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]

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."

[lurkingkobold]

The candy is in the shape of a bone - the leg bone of some unidentified mammal - but its shiny translucent appearance makes it clear that it's made of some other material. The kobold regards it dubiously for a moment, looks up at Tyche, shrugs, and crunches it open with her teeth, revealing it to be made of vanilla hard candy with pumpkin-pecan fudge where she was expecting the marrow to be.

She blinks in subtly pleased surprise, and looks back up at Tyche before continuing.

[scatteredstars]

Tyche also seems mildly puzzled by the form the candy took, and watches to see the kobold's reaction. Ze smiles brightly when ze notices that she likes it, and makes an encouraging gesture.

[lurkingkobold]

The kobold doesn't need very much encouragement.

Despite its odd composition, the candy bone can be eaten the same way a real one would be. She's obviously familiar with this procedure, and manages to do it rather neatly despite the slight awkwardness of standing with no table handy.

The signs that the kobold enjoys the candy are subtle, but definitely present.

[scatteredstars]

When the kobold finishes, Tyche waits a little bit to see if she will say anything; when nothing is forthcoming, ze asks, "Do you want some more?"

[lurkingkobold]

The kobold freezes at the question, seemingly more out of reflex than out of fear at this point. When the reflex passes, she finds something on the other side of the bar to look at, ignoring Tyche.

[scatteredstars]

Tyche holds carefully still and waits for the kobold to unfreeze. When it becomes clear that she is ignoring zir, ze resettles zirself, and studies the kobold thoughtfully.

[lurkingkobold]

The kobold's posture eventually shifts to a more thoughtful one, then guilty, and then she approaches Tyche and hugs one of zir legs.

[scatteredstars]

Tyche is surprised and confused!

Ze is, however, holding still.

[lurkingkobold]

After a little bit, the kobold lets go, and settles in beside Tyche again.

[scatteredstars]

This may result in them staying like that for a while, with Tyche giving the kobold occasional puzzled glances.

[lurkingkobold]

A little while, at least.

The kobold has had a long day, and the adrenaline is finally starting to wear off. She yawns. (My goodness that is quite a lot of teeth.)

[scatteredstars]

Tyche spends a moment recalling what that means, then asks, "Need to sleep?"

[lurkingkobold]

She nods, considers for a moment, and starts heading toward the door they came in through.

[scatteredstars]

Tyche blinks, and follows her.