[Toya]

#ce2029

Sunny summer days offered little more than just gross heat, Toya often found himself laying around the den all day and waiting for it to be the later hours. He favored the gray, overcast days, when the sky above looked bright white and otherworldly, or days that rained and thundered. The noise was relaxing and the showers took the heat right out of the air. But so far these past few weeks, the days blazed on.

Sleeping the days away to keep from really thinking back on stuff, it was easy considering how empty the den was now. All of his siblings having long moved out and starting lives of their own, and then there was Toya. Still living with his parents, something that mildly bugged him, like he'd be stuck in the same place for the rest of his life., but another part of him found comfort in knowing his dads were there to always lookout for him. He knew he was lucky.

As afternoon crept up, eyes would flutter open groggily, it was always the same time everyday. Close to when afternoon was just barely becoming evening, he blinked around yawning as he stood up to stretch. The ol stomach said, you're an adult now, start hunting for yourself, and the plain face boy sighed. Taking his first steps of the day out into a wonderfully bright afternoon, his white coat practically shimmering in the orange sunlight. The first beginning of a moon could be seen in the sky above as the young male made his way to a near by pool of water to get a drink.  The sounds of crickets and frogs, the call of some red winged blackbird that had made a nest among the reeds. However, large ears would flick back as he heard strange rustling in the grass behind him.

Turning slightly, Toya would stare blankly, expression nonexistent. "Hello?" He called out, a paw instinctively raising to pressing against the long black hair that covered his eye.

[Eli]

The dog days of summer were less than dog friendly. And if Eli knew that's what they were called he would try to have a conversation about the heat with the dog star itself. It wouldn't have been the craziest thing he'd done lately. Accepted into a wolf pack by a fancy human, being plagued with visions and voices, hiding under a castle all winter, then slowly accepting the fact that these being might not be exclusively in his head. He wasn't sure if he liked this idea or not. What was better, being off your rocker or living on haunted ground?

The sun was just starting to retreat, though it refused to give up it's power to the cool of the evening just yet. Eli hopped along to find the nearby pool he had visited before. The chorus of frogs told him he was close. Spotting one told him he was even closer. The tripod considered the creature, once a food for desperate times, now more of a toy. With an amused grin he pounced through the grass towards it, making it hop away.

"Hello?"

Limp ears came forward as he looked up to see he was not alone. Eli had seen quite the menagerie of creatures since he crossed Gemini boarders, but this one was a special one. Ears to rival a jackrabbit and a long silky mane that could only be so well kempt if this hellion wasn't of the physical world. The dog sighed. It looked like he was in for some ethereal company this afternoon.

"Hello," He replied back, letting the spirit know he could see him. He eyed the pool. Eli had learned that some spirits were territorial and he didn't enjoy the issues it caused when you crossed one, "Mind if I get a drink?"

[Toya]

@Bea

#ce2029

He heard a reply back, but didn't see them at first until he turned his head, amber eye zeroing in on the other. He almost felt his mouth waver open to say hello again, but softly his mind told him 'no, don't do that, that's dumb'. So instead, his mouth remained closed in a thin line as if he seemed just a bit uncomfortable with the situation. "Ok." Toya said, to the other's initial greeting, eye narrowing at his own remark as it dawned on him how much sense it didn't make. 'Hello.' 'Ok'.

The other asked a question, and the hellion shifted slightly, thinking it might have been better to leave and let this guy just go about his business in peace. "Uh, yeah sure. I'm not like the, uh, water troll, or the water guardian or something." The answer was supposed to be funny, it sounded like a lighthearted thing to say given the situation, but Toya managed to say it with zero emotion and his face held the same deadpan expression.

A silence would settle between them for a moment as the hellion gawked at the other, not yet getting a good look at the other's missing appendage. Though he was also unaware that his unwavering gaze might make the other just as equally uncomfortable as he was. "Uhh, that was supposed to be a joke, it sounded funnier in my head." He muttered lowly, looking down to the water that lapped lightly to shore. The cattails rustling in the wind, and for some reason he wanted to hide.

"Toya, by the way, my name that is." The sun sparkled off the water and made him wince. "Toya, the not water guardian." Neck craning over to look to the stranger. "We don't have to do any small talk, but I figured I'd offer."

[Eli]

Now Toya was correct in his assumption. Usually the response 'okay' to 'hello' would be a brow raiser. But Eli just assumed the spirit was confirming they could see each other. He offered a few tail wags as the spirit told him he was free to drink but it drooped at the tone...and gawking. The tripod was no stranger to the lingering gaze but how odd that a spirit would partake in such mortal behavior. Perhaps he had once been alive? Still compared to him it seemed Eli should be the one staring.

"Oh," It was a good thing they cleared up that it was indeed a joke, it was clear the spirit forgot to tell his face this detail. Eli gave an uncomfortable laugh, "I thought you were. Glad I don't have to battle you for a drink. I don't think I'd last."

The dog's humor was as much of a failure as the other's. Eli took his leave to hobble over to the water and take a drink, one that filled him beyond his thirst. In truth he was using that time to figure out how to approach this interaction. Awkward was starting to become his middle name and he didn't want to make it more so. The spirit gave his name, a cue to stop gorging on water.

"Toya." Eli confirmed, turning to the spirit, "I'm Eli. It's okay, if you want to talk. A lot of others talk to me. I heard it gets lonely." He sat on the bank, tail tip getting wet in the gently lapping waves. But it was waves of another kind that made his ears fall back. Oh dear. Perhaps he shouldn't have drank so much water...

[Toya]

#7f3a3a

Toya merely blinked at the other's attempt at a joke, and if you listened closely you could start hearing crickets begin to chirp. "That was funny." Toya stated, blank faced and monotone, though completely and utterly serious. It was a much better joke than his own. "I'm pretty skinny, so uh, I don't think I'd put up much of a fight." Even under Akki's tutelage.

The pale hellion gave a nod, confirming the pronunciation of his name from the dog, this Eli? "Nice to meet you Eli." He'd say simply, leaning back to sit on his haunches and turn his attentions back to the waters that rippled from when the dog had drank as the small waves met resistance in the form of water strides skittering across the surface. A frog sunk back under to pop up under a lily pad. Toya's large ears flicked, and that lone amber eye fluttered. "Uh? Yeah. I had a friend.. or well, someone I knew said that a lot." His mind drifted to that glowing ball of light, Kii. Just talk, just talk!

"I guess, I'm, uh, lonely? I dunno." Exhaling a heavy sigh from his nose as he tried to search his mind for what he was feeling, was this loneliness? Emptiness? No, this had another name, grief and pain. They had made deep pits in his chest, where his heart was and they weighed him down like cement shoes. He didn't like the pain, but it was better to feel something, than nothing at all.

With a turn of his head, the ghostly hellion would glance casually at the dog, long strands of tarry black hair sweeping and dancing with a faint breeze. "Eli, do you, uh, get lonely?" These were feelings that weren't exactly hard to talk about, but to Toya it made him want to wire his jaws shut.

[Eli]

Humor, it seemed, was neither canine's forte. The only thing more painful than the conversation was the pressure in his gut, but Eli refused to vomit in front of this spirit. He wasn't a particularly proud dog but even he had his limits. Giving a hard swallow he forced down feelings and water as Toya opened up. It seemed difficult for him and Eli looked on with sympathy. It could have been a long while since the maned spirit had spoken to anyone, or thought of his lost friend. This was one of the first times he had reached out to a spirit, asked them questions. He didn't know if there was much he could do, but he would try.

"I'm sorry to hear that. How long-" Have you been dead? Had Toya once been alive? Either way that didn't seem tactful, "have you been away from your friend? Can-can you still see them?"

It didn't occur to Eli until then that maybe Toya could still see his friend, but they couldn't see him. What a terribly sad, lonely existence. Here the dog had made no friends, but he was sure having a friend who couldn't help but ignore you was a worse fate.

"It's okay to be lonely." The dog couldn't tell if Toya was embarrassed about his feeling or merely lost touch with them. Did death strip one of their emotions? Maybe he was trying to get in touch with his old self. Eli would do what he could to help, "I do get-hurr!" The dog lurched forward as the water would no longer be ignored. Taking a deep breath he tried again, not ready to resign to his fate, "I-HURR! E-excuse me, I..."

Eli got to his feet and walked a few steps off, body heaving. Unfortunately he didn't get far before the luke warm frothy vomit flew from him. He lifted his head to look to Toya.

"I am so sorry, I-HURR!"

The unexpected round two made it quite the scene.