"Whatcha dooooin'?" Mwatuko asked. She rolled onto her back to stare at the source of her curiosity upside-down. Blood began to rush to her head and she giggled at the feeling.

"Nothing," came the grumbled response. There was a dusty-sounding clatter followed by a low curse. Mwatuko turned her head not unlike an owl and peered a little more closely.

"Bone reading?" she asked dubiously. Takataka whipped his head around to offer her a glare which burned with resentment from the depths of his soul. Mwatuko grinned toothily. "I didn't know you knew how to know how to read bones," she rambled, stretching her white-gloved paws.

Clatter.

"Ugh..." the male groaned. He tried to ignore the cackling that followed behind him. He wasn't quite "friends" with Mwatuko, but they chatted now and then, sometimes against his will. She just attached herself to various pack members and made it her job to follow them around and get in their business. She wasn't cruel or rude or anything like that, but she was annoying after a while--at least to him. She was a little...odd.

"BOO!"

"AGHHH!" Takataka cried, small bones flying in every direction. Mwatuko fell over in a fit of wild giggling, rolling side to side as Taka furiously gathered his scattered trinkets. "That wasn't funny," he growled.

"Yeah, it was," the female said, scratching her back against the ground. "You know, you need to lighten up. You're not usually this grumpy. Somethin' on your mind?"

"No," Taka answered defensively, messing up his latest bone throw. "Oh, for--"

"What are you trying to find out, anyway?" Mwatuko asked, suddenly over his shoulder.

"I don't need to know any--I'm not--it's just a game, ok?" he snapped, scattering the bones with his paw. He stormed off. Mwatuko followed him.

"You know," she began, much to the male's chagrin, "I know a lot about this kind of thing. Not that I read bones myself, but--"

"I wasn't reading them," he said, rounding on her. "I was throwing them. There's a difference!" Mwatuko tilted her head. Then something seemed to dawn on her and her expression lit with realization.

"OHHH, like the game!" she chimed.

"That's exactly what I said before," Taka said through his teeth, starting to walk again. Mwatuko was close behind.

"Well, I know a lot about that, too. I like games," the female said pointedly.

"Oh, really?" Taka gasped with dripping sarcasm. Mwatuko frowned.

"You're awfully grumpy today. That's why you shouldn't throw them over and over and over and over again like that," she said.

"How the hell would you know? You didn't even know what I was doing up until five seconds ago," Taka said. He wasn't always this impatient, even with her. He knew he was grumpy. But having someone point it out to him made him feel even more grumpy. He didn't like being in a bad mood. Usually he was more on the optimistic side, it was true. He tried to be, anyway. But lately...ugh, it was no use even thinking about it. The whole thing was dumb. He felt so stupid. "I don't wanna talk about it anymore," Taka said, frowning.

"Talk about what?" Mwatuko asked, confused.

"Everything! I don't wanna talk about all this anymore," Taka said again. Mwatuko made a humming noise and then moved part way in front of the male.

"Takataka, I think you do wanna talk about something," she said honestly.

"Nooo," Taka groaned, glaring away from her.

"Takaaaa," his 'friend' insisted. Taka sighed again and glared harder. "Come, come sit over here," Mwatuko said, directing him to an inviting pile of rocks perfect for perching. "Let me read your forehead."

"No!" Taka reeled.

"Then come over here to this spot so I can see the stars better. Come, come," she said. Taka let himself be lead with great reluctance. When the two were finally seated on the flattest parts of the rocks, Mwatuko raised her head to the heavens and gazed at the stars for several moments.

"Hmmm," she hummed, deep in thought. The stars reflected in her eyes and something about her whole demeanor changed. Her white hair moved over her face, matching the bright moon and making her seem almost ethereal. Taka watched her with feigned disinterest, but there was part of him that couldn't help but be partly intrigued by all the supernatural stuff she was into. Visions, stargazing, psychic readings...whatever you called it, Takataka was interested in it, too. But he hated for anyone to know. It was way too embarrassing. He felt like a pup because the reasons behind his interests were pup-like to begin with, not to mention temporary. All he wanted to know was if...whether or not someone...if someone...a certain someone...UGH, he didn't want to think about it!

"I know you don't know anything about constellations," Mwatuko said, looking back to Taka. Taka braced himself, though he tried to look leery instead. "But some of these stars are affecting your moon."

"My moon...?" Taka echoed, finding himself looking up to the night sky.

"Yeah, the moon you were born under. It was visible right...there," Mwatuko pointed her paw. "But right now I can't even see it." Then again, she didn't remember when the last time was that she had seen it, or even if it was a moon at all. Some stars were just really big and really bright. She liked to call them teeny tiny moons. 'cause they looked like dot moons! But Taka didn't need to know all that.

"It's gone...?" Taka breathed, squinting at the stars. "How? Why..."

Mwatuko shrugged in response. "Could be a lot of reasons. Sometimes stars get brighter and block the little moons out. So I can't see it," she explained. She didn't understand half of what she was saying or even if any of it was completely true, but she loved it all the same. "That might mean you're hiding part of yourself. Or something is hiding something from you...orrrr...you're hiding your whole self...? Or maybe someone is preventing you from being your whole self...or you feel hidden? Like you're invisible..." Mwatuko guessed again and again, tilting her head back and forth with every attempt. Mortal lives being influenced by the heavens--it was so thrilling! Especially if stars really were ghosts.

Taka's eyes narrowed in thought as he looked up at the sky once more. He pondered Mwatuko's "reading" and mulled over each interpretation. When he was satisfied--or rather, disappointed, he cast his eyes downward and heaved a sigh.

"I'm in--interested in someone," Taka said, quickly saving himself before he said something completely foolish and immature. In love? What was he, a pup? Stupid! Mwatuko, meanwhile, had lit up even brighter than the moon itself. The supernatural and romance stories were her two most favorite things.

"Whowhowho?" she demanded rapidly, inching closer. Taka backed off her advances and clambered down the rock pile.

"Just--someone, ok? I'll figure it out." Taka called as he trotted off. "You don't need to know."

Mwatuko sat still in silence for a moment.

"It's Mafuu, isn't it?"

Takataka made a strangled, squeaking, groaning sound and ran away as fast as he could.