Accidental Savior

Chapter 4: The Sky Opened Up

About an hour later, I found myself just finishing cleaning up as I fought my exhaustion. I initially tried to look at the time on my phone. Then I remembered it was ruined, so a quick glance at the clock on the wall told me it was already 2:00 am. I had to get home and clean up and get ready for bed. I'd been awake since 5:00 am the day before, and I was really dragging.

I had just finished wiping down the table in the break room when I looked over to where the strange person was sleeping on the tattered leather couch we'd sometimes crash on when there was more than one of us on shift. The sexy trash man was stinking my napping couch up with his trash smell. At least he'd stopped bleeding.

Before he'd fallen asleep, I'd made a comment about his already looking better, and he'd said something about 'My healing is at full capacity' like a freak. I still did not know what he'd meant by that, but my caution warred with my intrigue as I watched his deep, even breathing. He looked so... innocent sleeping like that. He definitely didn't look like a man with a strange sword.

As he peacefully slept on the shitty couch, I'd half-contemplated calling the cops on the landline. This guy was weird, possibly absolutely mental. Calling the cops is probably what I should have done, to be honest. But the poor guy was exhausted, and there had to be a reason he was... the way he was, maybe it was his upbringing or something. Or his culture. Or a mental disorder. Something about him was just off, but I didn't get the feeling that any of it was bad or dangerous.

The man shifted in his sleep, distracting me from my thoughts as his dark hair to slipped into his face and gave an air of innocence to the man who was probably just a couple years older than me. His skin was a rich brown that reminded me of caramel, a color that complemented his eyes when they were open, and he spoke with an accent that was decidedly not American. Yet I couldn't fathom where a man this oddly perfect would've come from or how he'd gotten here.

Or how he'd gotten into my dumpster, and he hadn't maintained consciousness long enough for me to ask him, either. And if that all that wasn't mysterious enough, his weird ass ears were peeking out from beneath his dirty hair. There was something that looked natural about them even though pointed ears were anything but natural. At first, I'd thought they were fake, prosthetics or makeup or something, but seeing them now, illuminated by the low light of the break room, I could tell they were one hundred percent authentic.

Maybe he was into weird shit.

I'd watched a documentary about extreme body modification one time. There was this one guy who wanted to pretty much be a lizard, and he'd had his ears cut off and his skin tattooed with a scale pattern to make him seem more 'lizard-like.'

Luckily, this guy's ears were far more normal than lizard man's, despite the points. Maybe he was the product of some medical experimentation? Or a natural deformity? Or he was an alien from another planet? Or—

Damn, I needed sleep.

Part of my mind was going on tangents that the rest of my mind was too tired to keep up with. Shaking my head, I decided it was time for answers.

With a slight exhalation of frustration, I stomped over to the mystery guy and placed my hand on his shoulder. When he didn't move, I gave him a rough shake that left me jumping in surprise when he immediately jolted awake and grabbed my wrist. His honey-colored eyes were passive as I spoke with no actual heat to my voice.

"Hey, trash man, bar's closing. You won't let me call the cops, but I gotta close up and get home and get to sleep. I've been awake since the dawn of time."

The guy's eyes widened in surprise as he ignored my 'dawn of time' comment. "Is this not your place of residence?"

I laughed, and the sound surprised him enough that he let go of my wrist as if it'd just burned him. "What? No. I may spend all my time here because Edgar is the shittiest boss ever, but I don't live here. I've got a studio down the street."