[PRP] Look at you [Consume/Serpent of Paradise]

[Beejoux]

It was...a lot. First she'd had to adjust to being one of the few touched by the Motherfather, and now this? Merry was genuinely starting to wonder if this, all of these, was just some.long and elaborate dream. It just felt so surreal, so unreal. But here it was.

She gazed up at the tree, [i[]her tree[/I] -- how she knew that, she wasn't sure -- focus jumping from orchid bud to orchid bud, tracing the vines. She was waiting for someone, wanting to share this first exploration with the buck that had been there for her so slowly over the last couple of years. Whom are couldn't imagine being without anymore.

Her tail flicked with barely contained excitement, pale frame taunt and ready. She wanted to go in so badly.

Soon. Soon.

[Prolixity]

Consume paced up behind Merry, looking up thoughtfully at the tree. "Is this the one?" he asked. The forest was something new, something novel; he liked it, he thought, although he felt a little overawed, or maybe slightly overwhelmed. He wasn't fully sure how he'd gotten here in the first place; it was a little like a dream, something uncertain and strange. But if it was a dream, that was all right. It still seemed to be a shared dream, and Merry needed his support now, he knew.

[Beejoux]

Her ear angled back at the sound of his voice as he moved up behind her, but she had her eyes closed, nose lifted to scent the air. It smelled different here -- not just in these strange woods, but here at this tree -- wet and growing, like a spring rain storm, but more, stronger.

"Yeah." This was hers. She knew it the same way she knew who needed her, or how to fly. It was a gut instinct, some internal magic or intuition.

She flicked her tail as she looked back to smile at him, feathers brushing affectionately under his chin. Then she was walking forward, through the vine archway. The smell was stronger, and with it came the scene of moisture in the air and so many sounds Merry couldn't pick them apart.

She stepped out on the other side taller, a little unsteadily. Instead of four hooves she now had two, and her front legs, now arms, ended in delicate seeming hands. Pale fur was dipped with bright and shimmering scales, and from her back, two rainbow colored wings unfurled and folded again. She let out a gasp, grabbed a railing and let out a shaky, excited laugh.

What was this place?! It was incredible.

[Prolixity]

The smell of the air was intriguing, wet and lush and promising. Consume nipped playfully at the little flirt of Merry's tailfeathers as they brushed his chin; then he was following her, drawn on by his curiosity and his affection in equal parts, brushing through the vines.

He wobbled a little on two feet on the other side, startled by the change in perspective and posture. It felt utterly strange and completely natural. His heels were on the planks of the floor, balancing him; his front legs were arms with clever, five-fingered hands instead of hooves, like a lemur's. Oh, what he could do with this! He examined the hands with their long fingers and modest claws, then looked down at himself, curious; his shape was unlike anything in the swamp and he marveled over it. He remained grey, short-furred, with slightly iridescent scales on the backs of his hands and on his shoulders and back and cheeks, and his tail was thicker, scaled, snakelike.

He looked to Merry, admiring her new body. She was strange and familiar too, although she retained her presence and aura, an indefinable identifiability. "Look at you," he laughed. "All kinds of changes."

[Beejoux]

Rich blue fabrics wrapped around her chest and hung from her hips and arms, glittering gold chiming along her wrists, ankles, and tail. She was slight in stature, but fit, curvy. At Consume's remark she shot a grin over her shoulder at him, let glowing eyes take in the tall, slender figure he'd become. Different, very different, but still undeniably him, and still appealing to her eye. "All kinds," she agreed, shuffling a little on hooves feet.

"Look at this." She looked back out into the jungle, the huts and bridges woven into the greenery. Then she looked down, breath catching. "Oh my, we're very high up." Another person might have found that frightening, not not Merry. She find heights exhilarating. Bright wings flared as she gazed far down at the jungle floor before, flapping a few times before folding again.

[Prolixity]

"We are," he agreed, peering over the side of the platform; he found the height both exciting and slightly nerve-wracking. He had no wings, and he had never been very high off the ground. It was a new experience within this new experience. But he had found his balance now, and he thought he would be able to navigate his surroundings without too much concern if he was careful.

"We should explore," he suggested, pointed ears lifting slightly with interest as he looked around at the trees and the structures woven into them. "Is there somewhere here that's for you? Do you know?" In the ordinary world, there were places that one called home, places one slept and nested and cached things; but here, he sensed a new concept, an idea that there might be a space that was like a nest of one's own, but made specifically for an individual.

[Beejoux]

Merry reached out to touch his arm as he looked over the edge with her, and she blinked at the feel of soft fur and scales, the warmth beneath. It was wholly unique, and she trailed her fingers down his arm as he spoke, took his hand as he asked about a place that was hers. Distracted enough it took her a second or two to register what he'd said. "I'm not sure." With a hum she looked around them, but nothing stood out immediately. "But we should definitely find out."

And definitely explore.

Lacing her fingers with his, she flashed him a grin before heading along the walkway, towards the smallish buildings built into the trees themselves. Homes, a part of her provided. Whatever magic made this place for her, it gave her knowledge as well. "Look at that, they're like dens, but bigger." Well crafted huts with windows and doors. One among them was a little bit bigger than the rest, with flowering vines climbing up one side and across the thatched roof. "I think...this one is mine," she said as she stopped before it.

[Prolixity]

He had a new name, too, he discovered; he turned it thoughtfully over in his mind, like turning over an interesting rock. In this place, he would be called Iyat. He was distracted from the new idea by the brush of Merry's fingers down his arm and the way they felt intertwining with his. This was fascinating, these alien yet familiar new ideas and sensations. He returned her grin and followed her, the walkway just big enough for both of them.

He looked up to examine the home they stopped in front of, noticing the way the entrance was crafted, the windows that would allow anyone within the structure to look outside and allow air in. Flowering vines grew up the side and climbed across the roof, and he wondered if they had grown there themselves or if they'd somehow been encouraged to root themselves on the home. He squeezed Merry's hand. "Let's look inside."\

[Beejoux]

She liked the feel of his hand in hers, the warmth and weight of his fingers. It was new and different, a little like twining their tails together as they walked, but more substantial. She ran her thumb along the side of his hand as they stood their looking up at the house.

"Yeah, let's see what's inside." More new things. All new, all different. Her wings have an excited flicker, feathers fluffing as she pushed open the door and walked inside, have tightening on Iyat's.

Inside was spacious, an open floor plan with some seating built into the wall beneath wide windows. A stone crafted fire place sat in the middle, and a cooking area and table beyond that. Twisting around the central trunk a carved stair case wound up to another level. "Oh wow, this is incredible!"

[Prolixity]

Iyat looked around, his eyes lingering on the things, things that had been made to be used by these bodies. It was a fascinating concept that stretched the borders of his understanding. The Swamp provided for them in the ordinary world, and they didn't have much need for crafting things beyond making food and art, but he could see how this other world was different. He squeezed Merry's hand again, fascinated and curious and a little awed. "A good nest. Home," he corrected himself thoughtfully. "What's up the ... stairs?" The word provided itself when he needed it.

[Beejoux]

She made an agreeable little hum. It did look like a nice home, very comfortable, very cozy. She was eager to see what she could do in that kitchen. Knowledge was provided, certain basics ingrained in a way that felt instinctual, and she wanted very much to give cooking a go.

But later.

Her her tilted at his question, and that bright grin was back. "Let's find out." Squeezing his hand, she started for the stairs, wings flaring out as she started up them.

At the top was a large, singular room with windows all around and a very large bed to one side, and what looked to be a personal pond...bath, on the other. She made an excited chirrup, reaching down to brush the tips of her fingers along the fur drapes top of the bed. "I like this very much."

The bed looked incredibly comfortable, mounded with cushions and blankets of all types, with a slowly rotating fan of thick palm fronds hanging above it.

The bath, along with the...sink and toilet, had bamboo connected to them leading up through the roof. Primitive plumbing, but functional.

[Prolixity]

He followed her up the stairs, one hand on the wall to be sure his balance was steady, although he was feeling more comfortable moving around on two feet the more he did it. He wondered idly if he would remember this once they returned from this place, and if he did, how clear it would be.

The room at the top of the stairs was expansive and looked quite comfortable to him. "This is real nice," he said, and moved slowly around the perimeter of the room, then looked interestedly at the plumbing; his new knowledge said that the bamboo carried water for cleaning oneself with. That seemed useful. He gave Merry a lopsided grin. "I like it too."

[Beejoux]

It was bigger than any den Merry had ever had in the swamp, and held so many more comforts and conveniences. "We're going to be spoiled, here," she noted with little giggle, though that didn't stop her from letting herself flop down on the bed, wings stretching up in the space within the canopy. It was just as soft as she'd imagined it would be. "Oh, yes. Absolutely spoiled."

It did make her wonder how things would be when they left this place, but that was a concern she could save for later. Now was for new and exciting things.

[Prolixity]

He took a quick step closer, plucking teasingly at the feathers of her wings as she stretched. "So very spoiled," he agreed, and flopped down beside her, flexible and sleek. His tail undulated lazily. "How long can we stay?" he asked, after a moment. Something within him said that they couldn't stay forever, and if he was honest with himself, he didn't want to; this form was novel and interesting, the place equally so, but he knew too that he would be glad eventually to return to his familiar shape, to the way things were outside this lovely dream.

A lovely dream could only last so long, and would be less lovely if it weren't so.

[Beejoux]

Feathers twitched as he plucked at them, her wing shifting away from those teasing fingers, and she turned her head shoot a look up at him, before turning on the bed to loop her arm around his waist, chin resting on dappled skin. "I'm not sure. I don't know if there's a set amount of time, maybe forever." She shrugged

"I'd miss the swamp, though." As beautiful as this world was, and as new and different as their bodies were, she liked their life in the swamp. Their den was comfortable, their lives were happy there.

She could the feeling though, as she thought about it more, that the urge to return here would be there. This place was hers, after all.