Glow Worms

[Kitto]

Dirt flew in a spray, pausing periodically so the digger could catch his breath. Kitto had some stamina, but he wasn't used to this sort of work. Not yet, anyway, if Gabriel's dry hints were to be believed. He sat on his knees, muddy up to his elbows and his hair flecked with graveyard dirt and stray grass. The grave itself, fortunately, was old. Just had to keep digging. If he hit bones, he was to move them, and keep digging, then put it all back when he finished.

Hopefully he wouldn't have to dig that far.

Kitto had no reserves about digging in the graves. After all, they were dead. He didn't believe in ghosts, not those that could harm, and those were the souls, after all. The bodies were merely vessels, and they didn't matter. So far he hadn't found any bones, although he had found something weird. A piece of cloth, maybe. Gods, he was tired. His arms were so sore.

Biting his lip, the mutt of a beast set claw like fingers in to the soil and kept digging. It hadn't occurred to him to bring a shovel - how silly, shovels. Weird things. They were too tough for a job like this, this job was delicate. Some sort of sifter, like those used to pan gold, would have been nice. Oh well. He didn't have one, and he wasn't going to go look for one. Where would he get something like that at this time of night?

Didn't matter, right?

There.

Kitto stopped abruptly, then carefully seized the prize between two long, bizarre fingers. He did it! He had found it! Joyful, Kitto looked up, grinning. There wasn't anyone here to see his triumph, but he had it! The mold - moss? - glowed softly in the dark, like a little fire bug. Kitto placed it carefully in a little bag to put in his pocket, and began sifting again.

One piece down, too many more to go.

The dark, come to that, didn't bother him either. He could see fairly well in it, as snakes could, but one thing did bother him. The cold. He wished he could start a fire or something, but that would be asking for trouble. He just had to hope no one noticed him out here.

Ick. Grave worms. Kitto made a face and covered it back with dirt before slamming his fist on the pile, the most violence he ever showed.

Gross, right?

[Orca]

He was in the dog form again, because being out this late at night as a human only invited trouble. He didn't even know why he was awake, not when he had to wake up early the next day and fly out to the watchtowers. He was looking forward to that, though, the nice, solitary flight. The little finch's wings weren't up to it all in one stretch, he didn't think any bird's were, really, considering the length of the trip, but even the periodic rests he had to take were nice. Relaxing.

Anyway.

He was trotting along, nose to the ground in an almost idle fashion as he wasn't really sniffing for anything in particular, when he caught a weird smell that made his canine face jerk up, triangular-shaped ears locking on to a faraway shape to his immediate right. What was someone doing in the graveyard at this time? Couldn't be anything good, right?

Orca the human would have fled instantly, but the Orca the dog was inherently more curious, and so he slid closer, his gray-brown-white fur blending into the ground completely. His eyes, not so good as a dog, but probably better in the dark than the human's would have been, saw a long-haired boy there, digging about, but his nose told him snake.

Confused, the dog sat down and began to pant. There was another scent on this creature, inbetween all the other weird mixup of smells he really didn't want to get into, that he recognized. Ga-bri-el. Hmm. A brief moment later Orca the boy sat where the dog had, clothes slightly dusty but none the worse for the wear.

He padded quietly the rest of the way over to the boy-thing, blue-green eyes dilated and narrowed as he tried to see what was going on. So dark, ahhh. Why hadn't he just stayed in the dog form, and gone on his way, why-- Well, he was here now, no getting out of it.

"W-What are you doing?" His voice came out a mix of curiosity, worry, and stuttery nerves. Wincing slightly, the shapeshifter prepared to flee if this turned ugly in the least.

[Kitto]

Kitto looked up again to find something lurking over the edge of the grave - hole? Some sort of pale nymph crouched in the dirt, he had to look odd. He recognized the voice, vaguely, although he had always been hiding in a back room when the owner had come by. Kitto squinted at him, frowning. He wasn't too worried, since that creature up there didn't seem too hostile.

He sounded more nervous than Kitto felt! What a pleasant change. For a few moments he merely ignored him, plucking a few more pieces of the glowing mold from the dirt and putting it away.

"Running an errand." Kitto shrugged. He didn't feel the need to give more details. Brushing dirt from his clothes he got up, and with a bit of difficult pulled himself out of the grave. For a moment he slid, but finally managed to scrabble his way out.

Funny eyes tried to penetrate the dark. "What are you doing?" A small smile tweaked at his features and he peered back in to the grave, checking for any mold he might have missed. Oh well.

Gabriel would be fine with what he had found, right?

[Orca]

Was that mold glowing? How -- strange. Yes, strange, though he'd come to almost expect things like that out here. Anyway. An errand? Despite himself, one of the boy's eyebrows rose. What kind of errand would call for--

Then again, this guy knew Gabriel. He should be glad the errand didn't call for puppy hearts, or something. Yuck. And then the question was asked. What was he doing? The shapeshifter fumbled for an answer. Saying 'I smelled Gabriel on you' wasn't exactly the best way to start off things, so...

"I, umm. You looked familiar, so, I. Do you. Umm. Gabriel." Yes, Gabriel. The cause for this mess, sure, he could blame it on him. "Are you related, or umm, do you work for him, or something..." The shapeshifter's eyes again went to the hole. There weren't -- there weren't bones in there, were there? Of course not, haha... That would be, like, grave robbery, and he was sure the odd little being in front of him wasn't capable of that.... right? Even if was friends -- or something -- with Gabriel.

"I'm Gabriel's--" Well. Not friend, not exactly, but Gabriel was one of the few people Orca could relax around. Weird how that worked. "I know him. I'm Orca? Maybe... he's mentioned me?" Kinda pathetic, how that last little query had an almost hopeful tinge to it. Oh, well. Least he had stopped stuttering, more or less.

[Kitto]

There were sputtered words, and it was rather amusing for Kitto. Usually it was he who couldn't string his phrases together, choking on letters and sounding like an idiot. Huh. He didn't recall actually ever seeing the guy, but maybe they had gotten glimpses while Kitto scrambled to hide.

He felt glad it was dark. As if things weren't awkward enough with the situation. He didn't want this person staring at his face. But then, if he knew Gabriel, he had to know about Gabriel's little snake freak.

Kitto resisted the urge to let out a snort, standing and using the side of his foot to scrape dirt back in the hole. It would be obvious come dawn that something had been here, even if he filled it in, but at least he would be long gone. Right?

Well, what a turn of events. Orca, huh. Wasn't that the name of a fish or something no stupid they don't have whales in Avaren shut up.

"Yeah, um. He's my boss. I guess." Master was more the correct word, but it sounded kind of awkward. Right? "So I'm at his place a lot."

Love it.

"Yeah, you're one of his people, I guess? Gets information from. He has people like that. I guess that's what you do, right? I don't really have much to do with that part of his business." Business, what did that even mean.

Oh well. Kitto winced slightly, glancing behind him, then skyward. Still lots of time. "Wanna help me clear up, or what?"

Orca had sort of neatly sidestepped the question - what are you doing - here had been implied. Kitto supposed he could always bring it up later. With a small grin mostly unseen he kicked at the dirt and almost fell flat on his back.

Oops.

[Orca]

Boss. Without his assent, Orca's head nodded. Okay, he could understand that. So, Gabriel was to this guy what Azrael was to him? He honestly couldn't see Az sending him out to dig holes in the middle of the night, but hey, to each their own.

"His people?" the shapeshifter echoed, not quite sure how to take that. Even as he pondered how to answer, the person -- he still hadn't gotten a name even though he'd given his, how rude -- nearly fell backward into the hole. The shapeshifter let a small "eep" in surprise, but darted forward fast enough to catch the other male. He pulled the guy upright, then quickly stepped back, watching him with wide eyes in case he, you know, tried anything. He'd been warned about the city all his life, after all. Everything was a trap there. Here. Trust no one, etc.

Man.

"Umm, yeah, I'll help ya." This would be a thousand times easier in the dog form -- for a second he hesitated, wondering if he should just... but no, even if this was one of Gabriel's guys, it still wasn't safe. Probably.

He imitated what the long-haired male had done before, kicking the dirt in the pile. Was there a shovel or anything to make this go faster? "I'm, umm, not exactly what you said. I mean, Gabby asks me stuff sometimes, and I tell him if I don't think my boss'll get mad, but, umm, it's not like... my job?" Something he'd said caught up to him and he flushed scarlet, bending his head to hopefully hide his face in his long bangs. "G-Gabriel, I mean. Haha." He'd known Gabriel for a while now, and had become relaxed enough around the guy the occasional nickname slipped out, but it was an entirely different thing when it was, you know, not Gabriel. That was just... embarrassing.

To try and get past that little slip of the tongue, Orca changed the subject. "W-what's your name? If I can ask?"

[Kitto]

Orca kept him from tumbling back in to the grave, and Kitto let out a shaky laugh. Well, at least they wouldn't have had to dig too far. Likely they would have just pushed the dirt over him and left him there. No one cared about a little freak of nature, did they?

"T-thanks." Aw crap, his turn to get all stuttery and shit.

Kitto didn't recognize he had done something wrong. This in itself was fairly uncommon - he never really noticed. Instead, he merely frowned but nodded sort of sideways, brow furrowed. Gabby? Haha, Gabriel would get mad if Kitto called him something like that. But he never seemed to mind when Orca did it, it wasn't the first time he had heard the name.

"Oh." So he didn't like, pay Orca or anything? Huh. Friends. Kitto hadn't thought Gabriel had friends, but he supposed it couldn't be entirely impossible. Did Kitto have friends?

Nah.

When asked, Kitto felt the flush rise in his cheeks. He hadn't meant to be rude, and now he had blew it. Good job, kid. Kitto fumbled a bit, dropping to his knees to push dirt with his hands. "Uh, it's um, .... " A pause. He supposed if Orca was friends with Gabriel, it would be all right to give out his name. Orca wouldn't use it against him, right?

"It's ... Kitto." He practically winced, staring in to the grave. His eyes had adjusted well enough. a few seconds passed before he felt a pang. "What were you doing up here anyway?"

Nosy, eh? Kitto had a vision of Orca kicking him in to the grave, where he would inevitably hit his head on a rock. There hadn't been any rocks in there, but nevertheless .... A wave of fear rocked him and he tensed up like a wire.

[Orca]

"Welcome," came his mumbled response to Kitto's thanks, teal eyes still focused on the dirt. Kitto. Kit-to. Kinda like his name, all short and simple, how nice.

"I was, umm," he paused, tried again. "Well, like..." Gahh, words. He could so do this. "Couldn't sleep, an', umm, I gotta long trip tomorrow, so I thought if I ran around a bit I'd get... tired?" Did that even make sense? He thought it did a little, on some sort of logical level, but it sounded dumb coming out of his mouth like that now.

"I didn' know this was the graveyard up here," he tried to explain, looking around with wide, somewhat spooked eyes. "Else I wouldn' 'ave come 'round this way." Bad luck to be around graves this late, anyone knew that. Well, human Orca knew that. The dog form he'd been in that was half the reason he'd gotten into this situation couldn't care less where it was. It could be totally fine in the middle of a giant crowd of people that would have sent boy-form Orca hyperventilating, but at the same time equally as amused in the middle of nowhere.

Dogs were just... happy creatures, he supposed. How nice that was.

He again copied Kitto, crouching down to push the dirt in with hands that were callused from a mixture of the sword and a lifetime of work, head still ducked down. He couldn't smell the other male's fear like the dog or even the wolf could have, but he sensed the other's anxiety and was trying to do his best to ease it in his own little way.

"U-umm," he finally chanced a glance up, peering through the darkness. "S-should I leave?"

[Kitto]

A trip, and he wanted to be tired for it? Or um ... Something. Kitto was a little bit confused, but he was confused most of the time. It had long since stopped bothering him. The giant hole in his memory had helped with that. So, he worked on shoveling. Pushing. Dirt. Huh.

He wondered if he would need more mold?

For a second he thought - Gabriel can get it himself - but he knew that was a lie. He wouldn't tell Gabriel any such thing. Just thinking about it made his heart pound faster. Kitto wished he had the guts to go off on a big trip. That would be fun, maybe. He had almost left, once, but had only gotten as far as the woods before turning back. The only time Kitto went any distance was when he knew he'd be going home soon.

He just wasn't cut out for this adventuring stuff like.

Kitto looked around at the dark. "No, um. You can stay! Unless you, uh, want to leave?" Kitto didn't look at his companion, although he felt amused that Orca pretty much mimicked everything he did. It was kind of cute.

Heh.

"You don't like graveyards, huh?" A lot of people didn't. Kitto didn't mind them so much. They were funny, sure. But. Not bad. Quiet, ya know? He worried about robbers, a little, those were bad. Oh well. He could worry about them when they showed up. Besides, he could just hide.

Would anyone hear him scream?

[Orca]

He could stay?

The teeniest flicker of relief showed across the boy's face. He felt more comfortable with Kitto than he did most people, which was saying a lot. He'd rather stay here, honestly, even if they were in a graveyard, because at least he knew Kitto. Well, sort of. He didn't act like most cityfolk, was the thing, those pushy and loud people Orca couldn't stand. Kitto was... nice. Yeah, nice. Kinda relaxing to be around, even if he did seem a bit nervous at times. Of what, Orca didn't know, but it wasn't really his business anyway.

"N-no, I wanna stay," he reassured the other boy, though Kitto's following query made him look around them again, like he was expecting a haunt or some other ghouly creature to pop out and curse them both for a thousand years just from being there.

Well, that is what he expected.

"Is just..." The shapeshifter scooted closer, brushing awkwardly at the dirt. "Not safe, you know. Bad luck, an', umm..." Again, he was left feeling kinda stupid for saying what was on his mind. Back home, they would of known what he meant. He glanced up again, met Kitto's eyes -- or as much as he could see of them in the dark like this. "You ain't scared?"

How brave. Orca shivered.

[Kitto]

Kitto felt the sudden urge to pat Orca on the head, like one might a dog. He wished he had a dog, sometimes. Well. Maybe not. Dogs were kind of big, and they had such big teeth .... no cats either, what if they thought he was like, a fish or something.

Maybe Kitto shouldn't have a pet at all.

Once the pair of them had confirmed no ghosts, Kitto shoved a last time and got up. That would have to do, right? Where did the rest of the dirt go? Huh. Oh well. It would be someone else's problem, come tomorrow. He shot Orca a look. Scared?

Should I be? Kitto wondered. Maybe Orca saw something he didn't, or something like that. He wondered if it was really bad luck to be in a grave yard, if that were all the time or just a night. Huh.

"Not really? I mean, its just dead stuff. Can't hurt ya, right? The stuff that can isn't really dead, is it?" It made sense to Kitto. He shrugged, unable to explain further, and brushed dirt off his front. A useless action, since he merely smeared more from his hands. Gosh, he was a mess. Maybe he could go for a swim - oh ew it was too cold for that, even for Kitto.

Oh well, he'd figure out a way to handle it.

"Um, you go on, um, trips? Trips a lot, I mean?" Kitto asked, curious. Gabriel never talked about other places, even the places he went. Kitto would love to hear about them, maybe it would make it not be so scary, or something.

[Orca]

[ooc: what is it with everyone wanting to pat orca on the head? XD]


Dead stuff could too hurt you. Everyone knew that. Everyone, that was, besides Kitto, apparently. Orca gave him a slightly incredulous, wide-eyed look. Well, it wasn't his business to correct another beliefs, wrong as they might be. But if something unnatural did show up, he reserved the right to say 'I told you so', oh yes he did.

Unnatural, like, screaming, howling ghosts unnatural, that was. The village elder back home had told stories about what happened to those who disturbed the slumber of the dead, and it was never pretty.

Yet here he was, out here anyway, graves surrounding them both and Kitto acting like it was no big deal, like the graves were just so many specifically placed stones, or something, and not a place to mark where bodies were buried.

Gosh, Kitto was so brave. Some of the awe that he usually reserved for Gabriel or Azrael entered his teal eyes, and his cheeks reddened. Kitto didn't think he was a wimp or anything, did he? He'd just.. have to act braver, that's right. Brave. He could do that.

Oh gosh this was going to be hard. Change of subject.

Trips? Had he said that? Oh, right, he had.

"Oh, umm, well." For the umpteenth time copying Kitto, he too wiped his dirty hands on his pants. "I work at the... Watchtowers? Out west? I'm, umm, one of the wardens... I guess..." That was his official title, more or less, though Az's runner boy was probably more on point. "I do a lot of errands back and forth, sometimes. I can, umm, travel it faster than most... so..."

He trailed off, looking worried. Had he said too much?

[Kitto]

Kitto noted the look but wasn't sure how to react to it. How did one react to something like that? Huh. Man, now Orca was making him nervous. Kitto found himself fidgeting a lot, glancing around a bit nervously. He had never seen a ghost, but they couldn't hurt you, right? Could they even pick up stuff or anything? Gabriel thought they were real. What had he said ...

"The more you pay attention to a ghost, the more it can manifest itself," Kitto mumbled, glancing around again. This was just <i>silly</i>. They were both being like that. He felt something staring at him, and he glanced around. Orca. Oh. The goosebumps fell away - did snakes even get goosebumps - and he fumbled around for a moment. Where was that ...

Ah. The lantern. Orca was answering his question, oh good! It was something to distract him from worrying about something he usually did when meeting new people. They hadn't had to talk about it yet, since it was all dark and stuff. The way he said it, traveling fast, huh, why did he say it kind of funny? A warden?

"That sounds hard," Kitto said, blinking. It did, he couldn't - "I can't imagine being in charge of anything. I mean, Gabby - Gabriel gives me jobs to do, but it's not a big deal, so, um ..." It was the most he'd said without saying 'um'. Huh. Maybe he was getting good at this talking thing. It wasn't so bad.

"Um, I gotta, um. I'm gonna light the lantern?" Another question. "But um ... " What did he say? He was scared. What if Orca hated him? What if he thought Kitto was gross?

"I don't know ... never mind." He fumbled with flint for a moment, hitting it awkwardly against the small blade he had. A few times, sparks. Nothing. Kitto bit his lip. "I'm sorry. I'm not ... uh. I'm sorry."

[Orca]

What, really? Was that true? Orca froze, before redirecting his gaze to the ground. He wouldn't pay any more attention then, he'd just outright ignore a ghost if one happened to show up. Then if it did curse his soul for a thousand eternities, he'd blame Kitto. Sounded good, right?

"I'm not really in charge of anything," he muttered. "I just kinda... help out my boss. G-Gabby knows." He did, right? Surely Orca had brought it up before. Oh well. "What kind of jobs do you do?" he asked, eager to get the topic off himself. "Is it fun?"

Kitto was, apparently, going to light the lantern. Orca nodded his head, still not looking at anything but the darkness pooled around their feet. So dark. Light would definitely be nice. The other boy attempted to light it, at the same time apologizing profusely -- for what, Orca wasn't sure. Maybe for not being able to light it?

"Umm, lemme try...?" Hesitantly, he took the flint and steel, then crouched down next to the lantern. He struck the flint quickly, the first few tries resulting in sparks that caught nothing but air, but quickly he had it down and the wick on the lantern caught. He spent a moment adjusting it, then rose to his feet again, a proud look on his face. The shapeshifter grinned.

"I did it! Kitto, did ya see? I-" His sentence cut off there, as he saw the other's face in detail for the first time. Long red hair, pale skin, and... What were those weird markings on his face? Despite himself, Orca leaned forward, bringing up a hand to brush at the seeming abrasions. They felt like--

"Are these scales?" His voice held nothing but curious interest, and the same emotion was reflected on his ever-honest face. He'd never seen anything like this before, after all. Couldn't blame him for asking.

[Kitto]

Kitto's hands shook terribly, and he swallowed nervously, biting his lip. Before he could respond Orca took the lantern away from him, chatting away. The boy was too worried about his own problems to notice Orca's fears seemingly gone. He barely even heard the questions.

"Well, um, you know. Just errands. Getting stuff. That, um, kind of thing."

He watched Orca, wondering if it was too late to run.

"I guess it's fun? Sometimes?" He thought about his jobs of late. "Uh...not really. That fun."

Then there was a slight hiss as the flame caught, and Kitto wanted to bury his face in his hands. Oh god, oh gods, what if Orca wanted to kill him! What if there was some kind of bounty on people like him? He hadn't ever thought about it, and Gabby - Gabriel - didn't seem too worried, he sent Kitto in to town all the time.

So there couldn't be a bounty ... right?

Orca seemed so overjoyed about the whole lighting the lantern thing, and then he looked up and then -

Kitto winced, turning his head away and scrunching together. When he glanced back, Orca was staring at him, and warm fingers brushed his face. He winced again.

When he spoke, there wasn't any hate, but still, Kitto felt full of dread.

"Y-yeah. They, um, are."

He dropped his head, looking abashed and more than a nervous wreck.