Small Lurker in Milliways

[lurkingkobold]

Here is a kobold.

To people familiar with the species, it's obviously a young one, not quite three feet tall to the adults' three and a half foot average. Its fur is blueish-grey and relatively dull, a sign that it hasn't been eating properly recently, though it's not thin. It's wearing a simple animal-skin skirt and carrying a stick, not quite long enough to serve as a walking stick, but useful for shielding itself from the worst of the undergrowth at least.

It is moving through the forest at speed, not following any path, and then suddenly it is elsewhere. After a few minutes, it notices the difference in the light; after a few more, it notices that the trees are subtly wrong - wrong species, wrong growth patterns, wrong in subtler ways that defy describing, but that tell the kobold that it is not in the forest where it grew up.

After even more minutes, it stops, having come to a clearing. There is a building, which, despite not being alarmingly large, cannot be traveled around.

The kobold does not have permission to enter the building.

The kobold cannot go back to where it was.

The kobold sits, and waits.

Comments

[scatteredstars]

Tyche -- sees the kobold's reaction, stops, and attempts to collect zirself.

Ze succeeds in the sense that ze is no longer radiating something is horribly wrong quite as strongly -- the overtones of distress and concern are stronger.

Ze looks to see what the kobold's reaction to this is.

[lurkingkobold]

The stopping helps. The other helps too, but less so. The kobold is still tense, but more wary than panicked; she's watching Tyche's face again.

[scatteredstars]

Tyche considers this for a moment, and then takes a cautious step toward the kobold, watching her reaction carefully.

[lurkingkobold]

There is just the shadow of a flinch in the kobold's reaction to this - they aren't sneaking up on me, I see them, they see that I see them, this isn't that - and she keeps watching.

[scatteredstars]

The flinch is subtle enough that Tyche doesn't notice it. Ze takes another cautious step forward, trying to make zir movements clear and obvious.

[lurkingkobold]

The kobold isn't getting any more wary, at least. If Tyche settles into a more natural approach, she'll even relax a little.

[scatteredstars]

Unless the kobold reacts, Tyche will continue gradually walking toward her until ze reaches the table.

[lurkingkobold]

The kobold declines to react, except that she seems to expect something to happen when Tyche reaches the table.

[scatteredstars]

Well, Tyche stops, when ze reaches the table.

Now that ze no longer has to project zir voice across the room, ze seems to be considering what to say.

"I grew up," ze says, eventually, "with some people who treated me like a tool to be used for their purposes. It took me -- I don't even know how long -- to realize I wasn't even a little, and even then I didn't know what to do about it. And then, one day, the person they sent me after caught me in her systems. Pinned me down. Asked me what I was doing there.

"...I didn't know, and I think that showed. I said that I had been told to.

"She was quiet for a little bit, and then asked if I needed help.

"I don't know exactly what happened to them. I know she wrecked their operation. Freed the other people they had. Left me with some things to start and -- bit of an idea how wrong they were."

[lurkingkobold]

The kobold looks extremely confused, when Tyche's story is over - confused, and sympathetic, and calmer. She seems to be thinking about the story, though; a little more alive behind her eyes, a little less profoundly passive. After a minute, she mouths to herself, "am not do of know of reason", and looks up at Tyche, examining zir face again with a different sort of purpose.

"Am... is... is different," she starts. She seems unused to speaking, stopping often to work out how to say things. "No is use, is... keep. Is... am go of," she seems confused, again, this time at her own statement, "am do of go, am do of stay. Is not of... is not of need of reason."

[scatteredstars]

Tyche brightens a little when Lurker starts to speak, but it fades as ze listens into sadness. "I'm not sure," ze says, slowly, seeming to think hard, "That keeping someone like that is much better."

Ze thinks for a little while longer. "Someone I know said to me once, 'When you are doing something, especially something that significantly affects your life or other people's, it is very important to think about the reasons, and whether they are good ones.' I think that applies even more if you don't know what they are."

[lurkingkobold]

The kobold is again confused. She thinks for a few moments, but gives up in short order, shrugging.

Thinking is hard, she doesn't want to do any more of that just now. How about let's change the subject. Tyche still has the food, what happens if the kobold makes eyes at it?

[scatteredstars]

Tyche seems about to try to say something else when the kobold makes eyes at the food.

Ze realizes several things in short order:

1. Ze is still holding the food

2. Ze was going to give that to the kobold

3. The kobold is hungry

4. The kobold is actually very hungry

5. The kobold has not eaten in several times longer than biomorphs tend to be able to sensibly go without.

What happens is: the kobold very rapidly has the food in front of her. After standing there awkwardly for a moment, Tyche sits down next to her, moving slowly and deliberately enough to back off easily if it looks like she objects.

Tyche does not seem very interested in the food except in relation to the kobold.

[lurkingkobold]

The kobold is slightly startled at how well that worked, but is certainly not complaining. Food. She barely notices Tyche sitting.

When the food is finished, the kobold scoots over to cuddle up next to Tyche.

[scatteredstars]

That will get the kobold an awkward arm around her.

"Is that enough food, or do you need more?" Tyche asks, after a moment. "Or more, but not right now?"

[lurkingkobold]

Quietly: "Am okay."

She's content to sit like that for a bit. Eventually, her expression and posture change to suggest that she's thinking again, and a couple minutes later, she stiffens and looks up at Tyche, deeply dubious and concerned. "Other of person?"

[scatteredstars]

Tyche goes very still at the question.

"I don't," ze says after a moment, "know what kind of person you are or what that kind of person is called, but you're definitely a person."

[lurkingkobold]

Oh. Okay, what we have here is a simple failure of knowledge. "Am kobold. Kobold no do of talk, kobold no is of person."

[scatteredstars]

"You're talking," Tyche points out. "And speech is complex enough to be a decent benchmark, but it isn't what makes someone a person."

Then ze blinks at the kobold some more, and looks utterly confused. "Why would -- why would you not want to be a person?" ze asks, clearly very upset.

[lurkingkobold]

Upset Tyche gets cuddles, this is a thing that happens.

"Am kobold," she asserts, as if that's a complete answer to the first bit. "Am no of do of want. Is... am no of person, am no of do of want of thing."

[scatteredstars]

Tyche does not really seem to notice the cuddles.

"That does not mean you aren't a person!" Tyche protests. Then ze goes quiet, thinking about the second part, which ze seems to find very confusing. "You wanted food," ze says after a while, puzzled.

[lurkingkobold]

"Kobold do of need of food," she points out, "no do of want of."

[scatteredstars]

"Mm." Ze thinks for a bit. "I know needing food is also a thing, but, 'need' and 'want' are... kind of closely tangled together, in that needing something tends to result in also wanting it. Your reaction looked to me like both." (Ze will admit to zir incompetence at body language in general if this proves to be incorrect).

Tyche thinks for a moment longer, and then says, "It's probably easier to demonstrate, but I'll need Bar's help. Come on?"

[lurkingkobold]

At 'both', the kobold looks surprised, and less skeptical than she has the last few times this sort of idea has come up. She makes a small noise, similar in tone to "huh".

She nods, to the latter thing, and follows when Tyche goes.

[scatteredstars]

Tyche returns the bowl, and asks for some candy for the kobold.

"The thing about candy," Tyche says, when it appears, "is that while it tastes really good --here," (this as she hands the kobold the candy), "--it is not actually something that, barring rather unusual circumstances, is important for bodies to function."