bakerstreet | when we were young

[Can be of normal age or aged-down; aged-down tags will be from the account

In hindsight, it should have been obvious to Thrawn that the object was a Dark Side artifact. The object, a round orb that resembled a timepiece, showed similarities to Nightsister effigies and even bits of jewelry that allowed for shapeshifting. Thrawn figured that it was harmless unless one had the Force.

Unfortunately, the Force is one of the few areas Thrawn knows very little about and doesn't quite understand.

He also made the error of letting Glenn examine it, thinking that his mate might see something different in it than Thrawn did.

All Thrawn knows is that he left for just a minute to go retrieve his datapad, and when he came back to his office, he found a child.

"Glenn? What happened to you?"

It's a strange feeling -- to be curious about an object, and then suddenly experiencing some sort of backwards slipping, like falling from the side of a tall tower. His head swims, shirt hanging off of him like a dress, pants in a puddle on the floor.

--This isn't the meadow.

Colorless eyes snap up when he hears his name on an unfamiliar voice, and then widen at the tall person. Stumbling back and tripping over his too-large clothes, he bangs his head on the floor with a yelp, but scrambles back to his feet with a sniffle, shaking.

"Wh--who are you?? I was--"

He looks around furtively, whimpering at the very alien sights around him. He clutches his hands towards his chest and bites hard on his lip. His voice comes out with a forced calm.

"A-are you a friend of mom's...?"

Edited 2020-08-30 03:50 (UTC)

Thrawn thinks fast. Glenn is obviously scared and doesn't recognize him. He hadn't just reverted back physically, but mentally too. This could prove troublesome until Thrawn figures out how that artifact works and can revert Glenn back to his proper age.

For now, he just has to play along and keep Glenn calm. "Yes, I am. I am Thrawn, and I have been asked to watch you."

He might have to ask for advice from any crew member who has kids. Thrawn knows there's a few on the Chimaera who have talked about going home to visit their kids when they get shore leave. Even crew members who had younger siblings could have valuable advice for this situation, even if Glenn isn't a normal human child.

Going over to his desk, Thrawn makes the holos of artwork vanish and replaces them with artwork of insects, hoping that'll calm Glenn down.

"...Mister Thrawn. Okay."

Taking a few breaths, he nods a little, and wiggles his feet, frowning to realize that he doesn't have shoes on. Or... anything else other than his shirt. A shirt that is weirdly too big...

But that doesn't seem super important when mom has a friend like this?

He does, however, notice the insect artwork, but...

The large person is more interesting. And he stands out to Glenn like a pink elephant in the room. Flexing his hands and briefly shaking his arms, he looks at Thrawn carefully, mouth still lightly quivering and face wholly, completely expressive despite his efforts to not show it. Despite how his voice strains to hide that nervousness.

"You like insects, too?" Brow furrowing, the youth - no older than 8, it seems - searches Thrawn's expression carefully, hands gripping the bottom of his shirt (well, as far as his arms can go) and twisting it around nervously.

"Or-- are you just 'humoring' me?"

His gaze flicks briefly to Thrawn's, noticing with a hesitant burst of interest that they're most definitely glowing, kind of, but unlike a pyrophorus beetle. What kind of friend of mom's is he?

Thrawn gingerly picks up the artifact and sets it on his desk for now, so he can study and examine it later. Perhaps once Glenn is busy or sleeping. He pushes a button on his desk and puts in an order for the textile engineers, one set of children's clothing. The people on the other end sound confused but take the order, which should be ready soon.

Turning back to Glenn, Thrawn replies, "I heard that you liked them. I collect artwork, and I just so happened to have pieces that represent insects in my collection."

Glenn still looks at him with some dubiousness, mind working away to continue to try to make sense of this.

Then again, his mom doesn't usually talk about her friends, anyway. So that makes sense why he hasn't heard of Mister Thrawn before.

He nods a little after a moment, chewing on his lip. Looking around again, he tries to continue to make sense of his surroundings, frowning.

"...Mom usually doesn't need to ask anyone to watch me. 'Cause we live in the woods. Only Clara and her mom come to visit. 'Cause everyone else thinks I'm weird and hate me."

Looking back up at him, he quickly avoids direct eye contact.

"...You don't think that I like insects is weird?"

"Of course not. We all have our interests, be it artwork or insects. The other children are fools to make fun of you for it." Of course, he knows that's not the only reason Glenn was ostracized by his peers at this age.

Thrawn still feels like he's in uncharted space. He's worked with children before, but usually they were navigators. But Glenn is a child created in a laboratory. Thrawn will also have to be careful not to reveal anything to Glenn about what happened to him when he got older, such as losing the girl he loved and deciding that "Mister Thrawn" was his ideal mate. There also comes the question of how to keep this child entertained while he studies the artifact.

Sorry, Thrawn. Even to this youngster, bugs are less important than talking to the person in the room. He averts his eyes completely in order to look a little bit at some of the art.

"...They think I'm weird because bugs try to give me things. Like food, or parts of their home, like crows sometimes do. And they think my eyes are creepy. I've been told I should pull them out a few times so I stop making people upset. Mom says that they just don't understand, but that they will find something else to do soon."

Biting his lip again, he notices the artifact on the desk. While he does put his hands on the desk itself as he takes a careful look at it, he doesn't reach out to touch it.

"Never mind. What's this thing? It's really noisy."

Thrawn can't help but be reminded of the bullying he got at the Academy on Coruscant, where he was ostracized for being an alien and from outside the core region. Thrawn took it in stride, since he knew that any retaliation would be futile, but Glenn was just a child when he was being bullied.

He looks at the artifact, then back at Glenn. "That is what I am trying to figure out. It is very old and has a strange power. I thought it merely a time piece, but now I believe it is more than that. I would not recommend touching it until I figure out what it is and how it works."

Lest Glenn turns into an infant or an old man.

Edited 2020-09-01 02:22 (UTC)

"...Hmmm..."

Infinitely more interested in the artifact than the insects now, Glenn drums his fingers roughly against the desk as he refrains from touching it. The desk is completely unaffected by Glenn's touch.

He looks between Thrawn and the object.

"Do you hear it muttering, too? Like it's talking, but the words are weird. Kinda feels like a dragonfly humming in my brain. Y'know, that kind of droning, buzzing sound?"

Thrawn looks at Glenn curiously, a hand going to his chin in thought. "I hear nothing from it."

That Glenn can hear it opens up any number of possibilities. Glenn's senses are much greater than his own, so perhaps that's what's allowing him to hear the artifact. The other possibility is that Glenn possesses some amount of Force sensitivity. Not to the level of a Jedi or Sith, of course, but more akin to the Chiss navigators. If only Thrawn knew this sooner. Is that why the device affected Glenn and not himself?

Picking up the artifact, Thrawn kneels before Glenn and holds it up before him. "What are your senses telling you of this? Give me your observations."

Frowning, Glenn wrinkles his nose as it comes close, and rubs close to one ear as if it bothers him. He looks between Thrawn and the object again, puzzling over it.

He's not entirely sure he understands the question, as simple as it is, either. And so he holds silent for a moment as he tries to muddle through the noisy sounds for something concrete.

Right. A scientist observes, just like mom does. They take in the facts no matter what truth they tell.

Glenn isn't sure what that truth could be.

He reaches out slightly to touch it, but remembers and catches himself, dropping both hands in front of his lap, one gripping the other, thumb listlessly sliding back and forth against the back of one.

"Not sure... I'm trying to understand the buzzing. But I don't think I know the language..."

He briefly looks up at Thrawn's face again, eyes temporarily reflecting red to check Thrawn's expression for clues that might help him understand the person's thoughts and wants, but he comes up empty, unable to read him at all. With nothing else to draw on, his gaze goes back to the object.

"Let's see. It looks like a clock, you said. A... "time piece". But it doesn't look like it actually is keeping it accurately. And most clocks don't make buzzing noises that-- only I can hear."

He lightly gnaws on the inside of his cheek, still thinking.

"You also said it's old, and has strange power, and you don't know what it is or how it works." He opens his mouth as if to add something, but then stops and shakes his head.

"I'm also wearing clothes I normally wouldn't. They're too big. And I didn't put this on when I woke up today... I dunno if that's relevant, though."

He regards his clothing again for a moment, and sighs, only to stop suddenly, eyes widening. He stands up straighter and tilts his head when he hears something different, the artifact lighting up slightly. Just in case, he indicate "one moment" with a finger as he tries to parse the new sounds. The cadence and foreign accent makes it really hard.

"...Un..lock...? Slow down!"

Growling a little at it for lack of a better response, he folds his arms against his chest, and closes his eyes with a huff.

"It's talking in pictures instead... Umm..."

Gnawing on his bottom lip until it aches, Glenn sighs.

"Old person touches it... turns into a kid again? Aging, getting older... touching it again-- cyclical? Like the fountain of youth from folklore? Wait, more than that?"

Biting on his lip again in concentration, he waits until he seems more of those images flickering behind his eyelids first.

"Like... making a ball of light get bigger and bigger? Unlock? Unlock what...?"

Opening his eyes again, he rubs his forehead with both hands as it starts to ache, and absently licks up a droplet of blood from his mouth from where he kept biting it.

"...What about me?"

He gets the feeling that this isn't some sort of movie prop, though...

"Please speak plainly, you're giving me a headache! The capacity of the 'force,' for what??"

Glenn can't help but glare at it, still rubbing one temple to soothe the budding ache. He flicks his gaze back up to Thrawn.

"Its saying 'to unlock the greater capacity of the 'force' in me' but I don't know what that means."

Thrawn watches Glenn carefully for any signs of distress, while also taking note of his words and his reaction to the device. He wishes he could hear what it's saying to him, even if it's in a language he can't speak.

He's reminded of his days working with Sky-walkers, and having to keep them from overworking themselves. For a second, he's about to suggest they take a break, lest Glenn get overloaded and his head start to hurt, when they seem to make a breakthrough.

"I might have an idea." Thrawn stands up again and puts the artifact on his desk again. He presses some buttons on his desk console, and the artwork of insects is replaced with pieces depicting Jedi and Sith.

"You have a power buried deep within you. It is faint, but perhaps this artifact is telling you that there is a way to make it stronger." If that's something Glenn wants.

He won't risk Glenn's health or life in the pursuit of power. But, perhaps if it helps Glenn return to the age he was previously, it may be worthwhile to experiment and explore the possibilities of the device.

Glenn just makes a soft, frustrated sound at first, frowning a little at the new art pieces. He can recognize that the art depicts warriors, in some capacity; that makes it wholly uninteresting.

Thrawn's words make his brow furrow as he tries to make sense of the latest nonsense.

"...Why would I want to make this nebulous "power" stronger? Power without the right tempering corrupts or consumes. And power without a purpose is worthless."

He outright starts watching Thrawn like a hawk as he tries to assemble any sort of clues why his day has gone so strangely.

"Perhaps," Thrawn kneels down before Glenn again. "Or perhaps we simply need to find a purpose should you change your mind." Having a Force sensitive on his side could be an asset, even if Glenn never gets to the level of Jedi or Sith. But, perhaps they can think about that when Glenn is an adult again. He'd rather have his mate back.

"You are quite wise beyond your years."

Glenn just keeps looking at him with a furrow in his brow, but he nods slightly, only to look confused at the concept of being "wise".

"I read a lot. Fairy tales, history, sciences. Such a lesson is all over the place."

With Thrawn at his level, his body subtly loses some of its nervousness. He's still hesitant to make eye contact, but his gaze does linger on his face in general. He bites his lip again, wincing a little when he does it too hard and reopens the wound there, and he idly sucks on it to try to get it to close again.

"Sometimes, I'd rather be accepted than wise or strong, though...."

He's not sure, but.. this person seems safer to talk to than even his mom.

"...Don't tell mom I said that, okay? I'd disappoint her. I don't like making her sad."

"I won't, I promise," Even though Glenn's mother is long dead and he couldn't tell her anyway. He can tell that Glenn just needs that reassurance.

"Perhaps you will be accepted one day, child. It will take time, but one day you will meet someone who will accept you for who you are." He was speaking of himself, of course.

"Would you like anything? Food, perhaps, or something to do?"

Although softened, Thrawn's offering makes Glenn's eyes widen.

"Do you have any pencils and paper? I like to draw." A beat, and he nearly bites his lip again. "I won't be rude to you if I do that, will I?"

"I assure you, it will be alright," Thrawn keeps some in his quarters in case Glenn wants something other than a datapad for his artwork. He retreats to his quarters and comes back with a drawing pad and pencils, presenting them to the child.

Immediately, Glenn's expression lights up, gratefully and excitedly accepting it and taking a seat near the desk to draw, legs unconsciously starting to fold up closer to his body as a makeshift support for the drawing pad.

Until he remembers that he's only got that shirt on and hastily lowers the shirt to stay covered. Cheeks briefly turning red, he uses the desk instead.

His skill as an artist has yet to reach any noteworthy level, capping out at stick-figure humans and slightly more detailed animals, and he even uses the date he thinks it is back on his world in the corner, leaving him at around eight years old.

Perhaps noteworthy, even though his eyes have that chameleon-like effect that Thrawn is familiar with, he doesn't seem to be perceiving the world any differently than a human. His drawings absolutely lack that almost wind-like effect as a result of his usual dual-time perception of the world.

Occasionally, Glenn looks up at some of the Sith and Jedi artwork and tries to redraw it.

Thrawn can't help but glance down at Glenn's drawings, his mind automatically doing what it does when he sees artwork. He was quite different as an artist back then, it seems. But even a child's drawings can say much about the child who created them. He hasn't yet gone through the trauma that he did when he lost Clara, and that much is clear from the artwork. Glenn was much more innocent at this age, wise or not.

"You like drawing what you see, and what interests you." Bit obvious of an observation, yes.

The door chime sounds and Thrawn goes to answer it. It's the synthweavers, come to give Thrawn the child's clothing that they made. The woman asks what the Admiral needs with them, and Thrawn simply states that there's a child in his room and he's been wearing something much too big for him. The woman just shrugs and goes on here way. Thrawn enters the room again, "I have some clothing for you." He presents the shirt and pants to the child. "I will stand in the hallway while you change."

Glenn just blinks at him for the comment, not sure what to do with it, and still a little too nervous to ask about it.

It's still really weird to not be wearing clothes he put on this morning, and to not have clothes to change into until now. But he accepts it gratefully and walks to the opposite side of Thrawn's desk for further privacy, glad to wear something closer to his size. It's not a perfect fit, but it's not too small.

"M'done changing!" he calls back before long, and goes right back to drawing, this time hitching his legs up towards his chest, balanced on the chair, and leaning the sketchpad against his legs as he draws.

He also starts trying to draw the artifact, as if doing so might give him some insight. It's still quietly making noise to him, but not in a way he knows to process. Maybe it's sentient, he wonders.

As promised, Thrawn retreats into the hallway while Glenn gets changed. He finds himself grateful that Glenn reverted to an age when his alien cells hadn't become unsafe to others. Though, the vaccine should still be inside him, de-aged or otherwise.

He enters his office again once Glenn's dressed, and of course notices him looking at the artifact.

"I would be careful around that. It may contain dark side energy." And because Glenn probably won't know what that is, he explains. "That power I told you about, many believe that there are two sides to it, light and dark. I admit that I do not know much about the Force, but I have met Jedi, who employ the light, and Sith, who employ the dark."

There's no way he's taking Glenn to Darth Vader, and especially not Palpatine.

Glenn Sparks | original character | OTA

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Re: Glenn Sparks | original character | OTA