hadriel_logs | Event Log: The Hope of a Child

Who: All characters participating in the event
What: The event log for the The Hope of a Child event
Where: All over the city!
When: January 23rd-Feb 1st
Warnings: Youths

By now, the gods have probably done enough weird crap to you while you're asleep for you to be a little suspicious- but it's not like you can just not sleep, especially when there are a few supernatural forces making your eyes droopy and your body feel heavy.

And now, when you fall asleep, you'll wake up somewhere else and you'll likely have quite a different temperament- you'll be younger, maybe a little more naive and innocent, and you won't exactly remember all the wild stuff that's happened to your adult self. Maybe now you'll be a little more trusting and emotional, hm? The gods could definitely use a little boost in power, and what better way to do it than to harness the power of overemotional kiddos!

Or maybe you aren't affected at all and find yourself surrounded by youths. What are you going to do when your best friend doesn't know how to cook for themselves? Or your bitter rival is throwing a temper tantrum because they broke their favorite toy? Nobody asked for this kind of responsibility, but think about what would happen if nobody was around to take care of these babies...

► This log covers January 23rd-Feb 1st.
► Feel free to make your own logs as well!
► Please tag headers of threads with content warnings where they apply
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!
► If you trip over a kid and die, please let us know here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Everyone's got secrets. I bet you're hiding something too.

[She's guessing that based the dream she had.]

[She gives a nod.]

Trust is complicated. I used to trust my parents, especially my dad, and that was a mistake. I learned from that mistake though. I could introduce you to a couple people here that are safer to trust.

[He tenses up. Does she know something? Oh no, what if he said something wrong and now she knows stuff she's not supposed to know? He doesn't want that. He'd get in trouble, but more than that, he doesn't want her to know.

Time to deflect.]

Well, yeah. Mom says not to tell people that I'm a sorcerer. I'm supposed to pretend to be a wizard with all the other kids at school. It's hard, though. Wizard magic is boring.

[He's not lying. About any of it, but especially the boring part. It's like trying to pretend you're still learning basic addition when you already know how to multiply fractions.

But... Hm. The rest of what she says is interesting.]

Why was it a mistake?

[The introductions sound cool too, but he has questions first.]

[Abigail takes a small step back when he tenses up. She'd rather not scare him off and be stuck with the decision of whether to leave him or chase after him in the two sunned heat.]

Any kind of magic sounds more fun than than what I studied in school. English, math, science, that usual stuff.

[She'd never been bored though. She'd spent her time walking a thin line between working hard to get grades good enough for college, but not so high that her father became suspicious that she wanted to leave and create a life of her own.]

He hurt me.

[It's a very simple version of what happened with her dad. It is true, and maybe it'll help him to open up about who hurts him.]

Edited 2018-02-26 20:12 (UTC)

[He makes a noncommittal "eh" noise and shrugs. David is very fond of shrugging.]

I guess. I like magic and I like math but it's boring because all the other kids can't keep up.

[Everything is boring if you're stuck on training wheels all day.]

Oh. [He's not sure what to say to that. He shifts his weight.] That sucks. What'd he do?

That would suck. Your teachers should you let you skip a grade.

[Or maybe they shouldn't. Abigail remembers reading about social development in one of her psych books. And from what she remembers of the dream, this kid's already messed up.

She pauses before answering.]

He killed my mom and cut my throat.

[That's a lot of truth to give a kid. But if he's in a similar situation, maybe it'll help him to see the dangers in his own life.]

That's what Mom said, but my teachers said my grades aren't good enough.

[And they aren't. Since the math is boring, he just doesn't do it.

At her admission, he tilts his head up at her, squinting.]

Do you got a scar? [He doesn't sound like he believes her. No one just says that.]

[Abigail watches him a moment, wondering if he's not as smart as he thinks, maybe has more of an ego than she thought - or he's like her and not trying in school. Either way, it's interesting.]

Yes. An ugly one. That's why I wear the scarf even when it's this hot out.

[It's definitely the latter, but it's tough to tell--he could give a flip about what anyone else thinks of him, even as a kid.]

Hm. [He peers up at her scarf, like he's trying to decide whether or not this is viable evidence. After a minute, he decides: Nope.]

Show me, or I don't believe you.

Be careful what you ask for.

[It's the only warning he gets. Abigail unties her scarf and pulls it open to reveal her scar on her neck. She then pulls her hair back, letting him see the spot where her ear was cut off, and the scars left behind. She lets him look for a moment, then fixes her hair and her scarf back in place.]

Have you got any scars?

[Her way of asking what his mother has done to him.]

Whoa. Cool. [Sorry, Abigail. He's an eight-year-old boy...]

Hm. [He thinks for a moment, and then bends to roll up his pantleg. He points at a jagged white scratch running over his knee.] I fell off my bike 'cause I ran into a fence 'cause I wasn't paying attention.

[He stands up again and this time lifts up his arm to show her his elbow, where he's sporting another scar.] And this one is from when I got into a fight at school. This kid pushed me down and I got all cut up from the sidewalk. I had to get stitches. He did too, though, so it's okay.

[In other words, no evidence of Mom here. He's proud of his battle scars.

He smile loses a bit of its enthusiasm after a moment, though.]

But you said your dad did that? [He points to her neck again.]

[Abigail shakes her head.]

Nope. Not cool.

[She glances at his knee.]

That kind of stuff happens to everyone. You know to pay attention now.

[If only she or an adult in her life had noticed when her father started becoming the shrike, maybe he could have been stopped. She pays attention now. It makes almost everyone a potential threat in her mind.]

Good for you for fighting back. You've got to know when to fight the bullies. A fight on a public sidewalk is okay. When you're living with one, it's different.

[She's at least trying to be subtle but his mom is still on her mind. She gives a small nod.]

Yeah, he did.

Edited 2018-03-14 16:57 (UTC)

[Huh. He frowns. This lady isn't making any sense. He's never really cared about whether or not fighting was okay. It happens anyway. It's not like he got in trouble or anything. No one tattled. Mom was all worried, but that wasn't really him getting in trouble.]

Uh... Okay. How come your dad did that? You saying he was a bully or something?

[He's trying to draw a connection but he's not sure if he's really hitting the mark.]

[Abigail nods slowly.]

He was. He bullied me into doing things that I didn't want to do. I don't mean like doing my homework or cleaning my room. I mean bad stuff. The reason he did it is hard to explain. He was sick, up here.

[She taps the side of her head.]

It made him hurt people.

Event Log: The Hope of a Child

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