Gravity Is Not A Friend Of Me (OPEN)

[jessie]

It might be cool with Cat, but all of a sudden, it was no longer cool for Shawna. She gives Cat this sort of... appraising look. Like she was trying to see inside her, see what made her, how she could be the way she is. Then she turned her attention to the balloon as well.

"Well..." The fabric was caught and tangled in the sharp branches, strained and ripped. "I dunno if it would be worth it to try and get it carefully. It's already real torn up. We might just pull it down and start all over." Hopefully nothing had happened with the engine. Hopefully. In her hope, she hadn't even glanced at it yet, afraid of the worst.

[Pink Moon Wolf]

"Hey, gotta fix it either way," Cat muttered as she rapidly jogged in place, repeatedly stomping her feet on the ground. Then she took a mighty leap and stomped back down, allowing the propulsion system in her shoes to launch her high into the air, where she dove into the tree and clung to a branch.

Upon further examination of the balloon, she concluded, "Eh, not looking too too bad."

[jessie]

"Oh my god!" Shawna gasped at Cat's suddenly leap. "Be careful! Branches can snap..." She went around behind the balloon, and held on to the bottom of the envelope, prepared to help Cat out with whatever stunt she was about to pull. It looks worse on this side, she realizes, wincing. It was like seeing her child injured. The balloon practically was her child, with how much time and love she'd poured into it.

[Pink Moon Wolf]

"Alright, slow and steady..." With a firm grip on the balloon, Cat started to gently pry it free from the foliage, taking efforts not to damage it further so as to keep the workload to a minimum. "Whatcha think, should I just do the same thing here as I did with the basket? 'Cause honestly, there's way more I have to offer than a tune-up."

[jessie]

She's looking up at Cat, not her feet, not where she's going. "That thing works on Nomex and dacron? Oh. Of course it would. Why would it not? I mean, I guess so? Why not?" She's a bit hesitant still to just ask Cat to do things. It's embarrassing, how fully she wrecked her balloon.

She's focused on maybe working out how Cat's device works, and also maneuvering the envelope from the bottom, when she totally eats it on a tree root stick up. She spills, hands still clutching the fabric tight, which brings it down in one quick rip that leaves some of it still up in the tree. It is now much worse, but it's down, on the bright side.

It falls to the forest floor, covering it like a gaudy carpet. Some of it falls on Shawna, like a parachute. She lifts it and looks up at Cat. "Whoops..."

[Pink Moon Wolf]

"Okay, if you say so," Cat muttered as she and Shawna pulled the balloon loose, only for it to get more torn up. She had to cringe at the addition to her workload, but she ultimately shrugged it off. "Eh, forgeddaboudit. This was gonna take long enough anyway."

She jumped down from the tree and manned her repair rod again. "Seriously, though, if ya want like... laser cannons or a cloud-to-cola attachment... If ya got any suggestions for new additions, I'm listening."

[jessie]

"No, I don't think I need anything like that." She frowned, thinking it over. No, no, she had all she needed already. At least, she was pretty sure. She couldn't think of anything, but that didn't mean there were things to think of. She didn't think she could ask any more of Cat, anyhow.

"Here, wait, let me detatch the engine first." She reached up into the envelope's hoop, and included the engine. The weight of it made her pitch forward a bit, but she managed to get it safely to the ground. In the dirt. Well, at least that, the most important and delicate poiece of her vehicle, still worke-OH GOD ARE YOU JOKING IT SUDDENLY STARTED SHOOTING FIRE, WHY IS EVERYTHING SHE TOUCHES MALFUNCTIONING TODAY

[Pink Moon Wolf]

"Aw, nut butter!" Cat reached deep into her pocket again, pulling out a small, blue, spherical device, pressing a button on top of it and tossing it at the engine. "MOVE!!!"

As soon as the sphere hit the ground next to the engine, it seemed to explode and expand, halting at about a five-foot radius and condensing into a semi-transparent blue dome with the engine encased inside it. It appeared as if the inside of the dome was completely devoid of any oxygen or other atmospheric gases, a total vacuum, as the fire was immediately snuffed out.

"Yeesh, you are just a wealth of rotten luck, aren'tcha?" Cat questioned. "You should be thankful you found me. I might be a complete and total genius, I'm a wealth of dumb luck!"

[jessie]

Shawna breathed steadily, staring at the now-encased engine. This was no dream, this was a nightmare. She steadied herself before responding.

"This... is fine." She smiled, trying her hardest to make it look genuine. "Everything will end up working out. This is perfectly okay. At least the sun still rises!" Hopefully that didn't jinx anything.

Shawna strode over to the engine, and looked it over without disturbing the casing. "Oh... When I put it down, it pulled on the start string. Oopsie! Thought I was smarter than that! At least it's not actually broken. But that probably used a lot of gas, haha."

[Pink Moon Wolf]

"Well, that's fixable!" Cat chuckled before punching the dome, causing it to dissolve entirely. "Although, to be fair, I'm still confused as to how this island has its own sun. But hey, if ya can't figure it out, screw it."

She once again manned her repair rod and started stitching up the balloon. "Offer's still open for me to install anti-stupidity software."

[jessie]

"Haha, that's real funny." Is she... being sarcastic? Her tone doesn't belie it, not even a tad. The engine had started shooting flames after Cat broke the seal, still tugging on the pull string. Shawna carefully lifted it on the bottom end and brought out the string, cutting off the fuel. That had wasted some gas, for sure. Shawna had reached her zen state, and wouldn't be leaving for a while.

[Pink Moon Wolf]

"What's funny? I'm being serious here," Cat plainly stated as she stitched the balloon back together. "At any rate, whadya intend to do once your ride has been re-pimped?"

[jessie]

"Well, I..." What was she gonna do? She has options, for once. Her routine has been snapped in two, and she can choose to leave it behind. She doesn't have much waiting for her back home. She has people, but c'mon, she won't lie and say she truly likes any of them. But can she like anyone, at all ever? Evidence states the contrary. Would staying here be a fruitless experiment, proving what she already knew? Would it be better to go back to her old life, full of people she knows she's only lukewarm on and a Sisyphusian livelihood, or take a chance on this weird island, a gamble that could leave her bankrupt?

"I think I might stay a little while, leave in a day or two. If I'm here already, may as well see the sights." Good lord. Way to take the safe answer. Well, if this whole thing really is a dream, it should be enjoyed.

[Pink Moon Wolf]

"Hey, nothin' wrong with that," Cat happily offered, hard at work. "I thought the same way when my friends and I fell into that cosmic rip in the space time continuity, but then a few days turned into a few months and we're still here and... hey, apparently we're still back home in the World too, so I'm in no hurry. Why should I worry? Why should I ca-a-a-are?"

[jessie]

"I may not have a diime, but I got streeet savoire faire!" Shawna sang in response, ecstatic to hear a song she recognized, out of the mouth of a creature such as Cat, no less.

"Wow! They have Billy Joel on your world?! No way!" Wait, this was a dream. So why wouldn't they have a singer Shawna recognized? Her excitement faltered a bit, smile twitching.