Curious event

Miles reaches for Emil as he races to the young man. Emil flinches and freezes in place.

"I need you." Miles holds on to both of Emil's upper arms.

Emil knits his brows together and his breathing is shallow.

"Can you help me get to town... not tonight yet as it's getting dark.... darker out." Miles throws out as if in a rush.

Emil gulps and nods.

"Good. Also, why are you out so late? Won't it be too dark to see where you're going soon?" Miles tilts his head to the side.

Emil looks off to the side and imitates talking but no sound comes.

"Are you unable to talk?" Miles asks.

Emil shakes his head, His messy hair swaying.

"Then what wrong?" Miles questions.

Emil looks anywhere but at Miles, he shivers in the red head's grip.

Miles lets the shorter male go. Emil puts distance between himself and Miles opting for a further tree to hide behind.

"Would tomorrow work for you? Tomorrow morning?" Miles doesn't move from his spot.

Emil nods.

"Alright, see you then," Miles says, he then turns his back and heads for the house.

Inside he sees Ezra in the kitchen. Ezra is chopping vegetables and throwing them into a pot. Miles looks inside the pot to see some broth with meat and other chopped foods in it. Nothing looked out of place. So, Miles stepped in to help Ezra finish cooking.

When the two had the meal dished out, they sat and took a mouthful of the food. Miles coughed at the flavor. There was so much salt in it that The Fallen wondered if he could even manage to finish the bowl of soup before him. He looked to Ezra who seemed unfazed by the salty soup.

Miles forced the soup down through bouts of coughing. At the end of the meal, Miles made sure to drink a cup of water.

With that done they go to bed.

Morning arrives fast, too fast for Miles's liking. He feels weak. Weaker than he had for the last week. He wonders if this is normal. But only for a moment as the thought is gone when Ezra comes in with a chicken. Blood drips from it and for all the usual emotional neutral excretions the boy shows this one is panic.

Miles jolts up and looks over the chicken, her flesh punctured in a pattern of what likely was a bite mark.

It didn't take long, only the span of walking from his room to the chicken's pen, for the chicken to die.

Miles frowns and looks over the pen. Feathers are everywhere. There is a charred animal in a charred patch of grass. Miles looks to Ezra who followed him, "What happened?"

Ezra shrugs, though his eyes look at the charred remains. Miles wonders how much the child does know. He doubted the animals would set fire to anything or could. But then again, he didn't know much about mortals. Miles sighed. There wasn't anything he could do other than clean the mess up.

Miles left for the shed to find a shovel. If anything, he'd bury the two dead and have to move the pen away from the chard land.

Miles ushered all the chickens into their coop. some he had to pick up and place in as fear took them over. It didn't take long for them to gather up.

Locking them in the coop, Miles then starts pulling up wooden posts. As he does so he finds a bent bit of fence. He figured the charred animal likely came in thought there. He looks over the dead and pauses. He should get his tasks in order. The dead should be taken care of first.

He drops the post and goes into the woods. Not far, far enough to keep the dead away but close enough to see the house still. He digs a hole large enough and deep enough for the two dead. He collects them and drops them in. He places the dirt over them. Pausing, Miles wonders if he should say something. But decides against it. What would he have to say about two animals? One he knew for a short time and the other he knew nothing about.

Once finished with the grave he returns to pulling posts out of the ground. He looks around wondering where they should be for the time being.

It doesn't take long for him to pick a spot and start hammering wooden posts into the earth. Then he takes the fencing and wraps it around the wooden posts. He bends the dented section back into place. It's not a fix but he figures he'll have to look for one. He then lifts the small chicken coop and moves it to the new pen. With time he carries the food and water troughs over as well.

After it's all said and done, he opens the coop and lets them out. Not a single chicken comes out. They cluck and look out, but they do not leave the confines of the coop.

Ezra looks at the chickens and watches them for a little before looking up at Miles. The expectant stare from the boy made Miles wonder what Ezra was thinking. Did he want Miles to force the chickens out? That wouldn't help the chickens in the least. Instead, he leaves the coop open and moves on to something else. He sets about getting water for the animals. Ezra stays with the chickens.

His walk to and from the creek yield enough water for all the animals to be happy with. The garden takes a few more buckets as the day is warmer than it has been. He even tops off the water for the house. It all somehow feels easier than it had been.

After he finished fetching water, he moved on to feeding the animals. This task didn't take long either. But when he got to the chickens, they still had not left the coop. Ezra still stood near it watching the chickens inside. Miles knew the chickens needed their food but if they wouldn't come out of the coop then he'd have to try something else. He went into the house a grabbed two bowls. He filled one with water and the other with food. The coop was small but with a few empty nests, it wasn't difficult to decide on where to put the bowls. Miles watched the chickens for a bit with Ezra. Only long enough to see a few of them go to the food and water.

Miles looked at the woods, it didn't take him long to find Emil hiding in the shadows.

"Do you want to stay and watch the chickens or come with me?" Miles asked the boy.

Ezra pointed at the chickens.

"Alright, keep an eye on them and let me know if anything strange happens." Miles says, "I'll be away for a while. You might have to feed the animals. We don't want them to starve."

The boy nods and then watches Miles leave.

Miles joins Emil in the shadows of the woods.

"Thank you for coming." Miles looks at the shorter male with a small smile.

Emil nods and begins to lead Miles back to his and Seline's home. The walk is silent and Miles is grateful for the shade provided by the trees on this rather warm day. The birds chirp their usual happy tune.

The walk seems longer to Miles, but he remembers that he had chased after Emil the first time though. Of course, it would feel longer now. That did not stop the burning streak of impatience that flowed through Miles.

When they did arrive, Seline was outside the house tending to the flowers by the house. They are vibrant reds, blues, yellows, and oranges. When she noticed the two, she stood, dirt clinging to the parts of her skirt she kneeled on.

"Are you ready to go to town?" Seline asks while wiping the dirt off her clothes.

"No. But I rather learn where it is and how to deal with it sooner rather than later." Miles answers.

Seline looks Miles over, "Alright. Give me a minute to grab a few things and we will take you to town."

Emil stands, his eyes a soft gray under the sunlight, and waits for Seline's return. She is out almost as soon as she left. Seline and Emil pull out a wagon and hook up a chestnut steed to it. They all get in the wagon and soon it lurches forward. The chestnut steed trotting on the road. The ride is bumpy and Miles wonders if his brain will turn to mush and flood out of his ears.

When they made it to town, Miles climbed out of the back of the wagon as fast as he could. His legs were jelly and he had to talk a moment to wait for them to become steady. Seline come to the side of the wagon and placed a hand on his back, "Are you alright?"

Miles shakes his head, "I need a minute."

She smiles, "Okay take your time."