Daniel was going everything in his power to hold down his shaking in front of his peers, but in all honesty, this situation had him reeling. Equal parts awe and fear had his stomach dropping and his mind failing. Even as he tried to forcibly assert to himself that this was just like any standard interview he'd done before and that he had to act professionally, his train of thought just couldn't reconcile the- GIANT KID- in the room. Get a hold of yourself, Daniel. This is just a talk with a kid. A kid over 100 feet tall, bigger than the size of a ten-story building.
His legs moved with no input in them whatsoever. He couldn't jog, like he planned, but at least he wasn't standing still. Steadily, his legs propelled him one step at a time towards the base of the giant in front of him. It was three blocks, but thankfully, the kid seemed to be going nowhere soon. Daniel looked up, craning his neck, to see Tidas deep in conversation with whoever was up there. From the context of the conversation that Tidas was having- something about moving shipping crates onto barges- it must have been a captain or a harbormaster. I'm still two blocks away. I'm still two blocks away from this behemoth of a colossus of a kid, and I'm looking up at him, because he's taller than the city's skyline. And he's talking about moving shipping containers with his bare hands. Jesus.
Halfway through the second block, Daniel took a deep, shuddering breath with his eyes closed. In, out. Focus. Just think of this from his point of view- he has no idea where he came from or why he is, and he just wants to help. Kid doesn't even have hair on him yet. It was true- except for his head, the kid had a modest amount of muscle on him, but was as bare as a whale. Like his legs. They go up just past the sixth floor, must be around 60 feet tall. The size of a whale. And that's just his legs.
After this thought, Daniel stumbled. It wasn't his nerves this time, though it certainly didn't do anything to alleviate them- between craning his neck back to look at Daniel and closing his eyes to regain his composure, he'd been neglecting his footing and hit a snag in the sidewalk. Daniel floundered a bit to regain his balance, but did so quickly, and stopped for a moment, bent over, breathing. Half a block away. Cross one more street and he'd be at Tidas. At his feet. At the base, the foot of Mt. Tidas. What the hell were they thinking, assigning one guy to watch this kid? It's nuts.
He turned his head back to look at where he'd gotten his assignment from Phillips, and lo and behold- Phillips and Kelly were still there, watching with amused grins on their faces. Of course they were. Watching a new arrival meet the 100+ foot giant he was in charge of taking care of? Premium comedy. Wouldn't miss it for the world. Daniel turned around, the anger removing a fair portion of his inhibitions, straightened up, and walked briskly up to Tidas himself.
Tidas was barefoot, and his feet showed all the signs of having adapted as such. Cracked, white-laced callouses covered the bottoms of his feet over all of the prints of his sole. Daniel was shaking again, but his thoughts (Jesus Christ, this foot's gotta be twenty feet long. And the ankle's ten feet in the air. And the toes are waist-high. The toes, big as boulders. Jesus Christ.) were at least under control. At this point, ten feet away from him, Daniel actually had to lean back to see Daniel's face, as he gestured with his arms to his conversation partner. The kid really was a walking tower. But all that was left to do was to tap on him, hard, to get his attention and make introductions. Daniel cleared his throat, ready to yell an 'excuse me'...
And then, in an instant, Tidas did one of the most natural things in the world.
He shifted his stance.
It was neither a conscious nor a large motion- for Tidas- but just like that, his leg drifted forward and his foot jumped five feet to re-position itself. It didn't even touch Daniel. Daniel didn't care. In that instant, all the anxieties Daniel had been fighting for the last five minutes overwhelmed him, because with the most innocuous of possible gestures, Tidas had shifted hundreds of tons of mass in an instant. It was a power that could do anything or kill anyone around him at a moment's notice, intentionally or unintentionally...
And it was in the control of a 13-year-old kid.
No, nope, nope, nopenopenopenopenope. Nah uh. Abort. Mission over. I'm out.
Daniel pelted around the block, briefly noticing Kelly and Phillips doubling over in laughter like assholes, and he could not have cared less. He didn't stop until he had fifty yards between him and Tidas, and there he just sat on the ground and let his jitters consume him.
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