7- The First Night.

A few minutes passed when Tauluthet emerged from the washroom, wrapped in a towel, still damp, his hair dripping.

"Feel better?" Quays asked as the water started boiling.

"Different," he replied as she retrieved some clean mugs from the upper cupboard.

"Well, at least you're clean. That's what really matters. Take a seat. Food's going to be a bit yet, but there's tea on the way." She smiled as she moved about her kitchen preparing two cups of tea. "Have you ever had tea before?"

"I don't think so."

"Right, so I'll just make yours like mine and we can make adjustments for next time. Unless you completely hate it, in which case, no next time," she rambled as she stirred in some sugar and milk into both mugs. "I tend to like my tea a bit on the sweet and mild side."

"Sweet and mild. That sounds nice. There's food too?"

"Yes. I don't have much, but I do have a box of a pasta, which hopefully is going to be enough to tide us over until tomorrow and there's always a chocolate bar for after, and I put the bottles of water in the fridge for you. Mints are here on the…" she paused and set down the spoon she had been holding when Tau turned his back to her, making his way towards the couch. "Holy shit…"

"Is something wrong?" he asked as he turned around to face Quayleigh, who had walked up behind him.

"Don't move," she replied as she grabbed the back of his arms to stop him. "I've seen this before."

"Seen what?"

"Sorry, there's a tattoo on your back, and I'm pretty certain it's a Rowda'meth sigil," she replied, her voice carrying a tone of disbelief.

"I don't understand," he replied as she gently began to move her hand over the edges of the intricately designed, circular tattoo in the middle of his back.

"If this is what I think…" she stopped midsentence as she reached over and grabbed his hand pulling it closer and examining his nails, "so few lines…"

At this point, Tau dropped to his knees and clutched the towel more tightly around himself, the odd behavior causing Quays to take a step back despite her concern, "Easy now. I didn't mean to scare you. Are you alright?"

"Yes… no… I don't know. This only happens when I'm around you, and I don't know why."

"What only happens? You lose the ability to stand? You have pain?"

"This body, it reacts… to you. On its own," he said as he looked down and clasped at the towel.

"Oh! Ok, ok, that's ok. That's good. It's normal. It's normal for a man's body to react that way… in certain situations. Like when in close contact with someone they may find... attractive," she looked down at him with compassion. "You're in a human body now. I'm sure you're experiencing a bunch of new things, or you're experiencing them in a different way." She turned back to the kitchen and dumped the box of pasta into the boiling water. "Before now, I mean before when you weren't like this, did you not feel emotions or attraction towards others of your own… species?"

Tau looked at the floor as he stood up, readjusting the towel to ensure it was secure, he moved over to the couch and sat down. While no longer concerned over the state his body was in, he was still uncertain with how to contend with the desires he felt, or what he could and could not do, to resolve them.

"I've never felt like this. My body, my real body, it's not like this one. Emotions, feelings, attraction, these are human things. The Sen'awan'qachi know nothing of them. Our world is bland and darkened. Void of the vibrancy of the life found here."

"Sen'awan'qachi, is that what you are?"

"Yes. Your world calls us Reapers, but to us that is merely a title. I am no different from the Shepherds I command in regards to what I am. I'm just an older version. More of me is missing."

"And Death, is he also what you are?"

"Yes, but for all of our similarities, we are truly nothing alike. He is the father to us all. He is ancient; born old when time began. For all my years, I am still a newborn in comparison."

"If he's your father, then who's your mother?"

"I do not know. My memories of those days have been long devoured," he replied as he looked back at her. "Thank you, it seems as if the aching has begun to pass."

"Yeah, umm, I'll see what I can do about helping you with that later." She smirked as she picked up the teacups and carried them over to the coffee table setting them down, thinking it best to avoid any personal contact for the time being. "I would give it a few more minutes before trying to drink it, it may still be too hot. To be honest, I have a lot of questions, and I'm sure you do too, but let's start with that tattoo on your back while the pasta finishes cooking."

"Ok," he replied as she made her way around to the opposite side of her bed and began to look over the contents of her bookshelf.

Pulling out one of the older books, she flipped through the pages before setting it back, having not found what she was looking for. Grabbing a second book, she opened the cover, turned a few pages, and then turned it over. Opening up the cover, she skipped a small chunk of the book, and passed a couple more pages before making her way back to the couch and sitting down next to Tau.

"Turn slightly so I can see your back again," she instructed, and he obliged. Holding up the book, she carefully examined and compared the two sigils. "It's not exactly the same as the one in the book, but it's close," she said as she set the book onto the table, open to the page she had been looking at. "Rowda'meth sigils are dangerous magics. Especially for someone who has no business practicing. And based on your nails, this Dylan, shouldn't have even looked at books like this. At most, he's cast four spells in the last year, none of which were difficult, except for this last one obviously. The lines are too smooth and well separated for him to have done much of anything, worth the right to mess with Rowda'meth's rituals. He clearly had no idea or understanding of what he was doing."

"Why is this on him then?"

"That, I don't know. Sigils like these aren't supposed to be permanent, and the cost, it's beyond what most can afford. Look, tomorrow, we need to go back to the place where you woke up. It's the only way I can find out what he was trying to do."

"But I don't know where that is."

"No worries, I have an idea," she replied as she stood up and returned to the kitchen to check on the pasta. "His address was on his ID. I'm hoping that you woke up at his place. If not, it's still our best chance of finding out if he owned or rented another property that he may have used instead."

"What does this sigil do though?"

She drained out the pasta and tossed in a few tablespoons of butter as she answered, "The sigil in the book is one of a dozen that Rowda'meth created over the course of his lifetime. That one specifically, is supposed to be used to contact the dead. It's the reason it looked so familiar. Rowda'meth was a practitioner more than a couple centuries ago. His work lead to the laws we have about magic today. He's responsible for all sorts of different rituals of varying degrees of difficulty. Most are completely illegal now, but he did create some semi-useful ones, including the one I based my ritual off of; the one that I use to contact you. Although I did have to adapt it to make it actually work. Like most of the diagrams you find in these books, there's always something wrong with them. None of them will ever work as you see them. Practitioners have gotten into the habit of altering what they publish to ensure that non-practitioners or amateurs don't accidently kill themselves. Based on your tattoo, either Dylan knew at least that much, or the person who tattooed him was the actual practitioner and Dylan had no idea what was done to him. I can't say for certain though until I see something, like research or we figure out who tattooed him. Anyways, pasta's ready."

Quayleigh split the pasta into two bowls and covered each in the parmesan and a sprinkle of black pepper before carrying them over to the couch. Handing a bowl and fork off to Tau, she sat on the opposite end and began to eat.

Tau seemed confused at first and not wanting to make him feel self-conscious, she simple showed him what to do, rather than try to explain it step by step in a tedious manner. She had thought that maneuvering the fork was going to be his greatest challenge, but it was rather a fear of the potential flavor that had caused his hesitation. Since to him, what was in the bowl did not appear to be something that should have been edible. As for the fork, he twirled it around in his hand as if he had been handling it his entire life.

After a few bites, Quayleigh set her bowl down and took a drink of her tea, "What do you think? Not bad for something quick right?"

"It's good."

"Have you really only been eating chocolate bars this entire time?"

"Mostly. The kind man at the camp, Willy, would trade me for other things sometimes. I gave him mints once, and he gave me his home. When his time comes, I will go to him myself. I want to be the one to take him to the pools so I can see him off to the river."

"That sounds really beautiful. Your job's important to you, isn't it?"

"Yes. It is my purpose for being."

"Then shouldn't someone be looking for you? You've been here for a few weeks already; shouldn't someone there, notice that you aren't around?"

"I don't know. As long as souls are still moving through my district, it could be sometime before anyone notices that I haven't been seen. My Shepherds are very self-sufficient, and rarely seek me out."

"But what about the jobs that you're supposed to handle directly?"

"I think I have been. Or someone else has been," he replied as he took another bite.

"Like who?"

"I don't know."

A long silence followed, filled with the quiet sounds of forks against ceramics, and the subtlety of eating.

"Tau," she began to speak having nearly finished her food, "can Reaper's die?"

"I don't know that either. Things have always been as they are. Only Death would know if others came before us."

"Do you know how to contact him?"

"Not from here. I've tried to speak to him, but he hasn't answered. I don't think he can hear me anymore. Maybe we could use your ritual?"

"I've tried, several times, but it never works. I need a name and he doesn't have one. We could try to contact one of the other reapers, if you know one who might be willing to help."

"Naldinrenu might. I've aided him for centuries. His district is larger than mine. I assigned Shepherds to help him."

"Then we can try and contact him tomorrow," she said as she picked up her bowl and finished eating. "Have you tried the tea yet? It should be cool enough for you to drink safely now."

Setting down his bowl, Tau picked up the mug and cautiously sniffed the tea before taking a sip, "it doesn't taste like it smells."

"But do you like it?"

"I think so. It's warm, and pleasant," he remarked as the buzzer on the washing machine went off causing him to flinch.

"It's just the washer." she giggled as she set down her bowl and walked over to the washing machine. Transferring his wet cloths into the dryer, she set the machine and turned it on. "There, now, in the morning, your cloths will be clean and dry."

"Is it magic?"

"No, just technology," she replied with a smile as she rejoined him on the couch. "I'm sorry I don't have a proper pillow for you, but I have plenty of bedding to make this more comfortable.

"It's more comfortable than the ground."

"Can you tell me where you've been staying?" she questioned watching his reaction carefully.

"A place near your store where people gather. I have a box, on the far end, with a black cover. It was cold and damp, but it was quiet."

"You were at the homeless camp off of Caldwell. How were you so close without me even knowing?"

"I never told you."

"I suppose you didn't," she yawned as she stood up and gathered the dishes, seeing as how his was empty too. "I'll deal with the dishes in the morning. Just put your mug in the sink when you're done. As much as I would love to talk more, I'm beat."

Heading over to her closet she pulled out a set of bedsheets and a blanket, as Tau headed into the kitchen. Unfolding the sheets, Quays made up the couch for him as he watched, uncertain of how to help. "You can stay up and wait for the dryer to finish with your cloths if you aren't comfortable sleeping in the towel. I'd let you borrow a pair of shorts, but I don't think anything of mine would fit you. At least not in any comfortable way."

"I think I'm fine with this," he replied as she headed towards the bathroom.

"I'll be out in a few minutes, then the bathroom's all yours."

Quays finished her nightly routine, and while Tau was in the bathroom brushing his teeth again, at her suggestion, she changed into a baggy tank top and crawled under the covers of her bed. Normally she wouldn't have even bothered with the top, but given the current circumstances, she wasn't about to sleep uncovered. Her head had barely even hit the pillow, and before she knew it, she was fast asleep.

Several hours later, Quayleigh was roused by the anxious sounds of Tau tossing on the couch, his limbs twitching, sweat visibly beading on his brow, and his face scrunched in fear.

"Shit," she muttered as she crawled out of the bed and moved to his side. She was gentle and calmly spoke his name as she set one hand on his cheek, and the other on his shoulder. "Tau, hey, wake up."

He seemed almost startled as he opened his eyes taking hard, shallow breaths, his body trembling. Standing up, Quays took his hand and guided him over to her bed, having him crawl under the sheets with his back to her. Wrapping herself tightly against him, she whispered, "bad dream?"

"There were shadows, pulling at me. I was trying to reach you. When I looked up, I saw it was myself. And I felt… gone, alone."

"Is this the first one you've had?"

"No. I've had a few since coming here. I don't like it. Before, I only ever dreamed. I dreamed of you, in the green."

Hearing his words made her smiled and she kissed the back of his shoulder as she snuggled down against him, "You don't have to dream of me anymore, I'm right here. Try to think of things that make you happy. Like the sun from earlier today. And know, that you are not alone. Not anymore. I'm with you, Tauluthet."