Dick Gansey III (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
incipit) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
maskormenacelogs2016-03-27 10:56 pm
incipit) wrote in maskormenacelogs2016-03-27 10:56 pm
Childhood's End
WHO: De-aged Dick Gansey III, and you!
WHERE: De Chima
WHEN: During the Pull Point Plot
WHAT: Gansey is de-aged to his ten year old self.
WARNINGS: Anxiety and panic attacks, intense PTSD, fear of insects and death. Also, precocious ten year old child. You have been warned.
WHERE: De Chima
WHEN: During the Pull Point Plot
WHAT: Gansey is de-aged to his ten year old self.
WARNINGS: Anxiety and panic attacks, intense PTSD, fear of insects and death. Also, precocious ten year old child. You have been warned.
A - March 27th: Locked to Raven House
[ It's late in the evening when Gansey vanishes. He'd been in the living room, with his De Chima journal in front of him, working through his maps. He'd been near silent, lost in what he was doing. Then his pen drops, clicking onto the floor and rolling to a stop, because the hand that had been holding it is gone.
A few seconds later, there's a piercing scream from Gansey's room. It's really a balcony more than a room, and the scream - high-pitched, childlike - can be heard throughout the house. Ten year old Dick Gansey has woken up in bed, in clothes that are unfamiliar and far too big for him. They're not the cause of the screaming; he hasn't even noticed them yet. Instead he's clawing at his hair and face, as though he's trying to peel something off his skin. He's not able to hear outside voices, isn't exactly aware of how much is wrong, and it goes on like this for several minutes. Then it seems to die, and Dick comes back to himself in stages. He's breathing hard, and his hands are trembling, but the panic seems to be fading.
Confusion takes its place. He stumbles out of bed, tripping at once on chinos that are double the length he needs. He's dwarfed in his older self's clothes, and even his glasses are too big for his face. New fear threatens; he looks around him recognizing nothing. ]
Mom? Dad? [ These calls start out quiet and get louder, and he's running through the house searching for them. ] Helen! Where are you! Someone help me!
B - 28th March: De Chima; OTA
[ Dick does not know this place. He's sure he doesn't know this place. He walks down De Chima's main street, trying to settle the uneasiness he feels. Because something about it is familiar, or he thinks it is. It's like he's seen it in a dream.
The thought makes him almost sick. First voices in his head, and now this. Is he hallucinating? Is he sick, is it some kind of leftover from what happened to him? He really doesn't understand, and he needs to. He's desperate to. So he walks, unescorted. He's ten years old, and should most likely be in some kind of school right now, but Dick knows that his school isn't here. He can't get help there.
But he finds himself outside a library and wanders in. He can be found, hours later, searching through stacks of history books, which he brings to pile up on a study table. If he happens to come across you, he'll ask for help. ]
Hi. I can't find the section on ley lines? [ He says this as if it's an everyday thing that is generally sought out in public libraries. ] Have you seen it? I got world history, but I don't know where to start with that.
C - 29th - 30th March: De Chima; various locations, OTA
[ For the next few days, Dick explores. The longer he's in De Chima, the more curious he seems. The park draws him, although he stays away from both flower beds and trees. When he first enters it, he stares at both for a while, like he's trying to push himself towards them. Then, looking unhappy, he pulls away instead and goes to sit on a park bench. He's holding two journals that his apparent older self had been been writing in, and he opens them across his lap. One is very full, and packed with information on Glendower. It's stuffed with so much that it threatens to spill everywhere as soon as it's opened. The other has had much less work, and it concerns De Chima, and the other Porter cities. Dick's trying to get his head around them, but it's a lot. He's intimidated by his own work. How had he ever done all of this, and how is he supposed to remember it all? He pushes overly large glasses up on his nose and taps his thumb against his lip. Hours pass like this.
Then there's the times when he explores around the porter building, fascinated by the way people move back and forth. He's about to try it, but as he moves forward, something seems to brush past his ear. It buzzes harmlessly - just a fly, nothing that's dangerous to him. But the reaction is instant, and suddenly there's a crowd gathering around a screaming, horrified ten year old. Dick is on his knees on the pavement, hands over his ears, eyes squeezed shut, and he's in a world of his own. It had only been weeks ago. He feels blackness threatening, and he knows, he knows, that this time he will die. He keeps screaming for help, but it feels like his throat is closing over. He doesn't know it isn't real.
Then, finally, there's the garage. He's aware that Adam works here, and he's lonely. He picks his way between cars and tools, quietly fascinated by all of them. Like the city, there's something about this that's familiar - something that feels like a dream. But Dick knows he's never been in a place like this before. He explores like he'd explored the library, fascinated by all he finds. ]
D - Create your own!
[ If you have a scenario in mind, prompt me! ]
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You're a magician's apprentice. Right? You act like one. And you're dressed like one.
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But there's interest there, too. Magicians? ]
I'm not a magician. I'm Dick Gansey the Third.
[ Which obviously sorts out that piece of confusion. He eyes her, both suspicious and curious. ]
What do you know about magicians?
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What do you mean - Do you not know about magicians?
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There was one at my birthday party. He pulled a rabbit out of his hat.
[ He narrows his eyes. ]
Everyone knows about magicians.
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Pulled a rabbit out of his hat? At your birthday party? That's stupid. Why would a magician show up to some kid's birthday party? They're far too high and mighty for that sort of thing.
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No they're not. They're just like clowns. They do all the parties.
[ Well, all the parties for kids at Gansey's school, anyway. He has no real concept of anything else. ]
It's not like they're real. It's not like they're wizards.
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[ Her lips tighten, and she admits: ]
My country. I don't know where you're from. They commune with demons, and control them, and that's how they keep power. And oppress us.
no subject
It's like something from a storybook, even if there's unfamiliar words. Commune and oppress. What is she talking about?
But he gets the gist. Magicians are bad guys and they're in charge of things, and this girl is definitely not from any world like Dick's.
He pauses, frowning at her. Very carefully, he says: ]
And do they say, you can't read books?
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Yeah. That's right.
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He thinks that nobody should stop anybody else from reading. He especially thinks that no one should behave like a wizard, and treat people like that.
He wonders if that's what oppression means, and thinks it's something his mother could do something about.
And then he wonders if he could do something about it. and he looks at the stacks again. ]
I don't think there's magicians here. In my world, no one believes in magic.
[ Then a little pause, and he draws himself up. ]
But I do, and I'll read about it if I want. You should, too.
no subject
Why do you believe in it, then?
no subject
It's a thing Dick's not certain about. A thing he wavers over, half-convinced that his parents, and his doctors, and his teacher, and everyone else he's tried to tell, are right. That magic isn't real, and no one saved him except the ambulance, and it was all just a dream.
And he should put it out of his head because what he heard wasn't real.
But it was, it was, it had to be. He isn't crazy. ]
Because someone did magic on me. [ He says, firmly, and tries to ignore the little spike it causes his heart to insist. ] And I'm going to find who they were.
no subject
You want revenge, then?
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No! It wasn't bad magic.
It saved me.
[ He's sure of that. He's sure that he's sure. He keeps his voice firm and not wavering. ]
It was a good...magician. [ And then, with growing confidence. ] Its name was Glendower.
no subject
[ Still, she says that without any truly deep conviction. And she follows up immediately afterwards with: ]
What did he do? How did he save you?
no subject
Medical science had brought him back. Nothing more. Nothing less.
He looks up at her, testing her face. He thinks of her calling him a prat and a stupid boy and he imagines what she'll say to this. Nothing he hasn't heard before, most likely. ]
You wouldn't believe me. Nobody does.
[ But that will not stop him from looking. He squares his shoulders again. ]
Are you going to help me look for ley lines, or not?
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Nobody from your world does. Your world where they don't know about magic. I grew up with magic. Why would I not believe you?
no subject
All right then.
Fine.
He can be brave. ]
He brought me back to life.
[ His heart stutters into overdrive at the words. It even sends a flush to his cheeks, frightened and eager and not at all sure he's done the right thing.
She'll not believe him, he tells himself. She'll be just like the others, and she'll laugh at him. That's what he's expecting, and he readies himself for it.
He can be brave. ]
no subject
I've never heard of magic doing that before.
[ But there's no disbelief in it, just deep thought. She's searching for some memory of it doing just that. But - nothing. So she shrugs a moment later and asks, her voice level and practical: ]
How'd you die? What happened?
no subject
This is a new experience. He doesn't really know what to do with it. Some part of him deflates. His shoulders get smaller. His face seems to get younger, looking its true age for the first time. ]
I...I have.
[ He swallows past the lump in his throat. For an awful moment, he doesn't know if he can say it. He's so close to the edge all the time. He can't fall into that memory now, here. Not in a library. Not in front of a girl like this.
He purses his lips. ]
Allergies. [ His head feels light. He imagines that he can hear something buzzing, and he tells himself it's the air conditioner, and to stop being so foolish. His hands flex at his sides.
He doesn't know if he can be this brave. ]
I got stung. And he brought me back.
[ He takes a careful breath, so afraid of his own body. Quickly, he shakes his head. ]
I don't want to talk about it, okay?
no subject
Did he say why he did it? Why he brought you back?
[ A frown. ]
'Cause if he wants something from you, you've got to figure out a way to get out of it. You do not want to be in debt to a magician.
no subject
He said it was because someone else was dying. Someone else on the ley line, and Dick doesn't even know what that means. And if it is true, if all of it's true, then -
This girl's a stranger. And she's rude, which at least means she'll probably be honest. He thinks he'd like that in a person. Rude but honest. She wouldn't say something just to make him feel better. He gets that all the time and he hates it.
He lifts his chin. ]
He said someone else was dying, who shouldn't. So I would...live, even though I shouldn't.
But that's...if someone's in trouble, then...
I should find him, right? To see what he meant. Cause I won't know, if...if I don't find him.
[ He's not really tried to articulate this desire before. As it turns out, it's not very easy. ]
no subject
[ She says that with blunt honesty, real assessment. The whole situation sounds weird, but makes sense in an instinctual sort of way. Good happens to one, bad to another. Balance of some sort.
But there's also morality. And that's simple. ]
And if someone's in trouble, you might be able to help.
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[ He sounds a little buoyed by her certainty, like this is proof that he's on the right track. If only everyone responded like this.
Most people don't say anything much more than 'Shut up, kid' or 'You have to get your head out of the clouds, Dick'. His head was not in the clouds. He's perfectly clear. \
So I'm gonna find out everything I can about the ley line and Glendower, and then I'm gonna find them. You watch me.
no subject
Is that all I'm allowed to do? Watch?
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