Finding A Heartbeat

The rain was dripping against something hollow. For once, Aigr's mind was so full of thoughts that he did not think it was his own head. The thunk, thunk sound was beginning to grate on his tired nerves as he sat outside of the closed Myths and Fragrances shop. Work had held him late and despite his begging they would not let him go. By the time he got out of work Myths was already closed and he was sitting there contemplating his life up until this point. He wouldn't die. That would be ridiculous... however he wished on those horrible nights that he would finally succumb. His life was on a delicate string that danged precariously between life and death. He could see both sides, the small lights of spirits floated around him. He was awfully close to the other side.
There was no more medicine at home. Aigr felt his chest tighten and he wheezed. He knew the feeling of blood seeping into his lungs, it was as familiar as the rain tapping against his pale skin. There was no stopping it there. The string that held his life was working like a pendulum, swinging from reality into spirit. It was worse when he had no medicine, worse when he drifted closer to being in his spirit form. His human body would find a way to dispel him, at least until he had a full dose of medicine to draw him back. Unfortunately for him, that involved causing him to cough up copious amounts of blood. He had to hang on. Hopelessness laced exhausted eyes as he turned his head to face the door of Myths. He willed it to open, willed the small shopkeeper inside to give him some relief. It was dizzying, dangling like that. But there was nothing he could do about it now... he would drift until someone showed up in the morning.

Smoothing hair out of her face, Vesna exited her home and met the morning chill. She took a moment to breathe in the scent of rain before making her way down the road and towards the book-and-trinkets shop she owned. Vesna held her head up confidently as she exchanged greetings with the neighbors she passed by.

Vesna fixed the bangles decorating her left wrist as she came onto the intersection of shops and continued down the road her own shop was situated on. She stopped abruptly, the heels of her boots scraping on the ground, as her eyes locked onto an unconscious man outside one of the shops. Vesna furrowed her brows as she broke into a jog towards him.

She reached out her hand to shake him, but thought against it, and kept her hand in front of herself. She wasn't sure if shaking him would be ideal or not. "Hey," she said loudly, a concerned look on her face that only deepened at the sight of blood on his mouth. "Are you alive?"

A sense of relief washed over Aigr when he saw a girl approaching his otherwise dead looking form. No one else had been brave enough and several had even pretended not to notice it as they hurried along that morning. He could still feel the connection to his human heart, although it was weak but he wouldn't be dying. When he had two forms, and such a strong connection with the spirit side there were only a couple of things that could end his life permanently.

"Over here." He waved to her, knowing immediately that she'd be able to see him. She did not at all seem phased by his "corpse" and even seemed like she'd planned on touching it. "Do you mind guarding that until Evalace gets here? Seems like she is late... the sun is already so high. Who am I kidding, right? You probably have a lot to do and it looks really weird to chill out here next to what really looks like a dead body. I promise it isn't dead, the heart still has a rhythm. It sucks, but eh...?"

Vesna jumped at the sound of the voice, her eyes wide as she turned her head toward it. "Guard it?" she questioned, standing straight up. She thought a moment before she understood, then gestured towards the body at her feet. "So this is your body then?" The anxiety that had settled in her chest began to ease, glad to know that the man wasn't actually dead. "I... suppose I could. That's fine. I don't necessarily mind."

Aigr grinned, looking quite ghostly sitting up on the stair railing. "You know there is an occasional norm that gets lost through here. Thankfully no one has reported it. Once my body gets moved it is incredibly difficult to get back to it." He hated the problem of norms getting involved in his issues.

"Hmmm..." A sultry voice tickled his sensitive, ghostly ear drums. "It appears you collapsed again. At least I did not show up to police surrounding my doors."

"Why must you always close so early?"

"Why must you get caught working so late! In your condition I would expect better of you. I would also expect you to pick up your medicine before this sort of thing occurs." Her keys jingled loudly as she searched for the one meant for the shop. "Mm, I do apologize. He really does deserve having his body snatched up by forensic investigators. My name is Evalace Sh'Iara. Don't try to pronounce that. Ayeeee, you got blood all over my steps again."

"I wouldn't have if you had been here!" Aigr hovered off of the railing post. "And I didn't inconvenience her, she said she wouldn't mind."

"Do me a favor and drag him by his hair. Also I apologize for this moron. Aigr has never been very good with the concept of refilling before one runs out." Evalace rolled her eyes as she unlocked the door. "You are going to clean that up when I get you back into your body."