It was like most of the nights at the graveyard. Anon was working, when the boy wasn't working they were in the crypt looking after the kids. He had to admit, the sudden inclusion of children had really helped to stabilize his life. Who knew that such an addition would actually prove more useful than detrimental. It had forced himself to stop focusing on himself, his worries and instead worry about their welfare, about Anon working himself to...uh...re-..death? He still wasn't a hundred percent sure if Anon was truely alive or not, but he found himself keenly becoming aware how much Anon meant to him.
In more ways than one Anon had saved him from the brink of something very dark and sinister, and he owed his very life to the boy, he would do anything for Anon...and that included playing uncle to the twins. It was better than mom anyway. Currently Mrrh was wandering the grave yard, allowing the twins to play hide and seek with him vaguely seeking, as well keeping an eye out for limbs coming out of the ground so he could alert Anon.
He was wearing his comfortable clothes, a man skirt though this one was shorter than his normally floor length ones, it also allowed for his legs to be exposed if the scars felt itchy. No shirt, he wasn't cold, though he had his cape on just the same...perhaps out of habit. It was something familiar to him and he liked it. His hair was more shaggy than it had been, though uneven still as he hadn't bothered to get a proper hair cut.
Scratching at the bandages on his neck he had to stop himself, the healing scars itched like crazy and he had to really focus to make sure he didn't scratch the s**t out of them and make them bleed. Else he'd be force to face that expression Anon gave him...that look of disappointment and anger. It was a look he hated seeing..and yet a comfort as it meant Anon cared.
Mrrh was now wandering closer to the edge of the crypt where the sidewalk lay and the road beyond it. Very much lost in his own thoughts he didn't notice much around him.
Kay scratched at the back of his head, under his dreads. It was a freaking annoying itch, and it'd been there for days now; it extended from the base of his neck and up to the base of Nahual's feathery body. It was annoying, and there was no reason for it! Switch had looked, Kale had looked, Quint just cuffed the back of his head to 'beat out' something he thought he saw, but honestly there was nothing there. No mites, no bumps, just his nail marks along his scalp. Annoying. Very, very annoying.
So he did his best to distract himself; he visited Roxy a little more often, especially after her last brilliant idea all by herself, and even hung out with Kalyana more. Sure the woman was baffled that Kay was willingly going to her, but it didn't seem like she was going to complain.
Soon he needed something else, a change of pace. Hey...what about that creepy silent kid from the Graveyard? He did say he was going to visit again, didn't he? So that was where he went. The Graveyard. He was walking down the sidewalk, scratching the back of his head, and he spotted someone in the distance. The person looked remarkably familiar, a little too much like himself for his comfort.
"Well well well, so this is where you've been hiding." Kay said aloud, still walking towards the graveyard and Mrrh, but at a much slower pace. The Shrunken Head always soured his mood now, and it showed in his voice.
The tanned skinned boy had been distracted as he was attempting to not scratch at the bound gauze at his neck, his body stiffening as a all too familiar voice sent shivers down his spin and caused his mind to panic. He took a deep breath, held it and forced himself to calm down, it was just Kay. The one boy he hated and yet wanted to get acceptance from. An apology from. He doubted after all he had done to antagonize the boy he was about to get an apology from him.
He lifted his red eye'd gaze to look at Kay, he looked older, and was covered in scars. Why...why was it they always had some physical tying link to each other? The red eyes, the dark skin..and now even scars...even if different in appearance the fact remained the same.
“Hiding?” He echoed the words, in all honesty it was true, he had been hiding here, it was a hard fact to swallow and accept coming from Kay though. “What does it matter to you?” He snapped in retort, now wishing he was wearing a shirt...it would at least cover up the gauze around his middle, chest and neck more so. Instead he shrugged the caped on his shoulders and pulled it tighter around himself as if trying to use it as a shield.
"It doesn't matter to me." Kay said flatly, his red eye looking him over. The scars were obvious to him, and the designs...were somehow pleasing? He liked them, as much as he didn't want to admit it. Soon he looked away, pretending not to care about those things that suddenly marred Mrrh's skin. It wasn't yet the time to bring it up, but he would...oh he would. "But it matters to Roxy, for some reason." He grumbled, absently scratching at the long, thick claw marks on his side.
"Nice hair." He added, tilting his head a bit with a little grin. "Anyway - Is that Silent Kid still living here?"
Mrrh looked to Kay with a untrusting look before he looked away as well, uncomfertable with the way Kay looked at him, like he was a peice of meat and yet happy at the same time that Kay had given him some form of attention. How messed was he?
"Roxy..I am sure will get over it..she has you after all." He couldn't help but put stress on the word you. Of course he wasn't sure why he'd bring it up in the first place, he had flirted with Roxy yes...but that was in the past...he didn't want her now. Even if it could mean it could mess with Kay.
His own red eyes flickered over the scars, the marks that Kay was scratching at, he felt the urge to scratch rising. Though that thought was broken when Anon was brought up.
He visibly stiffened,
"What do you want with Anon?" he demanded eyes narrowing.
"She does, but, sadly, she considers you a friend. Most people have them, you know?" His tone was snide, suggesting that Mrrh actually didn't know, but that Kay was pretending like he did. It was a little bit of a verbal slap on the face, and he could only hope that Mrrh would see it as such; the item he had adored as a child turned into a child that adored getting in his way. He just couldn't like Mrrh anymore, and that was...kind of sad.
"What does it matter to you?" Kay snapped back, parroting what Mrrh had asked him earlier. It was a suitable response, but he really didn't understand why he was so up in arms about the question.
It mattered a lot to him, quite a bit. He didn't trust Kay as far as he could throw him and that wasn't very far considering his condition. As for Roxy he only flinched, he could tolerate the taunt about having no friends, he didn't really. That was a lie of course...Anon was a dear friend, but more than that...his savior and he wasn't about to let Kay near him. He could call the dragon Ryuusei a friend, but he didn't want the small innocent creature involved in his problems.
“I don't trust you...I don't want you near him.” He growled in response, anger rising as it normally did when he was around the other boy. Raising a hand towards Kay the cape fell away revealing the extent of the scars in more detail on his arm. He gave a flick of his finger as if that meant he was gesturing general extent of the scars covering Kay's body.
“What happened to you?”
"And...who are you to say who can and can't go near him?" Kay's brow raised, looking honestly baffled. Did he just hear that right? It didn't make any sense to him. "Are you his keeper? Do you own him?" His head tilted, looking at the scars that lined the suddenly appearing arm; the gauze on the boy's chest. Suddenly asking him about his own scars made him briefly forget the stint about Mrrh being Anon's keeper.
Hum. How to answer that.
"Fights. I win them." He said simply; that was true enough. His head tilted the opposite way, just enough to make a loud popping noise. Ahh, that felt better...much better. Puffing out his cheeks as though he were bored, he put his scarred hands on his hips. "And what about yours? Looks like you did them yourself. Why?"
It was a question he should of been prepared for, though his mind was still on set on defending his right to protect Anon when it had been asked his stood there blankly realizing he had exposed his arm he lowered it slowly, the accusing point of his finger trembling a bit as he clenched it into a fist instead. Don't panic...stay calm. He had to, the urge to run at him was overwhelming... he wanted to get hurt, he needed that release...even if he couldn't fathom why.
“fights....heh..” he muttered lowering his gaze, there seemed to flinch when he heard the pop of bone. His unscathed hand went to trace the scars on his arm slowly. It was a bad idea...but it distracted him for a moment anyway.
“Yes, they were done by my own hands.” Mrrh replied slowly, as if trying to pull a reason out of his mind that stuck out. He wanted to blame Kay. Every core in his body wanted to blame Kay for all his problems.
“I...I wanted an escape....a release....cutting ended up being that...” he murmured slowly, as if this was difficult for him to really discuss in length with..Kay of all people. “I left because I didn't want Roxy to know..or be involved...”
"Interesting." He hummed. He didn't even notice that the question about that odd-smelling kid went unanswered. The Shaman stared intently at the younger near-clone of his, watching the way he moved, the way he traced the scars, the way he spoke. s**t, this kid was messed up. Escape? Release? Cutting? Despite his taunts he really didn't approve of what was being done - the designs were visually pleasing to him in ways he couldn't understand, but he didn't agree that it should be done.
"I guess I should thank you for that." Kay submitted grudgingly. Yes, don't add to Roxy's problems. "As much as I like the thought of you hurting yourself..." Which was somewhat of a lie, but whatever. "I gotta wonder why that weird smelling kid - Anon, right? - lets you." Somehow, he was under the impression that the hooded thing was different, and somehow he was under the impression Mrrh still cut himself."
Mrrh felt a jar in his breathing. Kay..actually thanked him? It was a weird experience, he wasn't sure what to make of it...as well..it made him feel a bit angry and happy. Still he found his fingers tracing the scars slow, his body was shivering from the feeling of them and he forced his hand away his hand still clenched at his side.
"You havn't seen Anon lately have you...he isn't exactly a kid anymore.." He groweled, trying to bite back the defensive words he wanted to say for Anon. Anon smelt...yes but having Kay say it like that irked him.
"He doesn't LET me cut...he stops me..." He stated firmly, "he has my dagger hidden so I don't have as much as temptation as before.." "If it wasn't for him I'd probably be dead now...not like you'd care."
"No, I haven't seen him; and that is why I'm here." Kay sighed, rolling his only eye. "But SOMEONE won't let me see him, for reasons yet to be explained." The Shaman pointed out again, folding his arms across his chest. Somehow it felt better, knowing that someone was stopping the idiot from doing something stupid. Even if he did like it. "You're right, I don't care...but I'm not a fan of useless death, so I suppose I care a little." He shrugged, looking past Mrrh into the dark graveyard.
"So, I guess you're not going to let me in, to see your little savior?"
Mrrh's gaze locked on Kay's a moment, they were so very different and similar at the same time.
“Heh...useless death...I suppose I should feel elated you even have that much to say about me.” He replied looking Kay over before he moved to stand in Kay's way, even if some part of him felt an sudden relief...it was hard to describe, Mrrh didn't trust Kay fully.
“.....I would...Anon is more alone in the world than I am...I can only do so much for him...but..it's not him I am currently worried about...” His eyes narrowed looking at Kay. “There are children here Kay...and I can't trust that you can ...control yourself around one of them specifically..” He stated firmly, “It would be best if you left...for once Kay..listen to me, for your sake and theirs.”
The Shaman was clearly baffled. Mrrh was actually getting in his way this time, physically. And, for once, he wasn't talking about himself. His words weren't really to protect himself, or to lash out for no real reason. It was surprising, and he was honestly curious what kind of kid hung out in a graveyard; from what Mrrh was saying, it sounded like the kid had a lot of blood on his person. At first, he didn't believe him. It had to be one of those dumbass tricks his near-clone used on occasion.
"Hum." Kay hummed, tilting his head a bit as though considering the threat. "Fine, I'll leave; but not because I'm worried." He clarified, scratching at one of his scars again, before giving a half wave of dismissal, turning to head the way he came. "You can't stop me forever, though. Just thought you should remember that." It was part of a threat; one day he would invade that little bubble Mrrh built for himself. But, for today, he'll retreat.
Mrrh was prepared to fight if he had to, weapon or not, he had to stand up to Kay. He didn't want either of the twins to get hurt...it would crush Anon if anything was to happen to them. Though he was just a kid compared to Kay, he felt his need to cut threaten to consume his thoughts, especially when he watched Kay scratch at his own scars.
Anger rose when Kay pompously declared that he wasn't worried...and basically threatened to come back eventually, he wondered if he would be strong enough then to face off with Kay. Currently he knew it would be a futile effort. Even now...his legs gave out on him as soon as Kay was out of sight.
Collapsing onto his knee's in a painful landing he, tried to breath. It was hard, it was like all that strength he had summoned to keep Kay at bay was spent. His body shivering uncontrollably, he waited a few moments before trying to get up. He needed to talk to Anon...find the twins...Anon was his prime objective though, he selfishly wanted Anon to himself.
It was mid-step his body decided it had experienced enough, eyes closing as he then went unconscious his body falling to the cool damp ground.
