particular obstacle later, she made her way to the center of the room and plopped down on to the carpet. "The last time this happened, we used moon rocks to stabilize the programs until Yggdrasil righted itself." As she spoke, she pulled out a bottle of sake, so much bigger in her arms now that she'd regressed. "Where am I gonna get moon rocks here, huh!?"

Muttering to herself in frustration, Urd poured herself a drink and quickly tossed it back.

Boy, she sure had a temper. Maybe it had to do with the whole de-aging process? Although, it did not appear to have affected her mind other than her increased fretfulness. Urd was still Urd - not that she wouldn’t have been Urd otherwise. She would have only been a younger Urd. What he meant was that Urd was still the Urd he knew. Regardless, he looked slightly disappointed after the goddess yelled at him and stormed off. Clearly the form itself was frustrating and responsible for her rather short fuse but there could have been so much worse. He had seen the meerkat Urd sketches in her muns journal.

Genie followed Urd into her room, looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully. She was right; if it were anywhere else he could just go to the moon himself and grab some rock. If they expected to get their hands on any here they would likely have to make the rocks themselves. He turned his attention back to Urd, suddenly finding the need to restrain himself from taking the bottle of sake away from the youth… Who wasn’t really a youth, just cute enough to be considered one.

“I don’t think this is as bad as you’re making it out to be. You might even be able to use this to your advantage. As for those moon rocks, I’m sure I could conjure something up. I just need a little time and to pick up groceries.”

"How'm I gonna use any of this to my advantage?" Urd asked bitterly, already slurring her words a bit. At this size, apparently, she got drunk a lot faster. "I can't use any of my powers or I'll shrink even more. Turn into a...lil' baby!" She sniffled, looking down at her cup.

"I can use this to keep my energy regulated, but it's not reliable...and I can't stay hammered all the time. I got things to do!" As she looked up at Genie, she unwittingly gave him the most helpless puppy dog eyes. "Genie...what am I gonna do?"

“You need to think outside the box, be creative! You’ve got a good head on your shoulders and I know you know how to use it.” Levitating down at her level he poked her gently in the head. “If you don’t think you can come up with anything you clearly rely too much on your powers. I think this would be a perfect opportunity for you to expand your mind, dude! Create new electrochemical connections between brain cells – always an exciting process. Yes, I remember the first time I established these new connections and created new thought forms but we’ll save that story for another time. Maybe this will help you make alternate decisions in the future, help you balance your power and prevent this from happening again.” He paused for a moment in thought then grinned. “Unless of course you don’t think you can. I never pegged you to be a quitter buuuut... If the Jellies fit.”

Before the goddess could reply, Genie took her hand and shared a surprisingly somber expression on his face. It must have been those puppy dog eyes she’d sent his way. “In all seriousness though, Urd, I’ll make those moon rocks as soon as I can. If it really bothers you that much I’d rather fix it now then leave you miserable. I like seeing you happy a lot more.”

Urd grumbled a bit as he tapped her head, scowling into space over the rim of her cup. But his next tactic yielded the desired result; an odd mix of indignation and shame crossed over her face. Of course she knew he had a point. She also knew she did rely on her powers too much, but she had developed the habit of using her powers even when she didn't need to and now, without it even being an option, it shook her more than she would have admitted.

She opened her mouth to reply to his teasing, but as he took her hand and looked at her with such a serious expression, she was filled with the overwhelming desire to reassure him, ridiculously enough. Urd smiled and set down her booze. "...it's fine. You don't need to rush. I'm just being a drama queen."

Sighing, she stood up with her hand still in his. "I have some options I can look into while you figure out how to make those moon rocks. In the mean time..." She hiked up the slipping collar of her dress, smirking with a little self-deprecation. "Think you can help me with some new clothes?"

Edited 2010-05-24 04:47 (UTC)

Genie’s eyes instantly lit up at Urd’s request and a large smile found itself across his face. “Could I?” he asked, almost amused she had to ask. He clapped his hands together excitedly, struggling to contain himself from acting too soon. Just the thought alone that he would have the opportunity to put his magic and sense of fashion to test was enough to make the djinn flail inside. There were so many different combinations he wanted to try! What shoes, what dress? The tiara, was it too much? Was gold in or was it silver? Oh, who cared? All he knew was by the end of this he was going to have Urd looking absolutely fabulous!

Genie clapped his hands, summoning a dressing screen behind the goddess as well as a greater suited attire for himself. He needed the proper clothes to work, naturally. Sporting an ivory collared shirt and matching purple vest and pants, he approached Urd thoughtfully. “No, no, no. This won’t do at all. The only thing you’re doing in this outfit is swimming. This is an accident waiting to happen – or did it already happen? I can’t tell.” He removed the measuring tape from around his neck and quickly took Urd’s measurements. Before she probably even realized it, Genie had already finished and returned to observing her, his tape measure back around his neck. “If black is the new orange this year, does that make orange the new black?” he asked himself.

Taking hold of Urd’s dress with both hands, he suddenly pulled it right over her head to (thankfully) reveal a new outfit underneath. Or was it really that new? The orange shorts, black sweatshirt and varsity jacket may not have been something she had ever worn in Paixao but back home? Well, Genie had been looking for something comfortable for her. He sighed, found bent down and tying her shoelaces. “The perfect bow is so hard to find. And before you say it, Converse is still popular enough for us to get away with them. None of this ‘Chuck Taylor All-Stars are so nineties.’ These are Jack Purcell and they’re still hotter than Madonna.”

Before she could even begin to regret her request, things were already set into motion. Urd simply stood as Genie worked his magic, raising her eyebrow as he took her measurements with the skill of someone who'd done something like this many times before. How many makeovers did he do in his life, anyway? She smiled wryly to herself as she watched him: who was she kidding? Probably a hundred.

"H-hey...!" she protested suddenly as he grabbed her dress. She was so shocked that she didn't even register the fact that a new outfit had been summoned underneath. For a few seconds, Urd just froze, staring down at herself in surprise. She blinked a few times, suddenly realizing that this particular outfit was very familiar. She looked up at him quickly, searching his face for any kind of knowledge, some kind of awareness of what he'd done, but there was nothing out of the ordinary.

She chuckled quietly, lowering her head. "Thank you, Genie. It's great." Placing one hand in her jacket pocket, she reached out and squeezed his hand, giving him a sweet, grateful smile. "I know I've said it before, but I don't know what I do without you!"

He knew it was pointless to nitpick over her shoelaces. In the end she would ruin the ‘perfect’ bows he had tied anyway. However, he was stubborn and if only just to satisfy himself he continued to work on them until he was satisfied. Urd’s voice broke him from his concentration, though he was most forgiving. A warm smile was returned to her while he looked up at her and held her hand. This? This was nothing, especially to Urd. She had done more for him than she probably realized. Anything he could do for her it seemed was too little to repay her. However, at least the moon rocks he had yet to create would be of true aid to her.

“Probably saunter and trip throughout the city in this thing.” On his feet again, Genie held Urd’s dress up on a hanger and dusted it off with a small brush. “This thing is filthy now.” He tsked. “Of course, that’s what I should expect after you’ve been dragged this on the ground behind you for who knows how long. I’ll have to wash it.” Examining the fabric more closely, he stuck his finger through a visible hole. “This will have to be repaired too.” Another tsk. “You’ll have to learn to treat your clothes more kindly. I won’t always be here to fix them.” Genie paused to look at Urd’s attire. “At least try to keep those clean, will you?”

Urd smiled with more mystery someone her visible age should have and turned to hop over to the floor-length mirror she had in her room. As Genie inspected her dress, she looked herself over, posing a few times. She looked over her shoulder at him with a slight pout at his mild scolding.

"Hey, when you summon your clothes, you don't really think about repairing. I had to drag that over the city! I'm surprised it's not more damaged than it is." She sighed and headed towards him, reaching to feel the fabric between her finger and thumb.

"This dress looked amazing on me," she said forlornly. Scowling, she let go of it as if it were burned and turned away, flinging open the bedroom door. "I'm gonna find the Doctor!" she said with sudden heat, determination and annoyance fueling her at this point.

But the scowl softened as she looked back at Genie. "When I turn back, I have something to tell you." Urd hesitated, looking away and standing in the doorway, as if unsure of what to say. Finally, she shook her head and muttered something to herself under her breath.

"I'll be back soon!" she called as she skipped down the stairs. "I'll bring back some ice cream for you and Yorda!" She may have changed a little, but some things never would.

Urd may not have thought about repairs but he certainly did. He suspected she knew he did too however made no comment other than raise a brow at the goddess while she inspected her dress. Had she truly dragged her dress across the city as she made it sound Genie was certainly impressed. In that case he was just as surprised it had withstood further damage then a hole. There had been a few other tears in the fabric but nothing nearly as apparent as the hole. His expression grew soft while he watched her eyes, noting her disappointment before she even spoke of it. Clothes were so material – ha! It didn’t matter what the close looked like; anything looked amazing on Urd because she herself was amazing. He gave a small sigh. If only she could see the same…

The abrupt change of mood when the goddess brought up the Doctor was not the only thing to catch him off guard, though that certainly did come as a surprise. For her to suddenly decide to go now, while she was both unstable and a child? Maybe she had actually taken his words into consideration. Either way, even if she didn’t he was not about to argue over it – not unless she forgot to bring him his autograph. Then things would be a little different.

Still wearing a look of both confusion and surprise when Urd turned to look at him again, he found himself treated with yet another surprise before she skipped off. “Something to tell me?” Genie asked himself out loud. What could she possibly have to tell him that needed to wait for…? He scratched his head and looked down at Poncho who could be found rubbing against his legs for attention. “I wonder what that was all about.” He continued in thought, curious in regards to her odd behaviour before leaving. The genie suddenly stopped and looked down again at Poncho before he jumped back in horror.

“You’re shedding on my dress pants!” He cried. Taking a lint brush to his pant leg he furiously cleaned the fur from it and wondered if this was the reason behind Urd’s dislike for the Lumen. Now he would have to clean them off before he went out. At least there would be ice cream waiting for him when he got home.

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Growing Pains [Completed]

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