From: _ruleofthumb	Date: 10/20/2007 11:51:55

Tiny fluttered from bush to tree to bush again, on the same quest as Mowgli. She was hungry for lunch, and fruit sounded tasty. Of course, there wasn't too much Tiny ate OTHER than fruit. She settled upon a berry bush, picking up what looked to be a juicy blackberry...and tilted her head upon seeing the man. He seemed to be looking for something...food, she guessed, same as she.

Tiny nibbled on a berry, the juice staining her lips. She smiled. "Hello!"

	From: man_cub	Date: 10/20/2007 12:31:20

Mowgli heard a voice. A small voice. He looked around, trying to figure out where it had come from. He didn't seen anyone, nor any animals -- he was quite used to talking animals -- and show his brow furrowed. Who had said hello? He didn't imagine it did he? He crouched, now on eye level with the blackberry bush and looked some more...

And was startled to see a tiny woman-like thing. But it had little wings and it was smiling at him while eating a berry that to her was at least the size of a melon. "Did... did you say hello?" he asked slowly. It had been a while since he'd talked again - he didn't really need to with Swan.

	From: _ruleofthumb	Date: 10/20/2007 15:44:38

Tiny licked a bit of juice from her fingertip, keeping the melon-sized berry at bay with her arm. "Yes." She eyed the confused-looking man, and then smiled again. "I'd shake your hand the polite way, but I'm afraid they're covered in juice, and I don't want to get you dirty." Never mind that his hand was far, far larger than her own.

"Are you looking for food? These blackberries are delicious. You ought to try some."

	From: man_cub	Date: 10/21/2007 11:03:20

Mowgli blinked at the tiny little woman-thing. "It... is okay. My hands are big. I might hurt you." He was still speaking slowly, as though choosing each word with care. He reached for a blackberry and popped one into his mouth, smiling when he found her to be right. "They are!"

	From: _ruleofthumb	Date: 10/21/2007 16:30:54

She nodded in agreement. "I suppose that could happen, yes. Someone once picked me up and squeezed far too hard, and I ended up with little black and blue bruises all over!" Tiny then smiled when he did. "See? I love them. I eat them a lot, and they're easy to find."

Another bite and swallow later, she kept talking. "What's your name? Mine's Tiny, oh, and please don't say it's an ugly name!" She pleaded, her blue-stained hands clasped in front of her.

	From: man_cub	Date: 10/22/2007 15:00:22

Mowgli blinked at the little creature again. She spoke a lot, and faster than he was used to. It made it a little hard to keep up with what she said. "My name is Mowgli." He cocked his head at her as if surprised by what she said. "Tiny? It is not... an ugly name. It is... it is what you are!"

	From: _ruleofthumb	Date: 10/22/2007 15:33:29

"Mowgli." She repeated, tilting her head again. "I've never heard a name like yours. I like it." Tiny decided this with a firm nod, and then smiled gratefully. "Thank you! Ooh, so many people have responded to my name as though it's something stupid or silly or strange...But my mother gave me that name, and so I love it, and I'll never ever change it. Mowgli, do you live in the woods?" Indeed, she spoke fast, and changed subjects as quickly as a hummingbird.

	From: man_cub	Date: 10/23/2007 17:52:47

Mowgli couldn't really keep up. He lost most of what she said and so, he did what he could. He latched onto the last thing she said, a question directed at him and nodded slowly. "Yes. By the big lake," and he pointed in the direction of Swan's lake. And then almost as an afterthought he asked her, "Do you?"

	From: _ruleofthumb	Date: 10/24/2007 15:00:25

Oh, the lake! She remembered meeting the sad Swan-boy there. "Yes..I have a little house that I made. I like it, but I do miss my mother's house very much." She pointed to the direction of the lake, just as he had. "I met a Swan-boy there. Do you know him? He's very nice, but he was sad. I felt bad for him."

	From: man_cub	Date: 10/24/2007 15:04:03

Mowgli nodded enthusiastically, trying the find the words to say yes, he did know Swan. "Yes. He... he is my friend." And then his face fell. "Sad? Why was he sad?" He plucked another berry off the bush, but instead of eating it, merely looked at Tiny, waiting for her reply. He wondered when it was she had met Swan. Before he'd met him? While he was gone?

	From: _ruleofthumb	Date: 10/24/2007 16:07:46

"Oooh.." She thought for a moment, closing her eyes, and then lit up in remembering. "He loved someone, and missed them. I guess they were gone. He was really sad, and I told him that I bet that person loved them, too, and missed them. I hope he believed me. I wonder if that person came back?"

	From: man_cub	Date: 10/24/2007 16:41:29

Mowgli blinked at Tiny yet again. Could they have been talking about him? Mowgli knew Swan had missed him. It was clear how happy he was when he'd come back. But love? Did Swan love him? He'd kissed him, and maybe that meant he did? Mowgli sat back, confused now. "I went away. I was gone long, more than I thought. I left him alone. I did not like him being alone. So I came back fast as I could." He was staring down at the berry in his hand as he spoke slowly. "I missed him." He looked up at Tiny, an unreadable expression in dark eyes. He wanted to ask Do you think he meant me? But the words stuck on his tongue.

	From: _ruleofthumb	Date: 10/24/2007 18:12:21

Tiny blinked mid-bite of blackberry, and furrowed her brows before she got it.

"YOU'RE the one he missed! Oooh. Oh. " Tiny flushed, never wondering that maybe the person Swan-boy loved was a man, too. But hearing what Mowgli said made her melt, and she clasped her hands in front of her. "Oooh, how romantic. You didn't want him to be lonely, so you came back. That's sweet." She smiled. "See? I told him you missed him, too!"

But Mowgli looked less than thrilled. "...What's wrong?" Tiny frowned.

	From: man_cub	Date: 10/24/2007 18:18:07

Mowgli stared at the berry like it held all the answers in the universe before looking at Tiny again. "Ro-man-tic?" He sounded out the word - he'd never heard it used before. "Is that...?" He shook his head. He could ask what it meant later. He had a more pressing question. "If someone kisses someone, does that mean love?" His brow furrowed as he asked the question, hoping it came out right.

	From: _ruleofthumb	Date: 10/24/2007 19:11:09

"Yes, romantic. Umm...like, you do something really sweet just to make the person you love happy. You do them just to see them smile. Things like that are romantic." Tiny drew her knees to her chest, resting her chin on them while she looked at Mowgli, who looked so confused, the poor thing.

"Hmm...I don't think so, at least, not just that. The prince kissed me a few times, but I didn't love him. I think it's only love if you feel the same way that Swan-boy does when he kisses you."

	From: man_cub	Date: 10/24/2007 19:23:00

Mowgli nodded at the explanation, feeling his cheeks go oddly warm. They'd only ever felt like that when Swan kissed him the first time... "I feel... funny. When I think of Swan. Warm, and nice. He makes me smile. And he kissed me and I liked it. I wanted him to do it again." Mowgli still didn't know if that was love, but he knew how he felt when Swan kissed him, and that was good. So if they both felt the same, that was love? Mowgli finally ate the blackberry, chewing on it like his own thoughts. "I do not understand love. But I do not like when I am not with Swan."

	From: _ruleofthumb	Date: 10/24/2007 19:27:37

Tiny smiled. "It sounds like, even if you're not SURE you're in love, that you're at least ALMOST in love." She sighed wistfully. "Funny feelings, warmth inside you...I wish I could feel that. Swan is lucky. So are you." She toyed with the ends of her hair, pulling them through two fingers over and over.

"Do you hurt here...", she pressed her palms against her chest, "...when Swan isn't with you? Or when Swan is sad?"

	From: man_cub	Date: 10/24/2007 19:33:16

Mowgli felt his face flush some more, and wondered if something was wrong with him. A fever maybe? He'd had one before when he was little, and Baloo had taken care of him...

The thought of Swan sad, or alone, or in anyway unhappy made Mowgli bring his own hand to his chest, over his heart. "Yes. It is not a good feeling. It makes me sad."

	From: _ruleofthumb	Date: 10/24/2007 19:37:04

Tiny smiled, clapping her hands a few times to show her delight. Seeing anybody in love was always a sweet thing. It didn't help she was a hopeless romantic. "I bet you are in love with him, but you just don't know it yet. Swallow told me once that sometimes love sneaks up and BAM! It slams into you, and you know for sure you're in love."

	From: man_cub	Date: 10/24/2007 19:49:29

Mowgli had popped another berry into his mouth, and he was chewing again as Tiny clapped her hands in excitement. "Slams? Does love hurt when it hits you?" Mowgli took things very literally. If Swan loved him, he didn't want it to hurt! He supposed the same went for him, but he was more concerned with Swan's safety than his own.

	From: _ruleofthumb	Date: 10/24/2007 19:58:56

Eep. Tiny shook her head frantically, waving her hands. "No, no! Not..not like when someone pushes you. like...mmm.." She pressed her hands against her heart again. "You suddenly feel it here. It just...happens, and it takes you by surprise! But it doesn't HURT."

	From: man_cub	Date: 10/24/2007 20:09:16

Oh! That made more sense, and it made Mowgli relax visibly. "Oh. That is better. I do not want it to hurt. Not me, not Swan." He started collecting some berries, meaning to take some back to Swan when he went back. "Do you love someone, Tiny?" He wanted to know how she knew so much. Was it from experience?

	From: _ruleofthumb	Date: 10/24/2007 20:24:22

Tiny sighed, propping her chin on her knees again. "No...I wish I could, though. I thought maybe I could love the prince, but...he wanted to change me so much. I don't want to be changed...well, not like he wanted me to. I wouldn't mind being big. Maybe someone would love me if I were big."

	From: man_cub	Date: 10/24/2007 20:44:37

Mowgli didn't quite follow that train of thought. "What does how big you have have to do with who loves you?" He kept eating berries as he collected them, one for him, and one to take back, and repeat.

	From: _ruleofthumb	Date: 10/24/2007 20:53:38

"Well...there really isn't anybody my size. Except for fairies. And I've found out that most fairies aren't very nice. So...I mean, how can someone big want to love me? I'm so small, and there's not much I can do."

	From: man_cub	Date: 10/24/2007 21:03:47

Mowgli shook his head. "I still do not understand. If you are small and someone else is big, this means they cannot love? Why?" There had to be some reason he just didn't get. Maybe... "Does love only happen if man-people are the same? Both big? Both small? Or like the same things?"

	From: _ruleofthumb	Date: 10/24/2007 21:24:30

"I just don't think many big people would be interested in me. I'm just..too small. It's hard to explain." She sighed, and then thought a moment, biting her bottom lip. "Wee-eell...I don't think they have to be EXACTLY the same. Like..Swan is a..well, a swan, but you're not. Although, Swan LOOKS like a boy, but half the time he's a swan, so..you two aren't exactly the same. But you're similar, because you're at least both boys half of the time. And you love eachother. At least, I think you do."

	From: man_cub	Date: 10/24/2007 21:30:06

Mowgli sat back with a heavy sounding sigh. "Love seems very complicated. But what you said before. You said it can just slam you, yes? Then, it can slam you too!" Mowgli seemed rather proud of his pronouncement. "Yes... I think I do. How do you say to someone about love? If I want to say to him how I feel?"

	From: _ruleofthumb	Date: 10/24/2007 21:45:38

"I think it is, too." Unfortunately, she had never experienced it, so she really didn't know. It certainly seemed so, though.

Tiny blinked at his declaration, and then laughed. "..Well..Well, I guess you're right! Maybe...." She looked hopeful now. "Maybe someday it WILL slam into me. Maybe somebody I can find someone my own size who loves me...or...if someone bigger...." Her voice faded, and then she focused on Mowgli's question.

"Mmm..Bring him some flowers! Really pretty flowers! And then...bring him the flowers, and tell him how you feel, like you told me! Warm, tingly feelings, and how you feel when you kiss him, or when you're away from him! And then just tell him you love him. Then..then you should kiss him." She was enjoying living vicariously through Mowgli way too much.

	From: man_cub	Date: 10/24/2007 22:05:42

Again Tiny overwhelmed him with far too many words at once, and he struggled to keep up. Flowers, he could get flowers, although he didn't really understand the point of that. But he smiled at the thought of kissing Swan again. "I can do that. I like to kiss him." In fact he sort of wanted to hurry up with his food gathering and get some flowers and do that now. He just hoped that what he was going to say was something Swan wanted to hear.

	From: _ruleofthumb	Date: 10/24/2007 22:08:08

Tiny just knew flowers were pretty, and in the storybooks she used to read at home showed the man always presenting the woman with flowers and jewelry. She figured Swan would be content with flowers, though, instead of diamonds and pearls.

She giggled. "Ooh, I wish I could be there to see! But I'm sure it'll be sweet and romantic."

	From: man_cub	Date: 10/24/2007 22:13:15

Mowgli nodded. "Thank you Tiny. I think... I will go do what you said. It makes me feel good to do something that will make him happy." He started to stand and then paused. "How far do you live?"

	From: _ruleofthumb	Date: 10/24/2007 22:16:05

"Good luck, Mowgli! If you see me again, tell me how it works out. Maybe...Maybe I can come visit Swan again at the lake."

Tiny pointed to a large tree, not too far away. A few rose bushes stood next to it. "My home is right in between those two rose bushes."

	From: man_cub	Date: 10/24/2007 22:26:24

"You can come visit us. Or we can visit you." Mowgli smiled shyly. And stood up then, his berries carefully gathered. He noted the location of her home and nodded. I will tell you what happens. And thank you." Now to head off to find some flowers, for whatever reason.

And tell Swan he loved him.

	From: _ruleofthumb	Date: 10/24/2007 22:27:25

Tiny smiled and waved. "Thank you, too!" It was about time someone was...well, nice. He and Swan-boy were winners.

She sighed, and then hopped from the bush, flittering off toward her own home.