Accidents On Playgrounds
I finished writing my OCs, Inigo, character profile so I decided to write a short little story with him involving something in his profile that is not relevant to the story. So here it is. I will also be doing this with the other characters For a bit of context, they are on a different planet called Trirelm and the region of the planet that Inigo is from is called Lañop which will be based around and inspired by Spanish culture. That's not super relevant but still. And also something that isn't super relevant but it mentioned once in this, Inigo has completely pitch black eyes. And also when it refers to "Searchers", that's what they call detictives. A lot of names for things are similar to Earth names, but for things like jobs they have different names. Okay now enjoy a moodboard and enjoy the story :)
One firm grip on the cold metal. Two firm grips on the cold metal. He could hoist himself up now. Using what upper body strength his little body held, Inigo pulled himself up to the top of the climbing frame. His long hair whipped in front of his face, disrupting his vision, but he kept going. He placed his feet on the side to assist his climb, and when he made it to the top he struggled to stay balanced as he got a seat, but he made it.
The climbing frame was not that tall. But to an eight year old it felt like conquering a mountain. This frame was meant to be for the big kids at the school, not skinny and weak little children as they said. He wasn't skinny and weak. He had asked his parents and they had reassured him.
“You're an average size and have the right amount of strength for a kid your age and you’re healthy so don't listen to them,” his mama had told him. She had given it to him straight and honest, and he knew she was telling the truth.
Inigo tried not to be too offended whenever he would hear the big kids snickering to themselves. He knew it wasn't personal. They made fun of every little kid trying to attempt the big climbs, not just him. That had been a lesson from his pa.
“If someone you don't know is making fun of you, chances are they're just making stuff up. They don't know you well enough to actually insult you so they just make fun of what they think is there, and a lot of the time, they're wrong.”
Inigo trusted his pa a lot more than he trusted the annoying older boys. Besides, he had heard from one of his friend’s older sister that those boys were stinky, and that was a fact.
Still, he wanted to prove to himself that he was big enough to climb the frame, and even though he wouldn't say it out loud, he could enjoy the pleasure of imagining rubbing it in those de idiota faces.
He was tall enough to see the far end of the playground from his position. He could even see some kids playing with a ball on the far end of the court. He had never felt so high and mighty before.
“Inigo! Inigo! That's your name right? Look at me, I'm down here!”
Inigo glanced past his shoes and saw a boy by the name of Sorrel. Inigo waved down to the kid as he climbed up the frame after him. He found it a lot easier to achieve than Inigo had, easily getting a firm grasp on the poles and having the perfect amount of upper body strength to hoist himself up. He kept his balance perfect throughout, the danger of falling never a high one. Inigo watched with a slight frown, a pang of jealousy and inadequacy teasing him from inside, but he quickly rearranged his features before Sorrel could see.
“What are you doing up here?” Sorrel asked. He gave Inigo a large grin, a sign of deceiving friendship, revealing the tooth gap in his smile. Inigo never liked that look. It wasn't because he thought Sorrel was ugly by any means. Well, being honest with himself, he did. It just wasn't because of the gap in his teeth. But really the smile reminded him too much of his best friend, and he always loved her smile. He liked her – loved even. He didn't like Sorrel. And he didn't like that he shared a smile with his friend.
“Nothing,” Inigo replied, trying to maintain eye contact.
Sorrel gave him an annoyed look. “You can't be doing nothing,” he insisted with a tone of voice that suggested he thought he was smarter than he really was. “You're always doing something. Right now you're sitting here. That's something. But if you came up here just to sit, that's pretty dumb.”
“There's nothing wrong with sitting here.” A hint of defensiveness had sprouted in Inigo's voice.
Sorrel looked at him with undeserved haughtiness. “No, there isn't,” he agreed. “But it's still dumb and weird. There's so many other places to sit and you chose here? You must have a reason. Tell me!”
Sorrel and his delusional detective skills. He really thought he knew everything, thought he could tap into the mind of anyone and find ulterior motives, even when they weren't there.
“I just like sitting here. That's it.”
The arrogant kid peered at him from slitted eyes, pretending to examine him with his gaze. He would be sorely disappointed when he found nothing in Inigo other than the truth. Finally, he leaned back, finished with his interrogation.
“Fine. I think you're telling the truth. It's still dumb though.”
“Then why are you here?” Inigo challenged.
“To see what you're doing here,” Sorrel said in an obvious tone. “What do you think I'm doing?”
“I don't know. Based on how you keep questioning me about really normal things I would have thought you were trying too hard to be like your uncle.” Sorrel flinched at that, giving Inigo a quick glare. Usually Inigo would never resort to such low blows. It was rude and never a nice thing as he had been told. But there was something about Sorrel that made him care less. He was annoying and often picked on him for trivial things such as the colour of his eyes and the length of his hair. Sorrel had given him enough insults in their time being acquainted with each other that Inigo couldn’t bring himself to feel too bad. In fact, he was rather impressed with how fast he had managed to come up with such a snappy comeback.
“I’m not trying to be like my uncle,” Sorrel recovered himself. “I guess I just naturally am.”
“You’re not a searcher.”
“No. But that doesn’t mean I have the skills to be one. Maybe it runs in my family. You can’t say it doesn’t. And no offense, Lopez, but I think I know more about being a searcher than you do.”
Sorrel spat out Inigo’s last name like a curse. It was a poor attempt at a power move. Sorrel heard their teachers call kids by their last name when disappointed or demanding authority, and he took it upon himself to do the same. What he didn’t realise, and what he didn’t know was the flaw in his logic, was that the kids held a considerable amount of respect in the teachers to begin with. No one respected Sorrel more than they would respect a pet.
Inigo ignored Sorrel. Maybe if he just stayed silent and didn’t react to any of his jibes he would leave him alone. It had worked in the past. Sometimes. But it seemed today was going to be one of the days Sorrel was determined to be irritatingly persistent. A stronger gust of wind blew, once again causing Inigo’s hair to flap in front of his face. Strands of hair got caught in his mouth and he spat them out, clearing his face as well as he could. Of course, Sorrel noticed.
“You should really cut your hair,” he said, not for the first time. “It’ll stop getting in your face that way. And you’ll look less like a girl.”
“I don’t care,” Inigo let the annoyance slip into his voice. Sorrel raised an eyebrow, a skill Inigo had never managed to master, and put on a smirk.
“You don’t care about looking like a girl?” he teased.
“Not really.”
“But you’re not a girl. You’re a boy. Why would you want to look like one if you’re not?” He peered at Inigo more closely, starting up his pathetic investigation again. “Or are you one?” Inigo didn’t reply so Sorrel pressed further. “Answer me. You can’t just ignore me. Are you a girl or not?”
Inigo shrugged. “No.”
“Then why do you have long hair?”
Inigo twisted his body round on the frame to face him completely. “Boys can have long hair too. You know that right?”
Sorrel nodded. “Of course I know that. But it’s still weird.”
“Just because you don’t like it doesn’t make it weird.”
“But it is weird!” Sorrel insisted. “How many boys do you know with long hair? You’re the only one I know. Don’t you feel left out?”
“No,” Inigo answered. “Because I don’t care what other people think. I like my hair. It just sometimes gets annoying in the wind.”
“Then cut it.”
“Stop it!”
Sorrel held his hands up in surrender. “Geez, alright. I’m just saying. My hair’s short and it never gets in my face. And people don’t think I’m a girl. I’ve seen some people call you one before. Doesn’t that get annoying?” Before Inigo could reply with ‘no’, Sorrel bouldered on. “I know I would get annoyed. And isn’t it harder to wash when it’s long? Is your hair even clean?” Sorrel reached his hand towards Inigo’s head, his fingers ready to pick up a strand. Inigo immediately leaned away from his touch, putting space in between them.
“Don’t!” he snapped.
Sorrel rolled his eyes. “Stop being a baby! I just want to see if you’re actually cleaning yourself.” He moved his hand forward again. Inigo tried to grab his wrist, but Sorrel evaded it, moving faster. His thumb and forefinger grabbed onto some of Inigo’s hair, feeling its condition. Inigo didn’t know if he was more angry or uncomfortable by the touch. His expression had settled for one of slight fear, his pitch black eyes widening like sink holes in his face. Instinctively he pushed his arm out, hitting his hand into Sorrel’s chest and shoving him out the way. Sorrel let go of Inigo’s hair, not before pulling at it slightly. Inigo squealed slightly as the strands pulled on his scalp before they were released.
Sorrel was having a struggle on his own. Inigo’s push had caught him off balance, leaning dangerously forward on the climbing frame so he couldn’t steady himself. In an attempt to get a better hold on the metal poles, he let one hand go to place it back down in another position. But lifting that hand only caused him to go even more off balance and before he could even think about asking Inigo for help, he found himself tumbling to the ground.
Inigo heard the dull thud as Sorrel hit the ground. He quickly leaned over to peer downwards, being careful to get his grip and not fall himself. Sorrel clutched his left knee in his hands. Inigo watched as he slowly moved one of his hands away. Sorrel let out an audible gasp.
“I’m bleeding!” he exclaimed in utter shock of such a thing happening to him. He looked up at Inigo directing him a death glare that could only be seen as adorable and pathetic at his age. “You made me bleed! How could you?”
Inigo didn’t want to make the situation worse by saying anything, but he really thought the boy was being a bit dramatic about it. Sure, high up from his vantage point Inigo didn’t have a great view of whatever minor injury Sorrel had succumbed to, but from what Inigo could see, it was only a little speck of blood. A tiny itty bitty graze from a loose rock. He scrambled down the climbing frame, letting his body drop the short distance to the ground when he was ready and came up beside Sorrel.
“Can I see it?” he asked. He reached his fingers out to move Sorrel’s hands out the way, but the other kid leaned back as if Inigo’s touch was fire and he would get burned.
“No! Get away from me! You’re probably just going to make it worse!”
“I’m not going to make it worse,” Inigo said in an exasperated voice. “I just want to look at it. I know how to help with cuts. My pa taught me. I can help.”
“No!” Sorrel repeated and smacked Inigo’s hand away. “I’ll get my own help. I’m going to go find an adult and tell them what you did!” Before Inigo could say or attempt to do anything else, Sorrel got to his feet slowly and exaggerated. He kept one hand on the knee as he fake-limped to find a trusted adult.
Inigo watched him go, feeling a bit helpless. He was going to get into trouble, wasn’t he? Great. Maybe when questioned he could make the adults see his side – that Sorrel was being an annoying jerk and he was just defending himself – but he wasn’t so sure.
Oh well. There was nothing he could do about it now, he told himself philosophically – not that he knew what that meant. Sorrel would find an adult, the adult would find him, and he would get told off. Experience taught him that things would be better if he didn’t resist it and simply stayed honest and true. He took a seat on the rocky ground where Sorrel fell and awaited his inevitable punishment of a stern talking to.
Thank you so much if you read this. Feel free to tell me what you though and what you thought of Inigo, because he is the main character in the series he's a part of. Obviously he is a child in this and he's 16 in the series, so he changes a bit (for starts later on his life he develops a fear of heights), but he's kind of the same. He does really value honesty and doesn't like it when you touch his hair without asking. But anyway thank you again for reading :)
