Grave Encounter

“Oh honey, I'm home,” Cassidy drawled as she pushed the garden gate open with her shoulder. She held a bright yellow sign clutched in her claws and had been keeping a tight grip on it since she had left the dusty grounds of the canyons. It was a simple triangle shape with a fun spiral snake in the middle, a perfect kitschy gift for her dear mate. Kaiwi liked all sorts of strange tat, he hung up everything she brought him from old signs to rusted chains, they took pride of place on his apartment walls no matter how odd they were. Cassidy didn't understand it, but she kept bringing him these gifts nonetheless.

“Now what's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?” A voice drawled from behind the overgrown stone statues. Kaiwi emerged, his white face split in a sly grin and his dark back making him blend into the overgrowth. He looked almost like a floating head until her eyes adjusted to the dark. The moon was no help, filtering through the evening fog until it was a pale green-ish hue that did little to illuminate Kaiwi's garden.

“Yeah, I'm looking for some old rogue who hangs out around here, I think they call him ‘kah-wee’?” she responded slyly. She didn't miss the tick of annoyance in his brow and revelled in it, moving closer in the dark. “I've brought you something,” she added, holding the sign out to him.

“A snake? I don't see many of them around here,” he noted.

“We see them all the time down south, especially in the spring when they're waking up from the big winter sleep,” Cassidy noted, tapping her claws against the metal sign. It broke the silence around them, despite their chat the fog pressed down like an eiderdown muffling the world around them. Uncomfortable with the intimate scene, Cassidy cleared her throat and shuffled to the side. She laid the sign against the base of one of the statues and began to walk aimlessly through the garden. 

“So, have you any stories for me?” Kaiwi asked, noticing her sudden restlessness.

“Ah! Of course I do, I always do!” she crowed. She jumped to the top of one of the lower statues and balanced on one foot, letting her tail feathers fan out to balance herself.

“Good to know you're not short of mischief,” Kaiwi remarked drily, leaning back to await the tales she had for him. Cassidy paused a moment, letting her balance correct itself while she ran through her mental rolodex of stories. She would have to filter out the more unsavoury ones: despite him knowing her since they were knee high to a grasshopper but there were still aspects of her life she wanted to keep from him. 

“Right, so you'll remember the Carno gang at Outlook...”

---

The moon rose higher in the dark, cloudy sky as Cassidy spoke, eventually coming down from her perch but still gesturing just as wildly as she recalled a raid on her gang's rivals. Kaiwi listened and nodded along, taking it all in but frequently distracted. He noticed every time she caught herself, changing the direction of her story like she was censoring it on the fly for him. He wondered what hid behind the guile of her words, what darkness she was shielding him from. Did she think he would think less of her for the things she had done? As he watched her swish back and forth as she spoke, the moonlight struggled to illuminate her striking figure. The lunar light caught the edges of her vivacious feathers, shining through and surrounding her like a halo. As his eyes widened at the sight, he wished he could find the words to convey that nothing could make him love her less.

“There's no end of trouble down south,” he noted when she had finished and came to rest beside him. Her head was laid across his shoulders and he could feel her rumble contentedly.

“And I'll have to go back in the morning, can't leave those knuckle heads to run the place for too long without me,” Cassidy hummed. 

“So your answer is still no?” He asked hopefully. He felt her sigh ruffle across his feathers.

“It's still a no,” she agreed. His heart sank a little but he forced his posture to remain solid, not slumping like he wanted to.

“I'll love you from a distance for however long you'll let me,” he admitted quietly. He felt her huff a short laugh this time before she nuzzled her snout into his back.

“I don't deserve you,” she responded, equally quiet but just as sincere. There was a heavy exhaustion to her words, like it had been weighing on her for a while. He wondered if she thought about it often, if she felt undeserving of any affection sent her way, even the friendship of her gang members. He could relate to that, wondering what he had done to deserve such a comfortable life when he knew others had struggled since the moment they were born. Maybe that's why Cassidy insisted on an outlaw's life, to feel like she was working for her success. Still, he wished she had chosen a less dangerous path. It would certainly save him some sleepless nights and anxious dreams.

“Maybe we deserve each other, for our sins,” he joked, making her laugh loud enough to rattle his chest. She cuddled in closer as the night chill pressed in, bringing the damp with it as the fog continued to sink down.

“We should go inside, but I do love this garden of yours,” she sighed. She stood up, leaving Kaiwi's back cold with her absence. He stood to join her, heading to the metal stairs that lead directly to his window. “Oh don't forget your gift, it's right behind you.” Cassidy didn't recognise the look that passed over his face but he turned around and picked up the sign anyway.