Dragoncrest Cliffs He's a little wiser, a little older

etienne was smiling! jadou took this as a queue to carry on with his incessant bugging, little red tail creating a fanning divot in the sand beneath him as it wagged. why it be bad, dough? why? i'd marry you. 'cause i love you.
ah, children and their untainted view of the world.
but then, as his cousin continues, he says something that piques the little boy's interest in a way that made his stomach flip — a boy who was a girl, a girl who was a boy. his eyes may as well have popped right out of his head with what could only be described as absolute awe.
it was as if a lightbulb had gone off above his head.
you can do dat? he asks with a gasp, voice suddenly hushed. how? how? how? does dat mean i can be a girl someday? because, in his eyes, girls were simply better, and everyone should want to be one.
which, of course, was a perfectly normal thought to have. everyone thought that!
right?