Cos and Silas
In a city within the cave, Cos and Silas can be found sharing a crummy apartment together. Though their relationship doesn’t have any specific labels to it, from the amount of dedication Silas puts into it, they seem to be life partners—but certainly not partners in crime, aside from Silas’ covering up of Cos’ misdeeds.
With Cos being a loose cannon, the two of them struggle to maintain a low profile and frequently have to move when Cos pisses off too many people or law enforcement starts sniffing around. Silas worries about the day they eventually have to become hermits due to Cos causing too many problems in all established civilizations within the cave—a worry that Cos himself finds dramatic and even laughable, because “People have such short memories, Silas. They’ll forget and we can sneak back in.”
(“Yes, they might have short memories, but they’re certainly not going to keep forgetting when you return and start stirring things up again!”)
When able to stay in one place for a period of time, Silas usually picks up work in the arts, usually as a tattoo artist, while Cos finds work as a handyman, repairing appliances and vehicles. Cos is quite adept at his line of work, which makes Silas wish the other would stick to being a mechanic instead of getting into trouble.
“Cos, what are you doing?” Silas hissed, tail smacking against the alleyway concrete.
Cos tilted his head at them, a distant expression on his face. “What does it look like? I’m looking for their wallet.” He gestured to the (hopefully just) unconscious Ineki before him.
“Thinking about money at a time like this?! We need to get out of here before we get spotted—do you really want to get thrown in jail for attacking someone out of the blue?!”
“It wasn’t out of the blue,” Cos stated matter-of-factly, finally locating the wallet and plucking it out of the bag he was rummaging through. “Look, see? This is a member of a rival gang.” He flashed the Ineki’s ID, not that it meant much to Silas.
“Do you really think the police will care? God, you are so much trouble.” They grabbed Cos by the arm, pulling him along with as much strength as they could muster—which wasn’t exactly enough to overpower Cos, but the other Kelph thankfully didn’t resist.
“You’re being very dramatic. I only electrocuted them a little.”
“‘Only a little’ is still a little too much, you know!” Silas huffed. “I know you have a brain in that skull of yours, so try using it sometimes why don’t you.” They peeked out of the alley, checking to make sure there were no witnesses around. “You’re going to make us have to move again if you keep doing things like this.”
“You act like that’s a bad thing.” Cos’ voice held little concern for any potential consequence to his actions. “I quite enjoy new scenery every once in a while.”
Silas shook their head. “Well you’re not going to like the view from behind prison bars—or lack thereof—I can tell you that. Now be quiet so I can get us home without any more trouble.”
Cos chuckled, but said no more as he allowed Silas to drag him out of the alley and towards their shitty apartment. Sometimes, Silas swore the other enjoyed making them fret like this.
“Careful, careful—!” Silas warned, before hissing in pain as the alcohol drenched rag passed over the gash in their forearm.
“It’s almost clean,” Cos stated, seemingly ignoring the fact that he was being too rough with the whole process.
“Then let me finish it; I have two arms you know, I can finish disinfecting it.” As they said that, they attempted to grab the offending rag from Cos, but he moved it out of the way of their grabbing paw before they could take it.
“No, no, it was my fault, so I’ll clean it up. Isn’t that what you said? That I should clean up my messes?”
Silas clicked their tongue. “Well, yes, but that’s different and you know it.”
He certainly did know it, if the amused smirk that formed on his face after that was any indication. “I don’t see how it is. They both involve blood, after all.”
“Haha, very funny.” They rolled their eyes. “Just hurry up and finish, then; you’re clearly not suited for delicate tasks like this.”
The amused expression didn’t leave his face. “Are you calling me brutish? You certainly know that I’m capable of tasks that require finesse too.”
“Well, you’re not showing it here, that’s for sure—Hey! Watch it!” They jerked their arm away as Cos shoved the overly damp rag back onto the wound, pooling the stinging liquid into it. “That hurts, asshole!”
Cos chuckled. “Sorry, sorry. It’s clean now, I promise.” To show he was serious, he tossed the rag aside and finally grabbed the roll of bandages.
“It better be,” Silas grumbled, reluctantly giving their arm back to the other. “Else you’d be in more trouble than you already are.”
Cos shook his head, that damned smirk still creasing his face. “You always say that, yet I’ve yet to see any actual punishment.”
“Not exactly easy to punish a guy who doesn’t give a shit about anything,” they huffed.
His smile grew. “True, true.”
“This isn’t going to work.”
“Oh, ye of little faith. Just trust me.”
“As if that ever does me any good.”
“Haha, true, true, but this time only, I’m serious.”
“You say that every time.”
Cos merely laughed again, finally closing the lid to the truck he was working on. “It’s ready. I’m gonna test it.”
Silas rolled their eyes, decisively taking a few more steps back. “Go ahead, then. Better you than me.”
“That is the whole point of this experiment, is it not?” Cos pointed out. “You wouldn’t be able to test it anyway, so there’s no danger to you.”
“No danger, until the car explodes and sends shrapnel flying everywhere.”
“As dramatic as always. I predict the worst that’ll happen is I blow a fuse or something; I made sure to get rid of anything super flammable.” He hopped into the car, and though they’d watched him remove the fuel tank filled with gasoline, Silas still placed themself behind a makeshift barricade. It wouldn’t really do much if the truck did explode, but hey, it was the thought that counted. They surely didn’t want to give off the impression that they trusted Cos’ crazy experiments and encourage more.
A few quiet minutes passed, before the truck finally started up. They gave it a solid minute before they poked their head out from behind the barrier, peering at the idling truck. “Color me surprised. But can you actually drive like that?”
Cos tilted his head, rolling down the window before he cheerfully announced, “Probably not! Just this was almost enough to break my concentration!” It was more than apparent when he let the concentration be broken, as the truck immediately stalled. “But it’s a start. Why, I say if I can get a good battery, I might be able to charge it up manually.”
Silas shook their head. “Why didn’t you just get an electric car to begin with, if you’re going to put a battery in it anyway?”
“Well, where’s the fun in that! It’s not about what other people have done, it’s about what me, myself, and I can do! Surely you know that.”
They sighed. “Unfortunately. Unfortunately I do.”
“What is this?!” Silas hissed, and Cos tilted his head back to look over the back of the couch towards them.
“What is what?” he asked, playing ignorant though he had an idea of what they’d found. After all, they were standing in front of the dresser, which is where he’d placed his…
“Is this a gun? Seriously?” They marched over to the couch, pistol in hand. “Are you trying to get into more trouble?!”
Cos hummed. “I’ve had one before; why is this such a surprise?”
“I told you before, no guns in the house!”
Cheekily, he responded, “But this is an apartment.”
Silas huffed. “Don’t get smart with me. Just get rid of it; a weapon in your hands is just asking for trouble.”
“No more trouble than I’d get into without it.” He smiled. “What if someone attacks me?”
“Maybe you wouldn’t get attacked so much if you stopped initiating things!” When Cos’ expression didn’t change in response to the scolding, Silas sighed. “Don’t you understand I’m just looking out for you? I don’t want you to end up dead in a ditch somewhere.”
“As I’ve said many a time, you worry far too much, Silas.” Cos rose from the couch and walked to the other side, pulling the gun from their hands. “I’ll keep it in my car, then. But you know I can’t just get rid of it; it’s a dangerous world, after all.”
Silas shook their head. “That really doesn’t make me feel better, but I suppose that’s the best I’m gonna get, huh.”
Cos grinned, and in a singsong voice replied, “I’m glad you understand!”