[ don’t worry about dextera’s mental state over the past month. don’t worry about what he’s been doing. making a public reappearance, he seems to be his usual self—as odd as ever, even back to that dull, glassy-eyed gaze he used to carry before he started making friends.

he might have regressed a little, but who among them hasn’t suffered an emotional setback or two?

regardless, there are a couple circumstances others might find him in during the first few days of them settling in and making sense of their surroundings. ]

a. [ with no sword and only his bare hands, he’s throwing himself into a fight with a beetle. being that he has no weapon, the sight of it is somewhat brutal, with dextera trying to rip off legs, or to get his hands under its carapace so he can target its wings. neither one looks like they’re winning—but highstorm residents might actually recognize this beetle as being one that will spray something nasty once threatened enough.

will you help? will you stop him? or will you just let him get doused in hot beetle juice, because that’s certainly what the bug’s body language suggests it’s about to do… ]

b. [ some time after the glorious battle above, dextera has successfully harvested some chitin. it seems like it would make good armor, or a better weapon—and though perhaps he is going to use it that way, your character doesn’t get to see the sensible utilization. instead, he can be found biting down on a large chunk, or maybe you just hear a crack followed by a whimper from behind a toadstool.

…seems like he hurt his teeth. ]

[ dextera has been unlucky enough to lose one of his items to dark schneider, of all people. he doesn’t like dark and has made no secrets of it to his face, and that hasn’t caused many problems outside the annoying until now. with dark’s ire now able to physically affect him, he’s been… made small, made younger.

his mind is in a strange place where he only understands that this is not what he’s supposed to be. none of this is right, in fact. if he was this young, he wouldn’t be here, and even if he was an adult, he shouldn’t be able to hide in the shadow of a vine.

it keeps him from panicking, but it doesn’t keep him from being confused. tugging on the clothes of the nearest person he can find, a much younger version of dextera—perhaps seven, at the oldest—gazes up at them without guile. with his words rather than through communion, he speaks. ]

I don’t think I’m supposed to be here by myself…

[ he’s just a little guy! ]

( in the interest of keeping my tag load light, i’ve just got these two for open prompts so i have the bandwidth to deal with returning items and such, but i’m totally down to plot whatever! once again for reference, here is my plotting post. )