ioduanlogs | (no subject)

Characters: A miniaturised 10-year-old X and you!
Date: August 8-14
Location: Various places in and around Aifaran
Situation: Miniaturised 10-year-old X is very confused, and adorably gullible. But he's also very resilient, and much more capable and self-reliant than any 10-year-old has any right to be. He gets around, and gets into some trouble.
Warnings/Rating: X is trans and at 10 years old he wasn't aware of that yet. If anything becomes an issue, please let me know!

A | AUGUST 8 | THE BEGINNING: THE DREAMING BRIDGE
He still sleeps, even if he doesn't need to. It's a routine. Everyone does. You have nice dreams, and sometimes you wake up with the answers to questions that have been bothering you for ages.

But he's pretty sure he wasn't sleeping right before he woke up in this unfamiliar bed, in this unfamiliar room.

Aifaran, his mind supplies, cutting off panic at the pass. The Dreaming Bridge. It's safe. The only thing his mind doesn't mysteriously supply is his own name, something he only realises when he ventures tentatively outside and asks the first person he sees where he is.

Are you lost? What's your name?

"It's --"

-- blank.

That, he feels, is an acceptable reason to panic, and so he does. He spends the next several minutes running through the Bridge and addressing total strangers, asking if they know what his name is, because whenever he tries to guess it hurts and he doesn't know why and he doesn't understand what's happening --

B | MARKETS | COMMERCE - 3 | BOGO!
It's a hot, muggy afternoon while X walks around the market carrying a bright silver 'kitchen appliance' he bought, even though he's never seen it before in his life. But it was a fantastic deal! The seller said... a lot of things X can't quite remember anymore, but they sounded good! He can't wait to get back to the Dreaming Bridge and try it out!

... Except he's not sure what it does.

X stops in the middle of the street, frowning in intense concentration, and turns to the nearest bystander. "Excuse me," he says, polite and earnest as anything. "Do you know what this is for?"

C | NEAR THE BRIDGE | ARTS - 3 | IGHEERI EYE
The loud construction noises of the Bridge don't quite manage to drown out X's cries of objection as a large group of extremely tall bird-like creatures drag him off somewhere he's clearly very hesitant about going. To the casual observer, it doesn't look dangerous, especially since the Igheeri are more haughty and arrogant than they are criminal; but it sure does look like a case of a child saying no and the tall adults pretending not to hear.

X, for his part, has no idea how to handle the situation, other than to keep digging his heels in and pulling back. He's never before met an adult who didn't listen to him. It's weird.

"No!" he tries again. "I don't want new clothes, please --!"

D | THE TURTLE HEAD | TEARS OF THE OCEAN HEART - GUILTY PLEASURES
The head of the giant turtle the city rests on is the most peaceful place X has ever been. He can't put his finger on why, other than the view and the quiet, and he got plenty of both of those back in the Forest. But, whatever the reason, he spends several hours one day sitting cross-legged right on top of the turtle's head, watching something on his yimo intently.

The experienced soap opera fan might recognise the faint dramatic sounds of Tears of the Ocean Heart, a production very few people admit to enjoying and rarely watch in public. X, however, has no idea, and he has a teary smile on his face as he watches it. It's amazing. He never knew love could be forbidden, and the characters' fight against that cultural taboo to stay together anyway is so moving that he doesn't know if he wants to scream at the villains or stand up and proclaim that this is the most beautiful art he's ever witnessed.

After a moment, he chooses the second option, and does exactly that. Standing tall, with the yimo over his head, he announces: "This is beautiful! Everyone needs to see it!"

E | CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE!
X can be anywhere, and will be fascinated by the smallest things, so please feel free to create your own scenario and he'll jump right in!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Grown-ups aren't like that at all, in X's experience, but -- but he knows it's not like that everywhere. Not everyone's a reader, and if you couldn't understand where a child was coming from, then... he can understand it. It's hard, trying to connect with someone when you don't know them. He still fights with his little brother all the time, and, trepidation aside, he's looking forward to when they're old enough to read each other.

... Except that's already happened, hasn't it? He just doesn't remember.

"Of course not," he answers. Why would he hold it against anyone? He doesn't even know those adults' names, and this one saved him. "I like you," he says with a smile. "You listened to me."

And that last question, far from confusing X, excites him. He inhales sharply and his eyes widen. "No," he answers quickly. "I don't think so, but you feel -- do you know who I am?"

"No. I don't think so, but you feel -- do you know who I am?"

Ah, that is a look that the Fool recognizes--perhaps not from X as a grown man, but from himself. He smiles, his own amusement and delight at this peculiar experience transparent in his features, and rests his chin in his palm. "I do," he tells him with a clear glitter in his eyes. "You may not know it yet, but you and I are good friends here," an artless gesture about them, "in this place. I am called the Fool," he explains, "and I call you X."

The Fool. X has never heard a name like that before, and he's instantly curious, but it vies with all the dozens of other questions he wants to ask. Two questions surface as the most important ones, and unfortunately, neither of them have to do with the Fool's name. That's going to have to wait.

Unfortunately, it's not yet possible to ask two questions at once, so X tries very hard to restrain his usual enthusiasm and pick one. "Hm," he hums in thought. "Do -- do you know why you call me X? Do you know why other names hurt?"

Surely he would have told someone who's a good friend, right?

"Why other names hurt?" The Fool repeats X's words back to him with a subtle furrow forming between his brows, which should be indication enough that no, this is a mystery that the Fool doesn't have the answers to. He makes a thoughtful sound, drumming his slender fingers against his chin, then lifts his eyebrows. "No, I am afraid this isn't a question I have an answer for. I'm sorry."

The Fool pushes himself back up to his feet and offers his hand out to X. "Why don't we head back inside the Bridge?" he suggests. "On such a hot day, I think a cold drink would be refreshing, don't you?"

He doesn't know. He's meant to be X's good friend, but he doesn't know? Is the Fool wrong about being a good friend?... no, X doesn't think so. The familiarity he feels is too strong. But then what does that mean? Does that mean X grows up to be someone who keeps secrets?

He's consumed with worry that's plain on his face when the Fool offers him the idea of a cold drink, and X takes him up on it eagerly. "Yes please," he agrees, glancing over his shoulder at where the Igheeri disappeared. "I didn't know adults could be like that."

Speaking of which, the second important question. "You said to let him go," says X. "When you saved me, I mean."

A very important question indeed. The Fool regards his young friend with thoughtful eyes and a little smile. "I did," he confirms. "Is that all right?" He has always relied on good faith and his intuition to navigate these waters in the past, for himself as well as others, but that hardly means he isn't in the wrong here.