Dinadan Palmer (sonoftheatom) wrote in dc_nextgen,
@ 2013-05-31 17:53:00

Entry tags:

Drink Your Vaccine And Let's Shrink
Dinadan jumps a bit in as his father claps a hand on his shoulder.

"Everything's set up, kiddo," Ray says. "I'll be in the next room if the pair of you get in trouble or decide you want adult supervision."

"Thanks Dad," Dinadan says. "Anything goes wrong, we'll shout. But I'm pretty sure I can handle it."

Ray glances at the veritable nest his son has built of notes on the shrinking technology.

"I'm sure you can," he answers, shaking his head. "What do you think, pizza for dinner?"

"Sounds good. I'll ask Petra what she wants when she gets here, I don't want to call her in cast she's en route."

Today's the last phase of making sure that Petra can safely use the shrinking technology inherent in the Atom belt: actually testing it out. That part should be easy enough, it ought to go well, and then they can work on some of the basic things you need to know while being six inches tall.

Though Dinadan's already swept the room for rats. Nobody enjoys fighting a giant rat the first time they shrink.

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	gal_gardner 2013-05-31 11:43 pm UTC (link)
	If she was asked, Petra would think fighting a giant rat would be awesome. But she's a bit late for that, knocking at the door to casa de Palmer. She's dressed as nice as she usually does when she's going to have a chance of chatting with Din's dad, but has her 'work' clothes with her as well. (Reply to this)(Thread)

sonoftheatom
2013-06-01 03:12 pm UTC (link)

There's a muffled yelp and a thump from the other side of the door in response to her knock, and Dinadan's father is the one who answers the door.

"Come in, Petra," he says, the corner of his mouth twitching upward. "Dinadan's just rediscovering why surrounding himself with sheets of paper is a bad idea."

"Dad," Dinadan complained, coming into the entryway with a damp dishtowel pressed up against his elbow. "Hi, Petra."

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	gal_gardner 2013-06-01 05:15 pm UTC (link)
	"Hi Ray." Petra just raises her eyebrows and sighs. "Oh honey..." She walks over to Din and gives him a kiss that most girlfriends might not be bold enough to do in front of their man's father, before checking his elbow. "You still okay for the shrink test?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sonoftheatom 2013-06-03 06:51 am UTC (link)
	"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just a scrape," Dinadan says, a blush creeping orangely up his neck. "Dad?" "I'm going, I'm going," Ray says. "I'll be in the next room if you need me, don't hesitate to shout. Oh, and we're having pizza tonight, Petra, any preferences?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	gal_gardner 2013-06-04 08:12 pm UTC (link)
	"Chicken and broccoli's my poison of choice, anything but anchovies I'll eat." Petra responds. "Thanks Ray." She lets her arms rest on Din's shoulders, just looking at him fondly. "So what's the gameplan?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

sonoftheatom
2013-06-08 05:01 am UTC (link)

Ray lifts a hand in acknowledgement and leaves the foyer for the phone and whatever he's going to be doing while Dinadan and Petra play with Atom belts.

"Gameplan on your end is mostly putting on the belt and not exploding, then doing a bit of maneuvering in an environment while six inches tall," Dinadan says. "Gameplan on my end is supervising you doing that and worrying like crazy. I also have clothes for you in case yours don't shrink with you, which happens sometimes; but I think only when people shrink because they're touching the belt but not wearing it. Also, I did a sweep, there are no cats or rats in the house and Lizzy's Dad's dog isn't hiding somewhere in here, and Head is definitely too busy with his cheese-product-in-a-can to come and bother us."

Dinadan's a planner.

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	gal_gardner 2013-06-08 05:10 pm UTC (link)
	"Don't worry, sweetie. I'm too awesome to explode." She smiles and kisses his cheek, then jostles her bag. "Where should I change? Brought my work clothes." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sonoftheatom 2013-06-13 06:22 am UTC (link)
	"Bathroom's right in through there," Dinadan says, pointing. "And if, uh, it doesn't work, I've got a change of clothes in a smaller size, too." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	gal_gardner 2013-06-13 09:16 pm UTC (link)
	"Splendid." With that, Petra grabs her boyfriend by the collar and pulls him along with her. ~Ten minutes later~ Fixing her hair and in her JLI uniform, Petra emerges from the bathroom. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

sonoftheatom
2013-06-20 07:11 am UTC (link)

Dinadan doesn't even bother to put his shirt back on, nor to do more than finger-comb his hair.

"Yes, right," he says, tossing the shirt aside and picking up the Atom belt on the table. "Okay, so far, most of the testing Dad's done has indicated that the belt tends to default to Katharthan-size. You can generally go smaller or larger from there, but we do not recommend trying to stop anywhere between human- and Katarthan-sized, because I do not want you to explode."

He reaches over and moves a large digital clock over to the edge of the desk. "When you shrink, I'm going to set this for fifty-five minutes. Usually it's not a problem for people who wear the belt, but I'd rather check now and find out whether you're one of the people who can't stay shrunk for an hour without problems. When the alarm goes off, we're going to drop what we're doing and see how you're feeling. Fortunately, there has always been painful sensations before the actual exploding, so if anything like that starts happening, you can just grow back up to human-sized. Okay?"

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	gal_gardner 2013-06-20 04:22 pm UTC (link)
	Petra nods and stretches, working out the kinks. Various superheroing mishaps over the years meant this wouldn't be the first time her body got warped in some way, but she still figured limbering up couldn't hurt anything. "Okay. Is there any kind of failsafe to get us back to normal size if something goes wrong and we can't do it manually?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sonoftheatom 2013-06-23 05:50 am UTC (link)
	"If something goes that wrong, we shout for my father and he takes us to the ray version of the technology," Dinadan says, tossing his shirt on a chair. "I'm going to let him know when we shrink down, so he can check in on us before the time limit's up." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	gal_gardner 2013-06-23 11:44 pm UTC (link)
	"Okay smart guy, hit me." She smiles, sufficiently reassured. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sonoftheatom 2013-06-25 07:30 am UTC (link)
	"Already did," Dinadan says dryly. He grins and passes her the belt from the table. "Put it on. Not so tight it cuts off your breathing, but I wouldn't wear it too loose either." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	gal_gardner 2013-06-25 12:15 pm UTC (link)
	Petra slips the belt on and secures it, glancing at herself in a mirror, swaying her hips just so. "Does it come in green?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sonoftheatom 2013-07-01 07:05 am UTC (link)
	"No, we're a family that finds a color scheme and sticks to it," Dinadan says. "Ready to go?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	gal_gardner 2013-07-04 12:03 am UTC (link)
	"Ready when you are." She holds both of Din's hands and takes a deep breath. For all her bravado, this was an entirely new science... 'thing' to her. Best to brace herself. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

sonoftheatom
2013-07-04 08:18 pm UTC (link)

Dinadan squeezes her hands and gives her a reassuring smile.

"We wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think it would be okay," he says, taking her hands and putting them on her belt, so she can work the switches with her thumbs. I'll go first, so I can cover the resulting distance when you're smaller."

"Dad, we're shrinking!" he calls out to the next room, and compresses the switch on his own belt, shrinking down to his own normal Katarthan height.

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gal_gardner
2013-07-04 11:25 pm UTC (link)

Petra watches the by now familiar sight, lets out a breath, and hits the switches on her own belt.

Din had described the sensation to her, but it was always like hearing someone talk about some local point of interest. Petra saw it like a tourist sees that same thing for the first time. By the time she's fully shrunken, she's spinning around, taking in all the new details her reduced size lets her see.

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sonoftheatom
2013-07-16 06:13 am UTC (link)

"Oh good, your clothes shrunk with you," Dinadan says, approaching her over the now-significantly-less-smooth carpet. "Not that I wasn't prepared for that eventuality, but naked girlfriend does scientific things to my brains entirely unrelated to test-running the belt.

Speaking of clothes, Dinadan has abandoned his pants to the world of humans in favor of a blue loincloth that reaches down past his knees in both the front and the back. He's currently barefoot, but the boots he carries in his hand are the same color as the cloth.

He's also significantly taller in comparison to Petra right now than he is when they're both human-sized.

"You feeling okay? Any dizziness or nausea?"

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gal_gardner
2013-07-16 08:24 am UTC (link)

"I know, honey. Need your big science brain with all of its blood still."

And Petra saw that it was good.

She smiles with amusement at the shift in relative heights. Sure, Din had shot up a bit since they... wow, had they really been together that long? Anyway, now they're both much more in line with one another's heights, give or take an 'inch'. It's interesting.

She gives another look around, taking a deep breath and relaxing for a moment. "Nope... think everything's fine." A thought occurs, and she drums her fingers along the belt. "If it's long-lasting enough though, I think we should use the ray for the trip though..." She clears her throat. "I don't want to risk this coming off at any point in our... private agenda?" She smirks at her boyfriend, giving the loin-cloth another gaze.

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sonoftheatom
2013-07-19 03:49 am UTC (link)

Dinadan took a few more steps and then paused, peering closely at her with a thoughtful expression.

"I'd need a ruler to check properly, but I think you've done the standard foot-to-inch human shrinking," he says. He shakes his head. "It's going to be weird, being almost the same height as you."

"Removing the belt won't immediately make you revert to human height," he says. "We haven't done too much experimentation with it, but we know that much. If you'd prefer the ray, though, that's absolutely an option." He grins. "I just figured that you'd prefer to have a bit more control of the shrinking instead of just going strictly from one size to another."

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	gal_gardner 2013-07-25 12:25 am UTC (link)
	"I'll defer to my crazy-smart boyfriend's better judgement." She leans in and gives him a kiss. And another. Petra can't help but indulge her amusement with the new relative heights. She runs her hands up and down Din's sides, feeling his arms and shoulders in particular. "It's weird... you still feel only as muscley as normal, but there's... well, more of you." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

sonoftheatom
2013-07-25 11:12 pm UTC (link)

"Uncle Ryan has actually used the take-the-belt-away trick to deal with a shrinking villain before," Dinadan explains. "Got him to shrink down really small and then took his belt away. Haven't had a problem with him since, and it's been years, so..." He shrugs. If Dwarfstar's long dead, it's good riddance to bad rubbish, as far as he's concerned.

He tries not to squirm too much under her hands, but he can't help grinning. "Yeah, I know. I'll invite you next time the Lighter Than Air Society starts discussing the whys and hows. Things get thrown, vows of destruction get sworn, and a rollicking good time is had by all."

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	gal_gardner 2013-07-29 08:01 pm UTC (link)
	"Do you just want to show me off to all your old-people friends?" Petra smiles, her eyes laughing, as she drapes her arms over Din's shoulders, touching her forehead to his. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sonoftheatom 2013-08-09 05:27 am UTC (link)
	"You're right," Dinadan says, opening his eyes wide and batting his eyelashes. "I'm taking you home to meet my mother, but meeting the old guys at the Society? I'm not sure if our relationship is that serious yet." He grins. "Not that I'm not enjoying this, but you can pretty much feel me up any time. You want to get a feel for moving around at this size?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

gal_gardner
2013-08-09 04:34 pm UTC (link)

Petra laughs, but maybe flinches just a little. His science club buddies are practically family to Din, so the idea of not measuring up in front of any of them is almost as worrying as the idea of in front of his parents. She puts it aside.

"Sure thing handsome." She untangles herself from him and gets some space, seeing if her powers still work normally. Coating herself in frost, making a few snowballs... seems to be business as usual.

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sonoftheatom
2013-08-12 06:10 am UTC (link)

"I was kidding," Dinadan says quickly. At least giving her goofy stares meant that he had a better chance of seeing things that might be flinches. "Besides, they'll love you. You don't take any guff and you make me happy and you understand the importance of horrible little greasy sausages. You'll be a hit."

As she puts herself through her paces, he begins going through some warm-up stretches, keeping an eye on her for any signs of discomfort that might be shrinking-related.

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gal_gardner
2013-08-13 11:49 pm UTC (link)

A layer of ice coats the floor, stopping just short of Din's toes, as Petra glides around, seemingly without effort. She seems satisfied with the result, and launches herself into the air. Not the usual rocketing into the distance, but just a simple testing bound. She makes a three-point landing, then nods to Din.

"How about eating? I need to keep pretty hydrated for my powers to work. Is it safe for me to drink up before shrinking?"

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sonoftheatom
2013-09-05 03:55 am UTC (link)

"It's perfectly safe to shrink on a full stomach," Dinadan answers. "I don't have to hold my breath the whole time I'm small enough to travel the phonelines, and I'm technically smaller than oxygen at that point. There's a certain...aura, or area of effect of the shrinking, which is also why you didn't shrink out of your bodysuit and I didn't shrink out of my loincloth."

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	gal_gardner 2013-09-05 06:43 pm UTC (link)
	"Huh..." Petra processes that as best she can. "So... What does it take to get you out of your loincloth?" She smirks. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sonoftheatom 2013-09-13 07:17 am UTC (link)
	Dinadan actually laughs at that. "Probably a little more work than getting me out of my pants, but I'd chalk that down to you not having practice with it. But before we take that topic any further, do you want to take effective super-strength for a spin?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	gal_gardner 2013-09-16 03:55 pm UTC (link)
	"All this, a vacation, and super-strength too? You spoil a girl, Mister Palmer." Petra winks at him. "Sure, where do we start?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

sonoftheatom
2013-09-25 04:16 am UTC (link)

"Okay, the two buttons we haven't messed with yet control your density -- right one can increase your weight up to what you weigh at your full height, the one on the left makes you lighter. The more dense you are, the stronger you are. At your densest, you could jump about as far as you can as a human, but that's a lot farther when you're six inches tall. You do have to make sure of your footing though, because all that weight is concentrated on a smaller area, a bit like stomping on someone's instep with your bare foot verses stomping on their foot when you're wearing high heels.

"As for where to start..." He leaned forward and poked her in the arm. "Tag!" he said, and took off across the carpet like his butt was on fire.

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gal_gardner
2013-09-25 05:47 pm UTC (link)

Petra's busy doing math about her last long-jump records from a fitness day her gym sponsored, and then about to protest about mistreatment of innocent heels. She's caught off-guard by the poke, and laughs and sputters as she grins.

"Hey! Come back here, nerd!" She operates the belt as he instructed, and starts to run after him. Her initial few steps end up launching her into the air, tumbling ankles over ass in an arc that goes right over Din.

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