hear that breaking sound.

[eternityunseen]

WHO Zachary Finch and YOU.
WHAT Bete Noire's newest arrival is having a bit of trouble with his vertical alignment.
WHERE The streets! Probably somewhere near the hill in the center of town, why not.
WHEN The morning of Saturday, the 7th.
WARNINGS None so far

Comments

[gruesomething]

It's almost too bright out for Some, the light beginning to pry at his nerves, his eyes. But he wants to make one more go at this. And the blind human draws his attention like a siren call.

Lurking in the alley under the recesses of a pile of abandoned construction material, he watches, waits for a gap in the passersby.

"I can help," he offers once they're alone, voice made liquid by two mouths and too many teeth.

[eternityunseen]

Zachary twitched at the strange voice, trying to figure out how someone could make words sound like that. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like he had the option of turning it down. He turned his head halfway toward the source, quirking a half-smile at the offer.

"I'd really appreciate that. Now?" he asked. "Or am I going to be on the waiting list?"

[gruesomething]

He picks up the cane in a lower hand as he pads closer, claws folded up for silent walking. Only the cane raps against the pavement, clattering softly. "I was blind before. How long for you?"

[eternityunseen]

Zachary reached out, searched for the cane, grasped his hand around it and gave a light tug to see if his helper would let it go. The quietness of his steps was strange, yet he didn't comment on it.

"Six years," he answered. It wasn't unheard of for some people to recover from blindness, he reminded himself, as ridiculously rare as it was. Zachary stamped out the pang of jealousy before it had time to even properly form itself. It was something to appreciate, not something to covet. "How long for you?"

[gruesomething]

"Three... days. A day is the right word, I think. Cycles of light and dark? How long is a year?" He lets go the cane after a moment's pause, as if seeing how hard the man would pull. Keeping his head low, on a level with the human's, he can disguise his size.

[eternityunseen]

"Thanks. You... don't know what a day is?" Zachary took the cane, feeling along it for the handle, then slowly stood and brushed perfunctorily at his pant legs. He was definitely confused by this... person not knowing something as basic as what a day was called. Maybe English wasn't his native language? That would also explain not knowing what unit of time measurement a year was. "That's right, though. A year is three hundred and sixty-five days. Three hundred, sixty-six if it's leap year. Always twelve months."

[gruesomething]

"I have not been here long." Some laughs, a near-silent huff of a bark, leaning close to sniff at him. He's not a child, is he?

[eternityunseen]

Zachary leaned back as the unexpected sniffing came into play. "Are you... smelling me?" It looked like it was much more than a language-barrier thing. He was pretty sure he couldn't think of a culture where sniffing at someone you had just met wasn't rude.

[gruesomething]

"Only in greeting." He tries to sound harmless, but how does one sound harmless?