Grumpy & Tired

∷ @butterycaffeine ∷

     As religious as Isabella was, she still believed in the paranormal and a few folktales. Though a believer, she didn’t really like seeing nor experiencing anything paranormal; it, frankly, scared her to even hear a thump in the middle of the night. Thus she usually tried to avoid places associated with such events … like graveyards, for example.

Given that, it was a wonder why she was even in the local graveyard right then. But she justified herself, saying it was a shortcut, and she’d be in and out in record time. At the rate she’s walking, it would take longer than she initially thought. Because while she was scared, she didn’t want to disrupt the resting spirits which would result in a ghostly encounter.

“I’m not bothering you, so please just let me through,” she muttered to them as she passed. With her hands clasped in silent prayer, she continued to press through. But she still jumped at the slightest of sounds, resulting in spluttering and muttering prayers and curses in her native tongue under her breath … though not necessarily in that order.

“So close … I’m almost through. Thank God !!” But just as she passed a certain area, she could have sworn she saw something in the corner of her eyes … which caused a scream to rip through the air.

As per usual, Lukas had been spending his night milling about the graveyard. He’d been watching as the Johnson children ( Maria P. Johnson & Kyle N. Johnson, d.1938, And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest ) wildly clambered through the twiggy branches of an overhanging tree. Perhaps once upon a time someone would have shouted at them, warning them to be careful, but there really was no point anymore.

Nevertheless, Lukas remained to keep watch over the children. There was something inside of him that still filled him with a sense of protectiveness, fear slapping him in the face each time they fell from the tree, even though he logically knew that they couldn’t be hurt. 

Slowly but surely, Lukas began to doze off. His eyes fluttered with drowsiness, swarming in and out of consciousness until a piercing shriek tore through the air. Jolting awake and jumping to his feet, Lukas quickly noted that the children were okay - albeit somewhat shaken up from the sudden sound.

It was easy to find the perpetrator of the shout; a young woman positively shaking where she stood. The children scattered from their tree, leaving an increasingly annoyed Lukas to deal with the woman alone.

Dragging a shovel behind her for classiness, and a backpack with other goodies, Reagan walked through the graveyard rather easily. No Leon to help her, which is a shame because she needed a lot of bodies for her next big stunt, and time was closing in on her. She was not gifted in seeing the dead, which was probably better in the end or she might have felt guilty or something. 

She trudged along through the snow, meaning she would probably have to hit up the crypts if she actually wanted to get somewhere. Frozen ground was not optimal conditions for digging in at the slightest. However, she apparently chose the wrong graveyard to dig in because somebody else was there. Maybe it was the other mystery grave-robber feeling brave, but it was likely some rando emo kid trying to look cool for their Instagram.

Coming closer and being called out, she was more apt to believe it was a random social media freak. She stopped and put on a big grin “I could be asking you the same thing! Emphasize on could because I have to find grandmother’s grave and complete a ritual before New Years!” 

Lying through her teeth, or failing to mention that it did not matter whose grandmother’s grave it was.

Ritual? The thought of a ritual certainly piqued Lukas’ interest. He’d been born with a fascination for fairy-tales, the supernatural, magic. For an embarrassingly long period of his life he’d been convinced that he could see trolls, that they were his powerful magical friends who would crush his enemies for him. Spoiler alert: they did not and Lukas got his ass handed to him by the loner kid who liked to lurk by the tombstones. He had since learnt that he should use the Freedom of the Graveyard to defend him. Y’know,  actually use the ability given to him to defend himself.

Floating through the graves towards the stranger, Lukas’ fear of others was near forgotten although he did not drop the invisibility just yet. He was curious, but not enough to drop his safeguard - not yet, at least. He wanted to know a bit more about this ritual before he didn’t anything rash.

"What ritual are you doing?” Lukas asked, standing just a few steps away from the girl. “I know everyone in this graveyard...I might be able to help you find her.”

Toris led the way to the nearby coffeeshop, keeping in mind to stay slow in order not to lose the man he was helping out. He wasn’t sure if he should keep up the idle chatter, or keep his mouth shut. The other didn’t seem much for conversation, but he might like to listen at least.

He cleared his throat as they turned the corner. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Lukas. You new here to Port City?” he asked. It was always nice to find someone as new as you were.

He never really was quite sure what to do when talking to the living; it wasn’t like he’d had much practice before. What little experience he had he’d tried to rush through, stoic face glaring at the ground with short clipped words his only response. But this was different, he was stuck here. This wasn’t an interaction he could rush right past, escaping to the sanctuary of his home. 

Lukas didn’t know much about one-on-one conversation but he was pretty sure he was supposed to actually look at the other person. It took all of his willpower to look Toris in the eye, and even then he had to quickly look away again; feeling much too awkward. Too difficult. He’d have to try something else, but perhaps in a few more moments. 

...What’s this? Why is there-

   “Currently trying to find a good place to hide, and warmth.”

Shā Wùjìng really didn’t want to be in this situation, at all. It was a case gone wrong, a trap set up by an opposing organization- Yusheng should have seen it coming but he was never the brightest when he had things on his mind. He could have summoned him, Sun Wukong but the demon has always left Yusheng with a mess to deal with.

It was cold and Yusheng was a baby to the cold so…  Shā Wùjìng was his real only way out. You can guess what happened afterwards. Y’know, hiding his phone and wallet then jumping straight into the ocean to swim away. Yeah, his host wasn’t the best in stressful situations.

Which ended up with Shā Wùjìng just trying to stay low until he wasn’t being hunted down anymore, and also try to keep this body warm. Because while he himself can’t die, his host can and he kind of doesn’t want Yusheng dead yet! 

  “This seems like the best place for me right now, unfortunately. Dark, not a friendly looking place.. I do apologize if I scared you though.” 

From the state this guy looked to be in, the graveyard probably was the best place for him. He looked so close to death Lukas could’ve confused him for a ghost - except that ghosts can’t get wet and often don’t make stupid decisions like this, they’d made their poor decisions in life.

Lukas pondered leaving the stranger out here to freeze to death ( serves him right for getting wet in the middle of winter and not having a towel ) but his damn pesky conscience just wouldn’t let him do so. Whilst he did not want a stranger inside of his house, he could at least bring out a spare towel and perhaps a hot drink before sending the guy on his way out of Lukas’ property.

Toris watched the other carefully, almost trying to take in what kind of person this was. Someone who obviously didn’t like interacting with other human beings seemed a good guess, on a first look. He could tell by the soft shuffling of the other’s feet, even if not much showed on the blond’s face.

He gave a gentle smile when the man agreed to his help and started to walk. “I go to a lot of different coffee shops, and I know one close by here. Maybe your graveyard is around there?” he mused, bundling up a little tighter in his coat to keep out the cold.

“I’m Toris. Do you mind if I ask your name? It’s alright if not, though.” he asked, slipping on some gloves for extra warmth.

Following behind Toris, Lukas shoved his own hands in his pockets. He’d left his own gloves at home, lying uselessly next to his uncharged phone on his bed. As much as he hated his phone for being too complicated, too confusing - he swore he would never leave it behind again. The apps might befuddle him, but at least he didn’t have to talk.

He tried to focus on his surroundings, continuing to desperately seek out any building that looked familiar; but he had no such luck. Humming noncommittally, Lukas resigned himself to the fact that he may have to spend more time with this guy than he’d initially anticipated.

Toris hadn’t been in town for very long, and already could see himself getting very lost in this city. Sure, he had a phone but he often didn’t do too well with technology. And besides, he left his phone at home to avoid being too distracted while he took a break from woodworking.

He found himself at a bookshop, later that night, and decided to peer around a little bit, to see if maybe he could find any crafting books or any sort of fun fiction books to read. He had been looking for a new book for a while.

While looking at a fantasy book in one of the outside stands, he looked up as he was approached by someone who looked like they didn’t approach people often. “The local graveyard?” he asked back, sounding a little confused. He went to pull out his phone, but remembered he had left it behind.

“Ah, it seems I don’t have my phone on me…I could always look around with you, sir?” he offered. He wasn’t doing much tonight and this guy seemed the tiniest bit distressed.

The thought of the stranger accompanying him on his search for home frightened him deeply - but night was falling, he was growing hungry, and all he wanted was to fall into his bed and pass out. He’d been outside for literally hours and after this whole ordeal, he was not going to take a step out of his property for at least another month.

Shuffling back and forth on his feet, Lukas tried his best to squash down his nerves and the impending urge to fade from human vision. Just speaking to the stranger made him anxious, he wasn’t quite sure how he was going to survive having the man help him find his way home.

Nevertheless, Lukas managed to maintain his neutral gaze. His face was blank and emotionless, scarcely showing a hint of the bubbling emotions bustling through Lukas’ mind.

Spending one’s childhood in a graveyard was sure to lead to some unexpected events, odd occurrences, and crazy coincidences, which was why Lukas was only 50% surprised when a sopping wet man came ‘round the hill. Not even Lukas, who had come to grow accustomed to the cold, would dare to think of taking a dip in the dead of winter. It did not take him long to come to the succinct conclusion that this stranger was clearly insane.

The fluttering snow came to rest on the stranger’s shoulders, his body growing paler by the second. His shuddering breaths drew out cloudy puffs of air visible even in the day as he made his way closer towards Lukas. Lukas couldn’t help but feel bad for the guy - as much as Lukas preferred the dead over the living, not even he wished to see his graveyard expand.

Coming to his feet and making himself visible, Lukas began to approach the man - although he was wary enough to still keep some distance between the two.

It hadn’t been long since he’d moved to Port City and even then most of his time was spent at home - he’d barely explored the city at all, outside of the coffee shop around the corner from his house. Which was why, on the one time he thought to scope out the city, he found himself horribly lost.

But this was the modern age, an age in which it was near impossible to be truly lost. Cellphones, google maps, and the internet were supposed to protect people from being caught in such perilous positions. Naturally, however, Lukas had left his phone at home - not that he really understood how to use it anyway. 

As it got closer and closer to night fall and Lukas had yet to find himself somewhere familiar, he began to resign himself to the fact that he may have to ask another person for help. The thought of having to talk to a stranger filled him with an unconquerable sense of fear and it took nearly an hour before he could bring himself to approach a rather non-threatening guy standing outside of a bookstore.

Wiping away the snow that had fallen upon one of his dear friend’s stone ( Andreas L. Patterson, d. 1932, Lost now but loved forever ), Lukas hummed a bittersweet tune. The air had grown thick and heavy with frosted snow, falling in clumped pillows from the sky - but Lukas wasn’t cold. Winter nights in Norway had been much worse and not even the warmest of crypts could’ve fought the shivers away. He’d spend many nights lying on a thin mattress, the din of his chattering teeth echoing against the stone walls. He stood there for a moment, watching as the long-dead children skipped through the graves in an everlasting game of tag, as he reminisced on a time when he too may have joined in. Tag was always much more fun when one could sprint through walls. Letting his guard down, Lukas slid down the stone and sat squarely on the snowy grass until the sound of a person’s shoes crunching through the snow startled him.