[Veronica]

[plantfood]

It's taken the better part of the morning, but Mathias is showered and dressed, his hair brushed and tied back in a ponytail that feels strange when it brushes against his back as he walks. None of his clothes fit, so he's found a shirt of Stacy's to wear, a tank top that only serves to remind him that he officially has breasts. At first he'd tried to wear a pair of her shorts as well, but Stacy likes her clothes a little shorter than Mathias is comfortable with and when paired with the fact that he's still nearly a foot taller than she is, he'd decided against borrowing too much from her. The box in the basement had given him a pair of jeans and he's tugged them on, even if it feels strange how tight they are through the hips and thighs.

As he walks, he stops to shuffle now and then, trying to adjust to his new body. It's uncomfortable and he's a little nervous to begin with, not sure what he's going to say to Veronica once he reaches her place. He knows he has to explain about Stacy, but this feels like a ridiculous time to say anything at all. Still, he doesn't want her to get the wrong idea if she finds out about it in another way.

"Veronica?" he calls when he nears her hut, clearing his throat awkwardly. His accent is still present, but his voice is lighter and softer. Smoothing his hands down the front of the tank top, pulling it into place, he reaches the door and knocks lightly. Maybe she isn't home. Maybe if he runs now, he still has time to escape.

But Mathias just stands there and waits, expressionless and yet very nervous.

Comments

[plantfood]

"I never think of France," Mathias answers sadly, shaking his head. "It's a wonder the Eiffel Tower is still standing."

It's brief, but he misses home, then. He misses being able to hop on a train and be in France within mere hours, in Paris by the end of the day. "I stood up there for the first time when I was seven," he says, remembering that trip with a faint smile. "My parents took us to Lyon on a business trip and then decided at the last minute to keep going to Paris."

[neptune-sleuth.livejournal.com]

There was a flicker of envy in her expression as she shook her head. "I always wanted to go," she said. "I wanted... to see things. Paris and London and New York. But I got here first." It was one of the few things she really regretted about the island - not the loss of the life she'd never get to live, but all the things she'd never done and seen. Something had kept her anchored in California, and there was a pull that state had, a magnetic hold on her. She'd never got a chance to resist.

[plantfood]

"We took it for granted. It's easy to travel in Europe and my parents... well, they were never wanting for anything," Mathias admits, thinking back to how they'd bought him his first apartment, the flat he'd lived in until going to Mexico and arriving on the island. Being a tourist had always been easy for him, it had been a way of life and he misses that. "Traveling is one of those things in life that I think everyone should be able to do, regardless of money. I loved it."

[neptune-sleuth.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, well, unfortunately, cash kinda come in handy if you wanna travel," Veronica said, shaking her head. "And our family - we wanted for plenty." The island, with its lack of economy, its system that worked so well, was a paradise for her, a small but continuous proof that there was some good in the world after all. It was a promise, one she tried hard to hold to. There was so little to believe in sometimes, but this was a constant now. "It was just one of those things I was going to get to someday."

[plantfood]

Mathias has long ago grown to understand that his life had been relatively easy and he's long ago developed an underlying sense of guilt when it comes to just how much money his family has. It rears up now and he smiles very faintly, looking down at his hands.

"My father once told me that money can't buy happiness, but it makes the pursuit of it much easier," he admits and he hates that it's somewhat true. "I guess he never imagined a place like this."

[neptune-sleuth.livejournal.com]

"Well, to be fair, neither did I," Veronica said, shaking her head. Her lips twisted as she tried to hold back a laugh. "Least of all the part with you being a girl." Even in her discontent in Neptune, she hadn't actually thought of a place like this, even as vague possible utopia, with or without the weird voodoo business.

[plantfood]

"I certainly hope my father never imagined that," Mathias agrees with a smile, leaning back a little too far. His elbow slips off the edge of the table and before he can stop himself, he's slid, his new breasts running into the edge as he tries not to look like a completely graceless fool.

"I..." But then he realizes just how much that's hurt and both his hands fly to his chest. "Ow," he says, emphatically.

[neptune-sleuth.livejournal.com]

There was no helping it then, and mean though it was when he was hurt, Veronica leaned back and laughed. "Impressive," she said, fingers drumming against the table as she tried to rein herself in a bit. "Are you okay?" That had to have hurt, but she was willing to bet he was more stunned than injured.

[plantfood]

"That hurt," he answers, being careful not to rub, just leaving his hands where they are. It's a strange sort of pain, though, one he doesn't recognize and he takes his hands away a moment later. "I never realized that could hurt so much."

Maybe that's why he's stuck like this now. To learn things he's never realized about women before or to learn not to take being a man for granted.

[neptune-sleuth.livejournal.com]

"I think there's probably a lot you'll be learning about that in the next couple days," she said wryly, "or however long it lasts." There was plenty she'd figured out about being a man in her weekend, but she'd worked hard to forget it for the most part. She couldn't blame anyone else who'd want to do the same, but in the moment, some things were difficult to ignore.

[plantfood]

"I've already struggled through getting dressed," he admits, gesturing at himself in a somewhat awkward manner. "I had to find a bra and Stacy gave me shorts to wear, but she..."

He's not the type to say a cruel thing about anyone, especially not someone he considers a friend, even though they were brought together in a strange manner, so he pauses, thinking.

"She is still much shorter than I am," he says finally. "The shorts were not long enough for me to feel decent."

[neptune-sleuth.livejournal.com]

Veronica shook her head, slumping back a little. "That's what you get," she said, "for still being roughly the same height as a redwood." What it was about the tall ones, she didn't know. She never seemed to find any interest in herself for the ones that didn't exceed her by a foot.

[plantfood]

"I've been reduced from a giant monster with the ability to crush Tokyo to a tree," Mathias answers, settling back in the chair as well, making sure not to twist anything. The bra is uncomfortable and he shifts a little, trying to find a comfortable position. "I suppose that's fair. Soon enough I'll just be as tall as a regular person."

[neptune-sleuth.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, that's never happening," Veronica said, shaking her head. She smirked, leaning her head against her hand. "Well, no, the island might decide you need to be twelve again. Then we'll see."

[plantfood]

"Is had already made me a girl. It would make me twelve as well?" he asks, an eyebrow arching curiously as he thinks about that. If given a choice, he thinks he would continue on in this body, rather than turning back into a child. "I don't think I'd like that one much," he decides, shaking his head.

[neptune-sleuth.livejournal.com]

"It's happened before," Veronica said, nodding. "Believe me, seeing my dad in his mid-twenties wasn't exactly something I signed up for either." She shuddered, dramatic, though it hadn't actually been all that bad. Being nine at the time, though, that had been pretty damn annoying. Like she hadn't been short enough to begin with. "Saying things get weird here is putting it mildly."

[plantfood]

"I think I've come to realize that," Mathias agrees, looking down at himself once more, the strange, smooth curve of his thigh where there's normally a strong, hard muscle. "Between the dinosaurs and this... it can't get much worse, can it?"