Cathy
It was starting to get a little dark at the old town cemetery that any of the Newton kids barely visited. This was a pleasant spot for Malus to enjoy his time without encountering someone from the school. He sat up on a branch of an old oak tree where there were a flock of crows and ravens sharing different branches. They didn't care about his presence all that much since he was feeding them seeds or whatever snacks on hand. 

The scorpion sting that he received days ago itched where the wound scabbed over beneath the bandage. He felt a little cranky since then without having a proper meal. The vitality that he craved was making his entire being just ache. 

He was leaning against the trunk with his arms folded over his empty stomach. There was a sullen pout behind his white porcelain mask that sat snuggled on his youthful face. It was still trying to drizzle rain since this morning which got Mal to wear his yellow raincoat that was slightly bigger than his frame. He had his shovel leaning over his shoulder where he just perched silently. 

Malus is looking out ahead with his Kodama looking mask facing at the rest of the cemetery. He found the place to be very well-kept with the cleanliness and organization that left him impressed. Still, the silent welcome of the dead made him feel more at home than the living.
Joe
Taking care of the dead was not something you would see Gabriel Darius Trahan do on a normal day. 

Why the New-Orleans born teenager would be walking around in a *Swedish* Graveyard was only know to the teenager himself— nevertheless, the out-of-place man strut around the graveyard, dressed in leather shoes, well-fitting grey plaid pants, and a white button up dress shirt. A worn rosary hung from his neck, alongside the spray bottle and towel in his hands. 

*This is stupid.* Gabe thought, his cheeks burning with shame. *Why do I think anything I do over here would help over there?* 

His thoughts reek of too much emotion— a irrational, sappy attitude that would surely reflect poorly on anyone who would see him. However, it didn't seem like anyone was here to spot the teenager... 

...Until Gabe saw shoes dangling from the tree branch. He pauses, craning his head to look at the masked man and his shovel. 

*What the hell? What is wrong with you? Is this an honest-to-God grave robber?!? Man, and it's not even Sigrun. Color me shocked.* 

A million ADHD fueled thoughts race through Gabe's head as he stares at the other person, before he manages to croak out something to say: 

"You're doing that *In the day?*"
Cathy
Malus peered over the large branch that he sat on to see a very out of place character. It was a strong temptation to just fall on the strange in an Assassin Creed with his shovel. That wouldn't do him any good since he would be out-right committing murder. Another factor is that this weird man below would be too dead for him to drain vitality from.

The question itself from the person just said caused Malus to exchange glances with a nearby raven. Then he slowly turned his head to stare back down. That was on a healthy looking prey animal down there looking like an easy meal to drain life from.

He pulls out his notebook to scribble down a message in perfectly neat letters. This is what it says on the paper if Gabe bothers to open up the paper airplane that he threw down at him.

*"Hello, do you know sign language? I cannot really talk. Where are you from? What are you doing here at the cemetery? Usually I don't see kids creeping around here. Is there a dead relative that you're looking for?"*
Joe
Gabe *Glares* At the boy, but admittedly unfolds the paper airplane like an annoyed babysitter. He squints— *Shit, I should've taken my reading glasses with me*— before stuffing the paper in his pocket and resuming his glaring. A bit of evidence, if anyone thought he was simply exaggerating for attention. 

"What *I'm* Doing here matters less than what *You're* Doing here," Gabe says, scoffing. "You're a grave robber. I should be calling the cops on you instead of passing notes. And funny you're calling me the one creeping around." 

Gabriel furrows his eyebrows at the kid's questioning. There was no doubt that Gabe was not the suspicious one here, after all— so why was he being asked questions?!?
Cathy
He didn't like the stink glare that the boy was giving him. This place felt like it was his space where he at least got permission to spend his time at the cemetery doing volunteer work. 

Numbingly pulling out his cellphone he types on the screen to have the A.I bot to speak on his behalf. At least he picked an app that helps the bot sound less electronic. *"You're quite the snob aren't you? Perhaps you're one of the Newton Kids?"* He nonchalantly did a hand gesture like,"Ugh, whatever" Before returning back to texting.

*"I just finished doing volunteer work. If you have a problem with me being here on a break, you can go take it up with the groundskeeper."* As the bot continues to read out aloud, Malus shifts in his tree now staring directly down at the person. 

Depending what they're going to say might depend on his mood and what he's going to be doing to this person. A debating thought that gnawed on his brain deciding whether he should prey on this weirdo or play it nice.
Joe
*Volunteer work.* 

"Yeah, show me an ID or something. There's no way in Hell I believe someone would hire *You.*" Gabe leers at the man, looking him up and down with grossed-out eyes. "And there's no way you're not at the Cradle, either. You couldn't look less conspicuous. At least try to fit in if you're going to be pretending to be a normal kid." 

*Quite the snob, he said.* As if, and Gabe scoffs, tousling his curly hair with a strong, dexterous hand. *Someone needs to tell this scene kid you're not a snob for taking clothes from somewhere besides Hot Topic.*

Gabe debates doing anything to the tree, but decides against it. He'd rather not commit assault— in Sweden, he knows how *That* Would look— and the kid didn't seem like he was going to attack him with his shovel... Yet. 

Gabe crosses his arms anyway, making sure to show off his muscles. He's worked hard for them, after all. "Can you get down already?"
Cathy
There was an unpleasant vibe leaking from the other below who looks old from Malus's perspective. Maybe they're at the edge of graduating in their young adult years, that is much that the masked kid could assume.

The way the older man crosses his women beater arms was a sign of intimidation with how he is showing off their muscular arms. Malus was a short, scrawny kid in comparison to the bigger and stronger looking male. He wore a Grave Crew cap, a big yellow jacket, jeans, steel-toed boots and work gloves. The only thing that would stand out would be his mask and shovel.

Now he wondered if he asked Barric to beat this man up, would he do it? That would be rather concerning and funny at the same time. He wouldn't want the farmer kid to be getting involved with his fights.

Malus felt stung by the look that the man gave him which brought back a lot of unpleasant memories. The stink glares he received from his mother and his siblings. Then recalling how other highschoolers would look at him like a freak without his mask on. 

How could he not look less conspicuous with the ugly scar slashed across his throat? He has striking light gray eyes, light skin and dark hair that makes him naturally stick out. The clothes he got were mostly from second-hand stores or outfits that his grandmother and dad would buy him. 

Malus ran his tongue over his fang in thought, deciding that he should just take out his edge on this unlikeable stranger. He was only sitting up on this tree with his avian company until this prep-looking man approached him. Then started to accuse him of being a graverobber that left a sour taste that caused him to scrunch his nose behind his mask.

Malus removed his work gloves to have them neatly folded into his raincoat pocket. With great defiance and disappointment, he shakes his head. Deep inside his DNA it screamed for him to chase this man out of the cemetery or drain his life force. The battle between the two instinctual factors is frustrating due to him being a mixture of two things in a human body. 

*Fuck it.*

He hurled the shovel like a javelin that pierced the rocky path that landed a few feet in front of the man for a distraction. The shovel stood upright still with the spade embedded in the ground. The crows and ravens let out annoyed caws when they fluttered away from Malus's sudden movements. He quickly morphs into a small black cat made of shadows that wore the same white mask. Since he is new with his powers he isn't quick enough to properly meld himself into the shadows until the next of his turn.
Joe
Gabe is quick. He scoots his foot back from where the shovel would've landed, but otherwise doesn't dignify the show of defiance with a response. 

"Not exactly something a person on the clock would do." He snarks, a bite present in his voice. It was becoming more apparent this mysterious character wasn't someone employed by the cemetery, but they didn't seem like a *Threat*, more an edgy kid from the Cradle who was acting out. 

So... Well, Gabe did what he did best. 

"Thanks for the shovel." Gabriel smiled. With one fluid motion of his muscled arm, he takes the shovel out the ground and swings it over his shoulder. *Let's hope no one starts thinking I'm suspicious now that I'm the one with the shovel,* Gabe thinks to himself. 

With shovel leaned against his shoulder, Gabe turns to leave, whistling a Southern tune all the while... A tune only *Slightly* Hindered by the smirk on his face.
Cathy
In her more feline, shadowy form all Malus could do is just let out a fanged yawn. There was a nonchalant look in his glowing eyes. On the shovel there were writings on the handle written in a sharper that is stating that it belongs to the staff in this cemetery. 

With the others turning their back to Malus had given him an opportunity to go behind the trunk of the tree to hide out of Gabe's sight. He melds his body into the shadow dimension where he swims through the darkness, moving through the laws of shadows.

He'll continue following Gabe until he walks under the shadow of the tree. His next plan is to quickly travel through the shadows to sneak into the man's pant leg. Then sneakily have himself be half-ways out from the shadow so he can make contact with the person's ankle. This is how he manages to steal life sustenance from his prey.

Even if this doesn't go his way of how it should happen, Malus would have to improvise another way of obtaining food from this stranger. He's fed up with poshy preps like this guy had left Malus feeling moody. The wind blows the tree branches, causing the shadows to shift for momentarily. He miscalculated and it cost him to port suddenly on the shovel handle. Clinging to it in his blob form with his white mask felt very awkward. He dangle from the handle bouncing up and down like a yo-yo, realizing that he did a mistake. Slowly panicking, the best thing he thought of is making a little arm pointing at the address on the shovel. At least trying to get this posh to bring it back to the groundskeeper location.
Joe
"Oh," Gabe says, looking at the shadow creature point at the address. 
...
***....***
**Wait, what the fuck?**

Gabe, after a sudden delay almost certainly brought by his naturally high tolerance for the oddities that occur at the Cradle, drops the shovel as if the handle started burning. "What in the Sam *Hill*—" Gabe yelps, his Southern accent no longer being masked at the surprise. 

The man takes a moment to collect his breathe, re-tousling his hair to its prior position before he jumped in fright. "I wasn't going to leave with the damn thing," He adds, grumbling a bit. "Just don't throw *Dangerous shit* At people you don't want to hurt." 

Gabe pauses slightly. "And if you *Do* Want to hurt other people, then do it with your chest puffed out." He crosses his arms defensively, the musculature of his arms pronounced in the pose.
Cathy
His glowing pale eyes widen when he sees Gabe let go of the shovel's handle. The globs of his form developed into a snail's skirt that clung onto the object. He felt himself falling into the cobbled path where he turned into an inky blotch, making a rubber duck squeak from the impact.

Malus recollected his jelleton form in shape of a blob with feline ears. He didn't mean to make a cartoon arm with four paws like fingers. He felt around until his appendages touched the cool porcelain mask. Quickly smacking it back onto his face, Malus develops a second arm as he pulls up his tiny fists. It looked comical seeing him this pathetic, small form that looked harmless.

He knows that he screwed up the chance to try to drain this man's life energy. If it weren't for the branches moving from the wind, he would have gotten him good if it weren't for the shadows shifting. This is why he usually prefers to hunt during the night than the day.

Since there's no point trying to get a snack out of the person's life, Malus decided to try to reform back into his usual self. Instead, his shadowy form just flatten out into another inky puddle writhing in appendages, random maws filled with teeth before eventually falling flat again.

It took him another try until he finally developed into a normal looking 5 '4 foot lad wearing a white mask, a yellow raincoat and Grave Crew Hat. Being up close Malus was difficult to distinguish his gender due to being shorter with a androgynous skinny build. He is unaware of the fact that he is difficult to tell at first with his long hair tied in a messy ponytail with tufts of hair growing from the front of his ears. Some may assume that he could be female from his petite build. Across his neck is a horrible scar slashed across his throat, showing that he is indeed a mute. 

No matter how he appeared, Malus looked very weak from not eating much and gaining enough life sustenance. He picked the shovel up by its handle, dusting it off where Gabe touched it with his sleeve to wipe away the cooties.