Who: Krishna, Jade What: Birthday shenanigans When: sometime after midnight, Sunday night When: Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, India Warnings: language, probs.
For Krishna, being back in India was like taking off a mask. Colors seemed brighter. Flavors were bolder. There were familiar smells everywhere. If someone walked up to him and asked him what he missed most about home, he'd be hard-pressed to come up with an answer at this point. He was almost overwhelmed; everything in America seemed diluted in comparison. He supposed, then, that he was diluted, too. He felt stronger in his homeland, quicker, more powerful.
He could easily see himself getting lost in India if not for Jade. She kept him grounded, just as she always did. He was also excited to play tour guide and show her all the places he enjoyed as a child. Of course things looked different, but Mathura was one of seven holy cities, and it could only change so much while still retaining its historical significance.
He was in the shower when midnight came around, his actual birthday coming by rather uneventful for him. It would be the day following that would be the most fun, but he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep. Not now, not when he felt this energized.
He didn't bother wiping the fog from the mirror to take a look, he just used his fingers to brush his hair back away from his face. He threw on a pair of loose pants and a hooded sweatshirt, zipping it up halfway before stepping out into the hotel's main room.
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[info]heliolatrous 2011-08-21 09:38 pm UTC (link) DeleteTrack This Jade was loving India. She was American by birth and by nature but being here in this land that was so important to Krishna was amazing. Everything was so foreign and different, almost overwhelmingly so. She let her friend lead her around, being reminded over and over as he spoke of who he was. Having known Krishna her whole life it was so easy for Jade to forget that he was a god, an Avatar of Vishnu, an aspect of Brahman itself. Even when he talked about it back home it wasn't the same as the way she was experiencing it here.
Realising that, as though for the first time, almost knocked her off her feet completely. She had smiled across at him on their second day in the country, feeling a sense of awe. When he'd asked her what she was smiling at, Jade had just breathed, you. You're amazing, and then kissed his palms.
Another almost-overwhelming thing was how much better the barfi was here off any street corner than what she could find back home. (It was possible that she was being swept up in India though, because surely it wasn't that hard to make the stuff.) She was sitting cross-legged on the carpet in front of the TV and working her way through every flavour of barfi she'd managed to pick up at a stall that afternoon.
At the sound of Krishna behind her Jade turned excitedly to tell him that if he didn't try (and enjoy) the badam pak she had in her hand then she would disown him. But it wasn't Krishna behind her, but some teenage boy.
Jade jumped up, not exactly comfortable with some kid coming walking into her hotel room, especially when she was there in just her ragged singlet and underpants. "Can I fucking help you?" she blurted, although maybe if he worked for the hotel she should have maybe gone a little easier on him. But Jade lived in New York. In someone came walking into your place you hit them first and asked questions later.
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[info]bhagavan 2011-08-21 09:51 pm UTC (link) Track This Krishna frowned at her sudden change in mood. Immediately, he assumed he did something, because that was always the safe assumption. But for the life of him, he couldn't recall doing anything at all wrong.
"Um." Jade was on edge, borderline hostile, and it had completely thrown him off. "Jade, come on." He raised a fist to his mouth and coughed, feeling like something had caught in his throat.
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[info]heliolatrous 2011-08-21 10:04 pm UTC (link) DeleteTrack This The guy knew her name and was talking like her knew her, and that just made Jade even more uncomfortable. "Have we met?" Jade asked, slightly less freaked out and now more confused. Shit, had Krishna introduced her to this kid while they'd been here?
"Kanha's in the shower," she decided to tell him. "If... that's who you're looking for?"
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[info]bhagavan 2011-08-21 10:15 pm UTC (link) Track This Krishna would have laughed if he wasn't so confused. He glanced back toward the door, then looked back to Jade. "Well, I was in the shower. Now I'm back...here," he said, pointing to the ground in front of him, "was someone in here? You haven't called me Kanha in...I don't think you've ever called me Kanha."
He looked at his hand, still pointing at the ground, and flexed his fingers out. His hand looked different, somehow. And his wrist was smaller. Somehow. "Wha-"
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[info]heliolatrous 2011-08-21 10:18 pm UTC (link) DeleteTrack This Wait, wait, wait...
"Krishna?" she asked the boy, just as confused as he seemed to be. "Is that- what the fuck is going on here?" Was this an India thing? Was the country making him younger? "You're a fucking pipsqueak, Krishna, what the hell is this?"
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[info]bhagavan 2011-08-22 12:42 am UTC (link) Track This His eyes snapped back up to her. "Naahi," he said vehemently, turning on his heel and bolting back into the bathroom. He wiped the sleeve of his sweatshirt across the mirror, clearing out a streak to show the reflection of a shaggy-haired teenager. It wasn't him, not Krishna the way he'd been for so long.
He was all limbs and baby-fat face. He hadn't expected anything like this to happen. He thought, maybe, his skin might darken, or he'd be blue for a few days and have to stay inside. He didn't think he'd get younger.
"Kutti ka bacha." He leaned back out of the doorway to look at Jade, and his hair fell back into his face. Frustrated, he pushed it behind his ear. "I can't - I don't know what happened."
((Krishna says "No," then "Son of a bitch." But only privately, because he is a good boy.))
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[info]heliolatrous 2011-08-22 12:48 am UTC (link) DeleteTrack This Jade had waited in the living room for him, not moving until Krishna appeared in the doorway again. Once he did she padded over to him and then, cautiously, ran her fingers across his cheek. He really didn't look like Krishna. He could be anyone looking like this and Jade had to keep telling herself that it was her friend.
"It's okay," Jade finally said, trying to be reassuring. "It's weird and new but probably not permanent?" She didn't sound completely sure on that point though.
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[info]bhagavan 2011-08-22 01:34 am UTC (link) Track This He released a long breath, not realizing he'd been holding it when Jade touched him. "Ah...yes and no and I'm not sure."
He zipped his sweater up the rest of the way and tried to hide inside it. "I've been like this before. Obviously, I wasn't born a fully grown adult. It's just been a few - it's been a while."
His gaze drifted from Jade's face to her lack of clothing, then quickly to her feet. "I mean, eternal youth is great, but I rather enjoy being an adult."
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[info]heliolatrous 2011-08-22 04:09 am UTC (link) DeleteTrack This Jade, at this point, wasn't really noticing if anything was off about her friend other than the fact that he was suddenly looking like a teenage boy. She was still inspecting him closely, but now she was starting to smile a little. "Well, I don't see any reason it won't go back to normal once we go home."
She ran a hand through his hand and then grinned. "Fuck, Krishna, this is some crazy shit."
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[info]bhagavan 2011-08-23 01:21 am UTC (link) Track This His mouth tightened into a small smile at her bluntness. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, still trying to feel comfortable in his own body. "At least I'm not blue," he said, "and we can still go outside."
He finally decided on leaning against the door frame, hoping that having something solid would keep him from feeling antsy. It also gave him something to focus on other than Jade's bare legs, which his eyes had moved to. "We should go dancing," he said, sounding distracted. "Or just...somewhere. Out."
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[info]heliolatrous 2011-08-23 03:23 am UTC (link) DeleteTrack This Jade was noticing the gaze at her legs now and she couldn't help but look a little bit amused. "That teenage body with yours coming with its own teenage hormones?" she questioned, promising herself that she wouldn't laugh at her friend's predicament.
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[info]bhagavan 2011-08-24 02:36 am UTC (link) Track This Caught. He blinked owlishly, focusing on her face. "No. I'm - no." His neck felt hot. Great, so now he even sounded like one.
He caught himself staring at her breasts and, just to be safe, tipped his head back to look at the ceiling. "Don't patronize me. Ugh. This is going to be great."
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[info]heliolatrous 2011-08-24 02:43 am UTC (link) DeleteTrack This Jade didn't laugh, because Jade had promised she wouldn't laugh. It took some strength though. With a warm smile she wrapped her arms around Krishna and kissed his cheek. "All will be fine, baby," she told him. "Your people must want this and I know you love your people."
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[info]bhagavan 2011-08-24 02:51 am UTC (link) Track This He sighed and told himself he was begrudgingly letting Jade touch him, because if he told himself anything else things could very well get out of hand on his end. "Honestly, it probably has to do with the stories. I'm young in most of them."
He pulled away slightly and leveled her with a Very Serious Stare. "Hopefully it stays this way. You don't want to be babysitting, right?"
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[info]heliolatrous 2011-08-24 02:56 am UTC (link) DeleteTrack This "You turn into a baby and I'll be handing you over to someone else," Jade said. "Divine baby or not. You know me and kids don't mix." Then Jade slowly smirked at him. "So what's the legal age here? I want to know before hand if I'm gonna get done for being a pedo."
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[info]bhagavan 2011-08-24 03:23 am UTC (link) Track This "Ha ha," he said flatly.
"I doubt it's a problem. I just turned...very old." He couldn't do the math. He would have to take into account the fact that he'd disappeared for a while and then reappeared at some point in time he'd forgotten long ago.
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[info]heliolatrous 2011-08-24 03:29 am UTC (link) DeleteTrack This "Mega old," Jade agreed with an amused grin. "You're my favourite dinosaur. Actually," she added, thinking about it, "Krishnasaurus has a pretty cool ring to it." Not that this was important.
Jade drew back. "So," she said to him decisively, hands on her hips. "What would you like to do now that you're all cute and youthful? Go out and hit the town?" She smirked then and jutting out her hip a little more. "Hit other things?" she asked suggestively. "It's officially your birthday (which I now realised I forgot to say to you since you went and surprised me with the new look) so does that mean things will be happening for you out in the city yet or will that be come daytime?"
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[info]bhagavan 2011-08-26 01:11 am UTC (link) Track This He laughed brightly at the off-topic comment. He'd have to get used to things not bothering him for very long again, at least for now.
He knew she was baiting him - it was obvious - but he tried not to fall for it. He mostly succeeded. "Most are at home now, fasting and doing puja. Everything is going to happen during the day. I won't need to sleep, but I'd recommend you get few hours, at least." He crossed his arms and grinned. "I'm going to wear you out today."
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[info]heliolatrous 2011-08-26 01:47 am UTC (link) DeleteTrack This "Being here makes me feeling like I should be doing Puja as well, but it would be disingenuous and that feels too disrespectful." She smiled at him warmly. "You'll have to settle for my usual love and adoration instead."
Then, suddenly, she wrapped her arms around Krishna to hug him tightly. "Thank you for letting me be here for this," she told him without letting go, knowing it needed to be said properly. "I am so grateful to you for letting me be a part of...well, everything really, for letting me be your friend and being so incredible to me even when I chose to be a pain in your ass." She pulled back enough to smile at him a little self-deprecatingly. "I know that's all kinds of mushy but I love you and I've never experienced anything like this. You deserve every single one of those people worshipping your name."
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[info]bhagavan 2011-08-26 02:25 am UTC (link) Track This "You know I'd never ask you for that. I clearly don't ask you to fast." He eyed her sweets, steeling himself against the craving. He had all day tomorrow to binge. It would be amazing.
He fully returned her embrace, and when she pulled away, he kept his hands on her shoulders. His hair fell into his face again, but he finally decided it was just going to be a fact of life and left it there. "You're my closest friend, Jade. You know I love you. Today is exciting, but it's that much better just having you here. There's no one else I'd rather spend this time with."