Digging Though the Ages

Chapter 1

The sounds of shovels hitting the dirt and men calling out to offer water to the hunched over workers as they searched for the obelisk filled the air. Dirt and sand hit my face as the sun scorched my back.

"Brandon!" I turned to see the dark brown eyes of Sarah right in my face. I fell backwards onto my ass.

"You can't scare me like that!" She shrugged then pulled me out of the dig site. "Where's Ka Hiwa?" She gave me a look. Right...they're probably meditating.

We both walked to our tent. As I had thought, Ka Hiwa was meditating on their mat. Incense filled my nose immediately, forcing me to cover my face with my shirt. They opened an eye and sighed.

"Brandon...if you don't want to smell the incense then just walk out. You know you're going to smell it when I'm meditating, but you still force us into this dance. It's getting irritating." They closed their eye and went back into a deep meditative state.

I rolled my eyes and walked back into the scorching sun. Sarah followed behind me. "You both are really irritating."

"You act like I don't know that. They're my sibling in everything except for blood, so what did you expect." She walked over to Charles, our excavation manager.

I walked over to them birth, hands in my pockets. "Sup."

He glanced at me with his usual disgusted expression. "Where's your spirit boy hiding at?"

He flinched at my gaze. "They are meditating in our tent. Unless you want them to cast a castrating spell on you I'd suggest for you to leave them alone until they are ready to deal with your ass."

I didn't wait for his response and walked back into the dig site. I grabbed a shovel and began digging alongside the other boys. Oliver ran over to me.

"Mr. Wells! Mr. Wells! We found something!" I caught the excitable man before he fell on top of me. He looked up at me with big hazel eyes. "We found something in the rocks."

I set him on his feet. "Show me." He ran over to a group of men, all huddled together. I jogged over to them and hunched over to get a view.

A small, dusty corner of something peaked out of the sand. It seemed to be made out of a pale material but it was too dusty to see properly. I looked at Oliver, Megan, Tony, and LeRoy. "Get your tools and get as much as you can out. Everyone else, take a break. You can switch out when you feel the need to. Call me back when you find something else." They all nodded and I walked out of the dig site.

I watched as Ka Hiwa spoke to Charles in their native tongue. I couldn't stop the snicker that escaped my lips as Charles's face turned red in annoyance.

Ka Hiwa looked over at me. "Hello Brandon." They walked away from Charles, a small smirk on their face as Charles looked like he was about to blow a gasket.

Charles walked over to me. "Why do we even have him?" My jaw twitched.

"They are here as our doctor. Just because they are a spiritual guide doesn't diminish the fact that they saved your sorry ass from a snake bite despite them saying that you'd get hurt if you walked in that direction. You dismissed it because they said spirits informed them of this."

He opened his mouth and closed it a couple times before stalking away in a huff.

I walked after Ka Hiwa. "Hey...uh you good?" They were leaning against a rail looking down the canyon. They curtly nodded. I sighed and looked at them. "Ka Hiwa? You should know by now that you can talk to me. If you need me to beat Charles's ass, then just say the word. You know I don't need much of a reason." They snorted.

"I don't need you to kick his ass. I could just cast a spell on him and that would be that." I laughed at that. I pulled a cigarette out of my pocket and lit it. The ash fell off the side of the canyon. A puff of smoke was drawn from my lips.

I offered the cigarette to Ka Hiwa. They shook their head. "No thank you. I would prefer to not kill my lungs." I rolled my eyes and took another drag.

"Suit yourself." I looked upon the canyon and bumped their shoulder with mine. They smiled softly. "When you're ready to talk, I'm there for you."

They nodded and leaned their head on my shoulder. I chuckled lightly. "This looks so gay, huh?" They snorted and nodded. "Eh, I don't give a fuck. People can think what they want."

Sarah walked over to us and grabbed my cigarette from my gand and took her own drag. "Rude." She snickered.

She looked over at Ka Hiwa. "What's up with you?" I nudged her in the ribs. "Rude." We stuck our tongues out at each other.

"Thanks guys," We looked at Ka Hiwa. "I needed that." They looked out over the canyon and smiled. They moved their curly black hair to one side of their face and it blew lightly on that side of their face. The sun hit their face beautifully.

I smiled as I saw that light in their eyes. A light that always seems to dim after they interact with Charles. I hate how he treats all of us. Me, as a gay man. Sarah, as a trans, lesbian. And Ka Hiwa as a Māhū. It really sucked that he was the only excavation manager that would us all to work together, even if we had to fight tooth and nail for that to happen. In all honesty, if we thought get was bad after the snake bite, he was even worse before.

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The men took turns escalating until nightfall. Afterwards, I practically dragged Oliver into our bedroom and forced him to take a nap, not before I kissed his forehead good night. I walked into the main part of the tent and saw as Ka Hiwa prayed to whatever spirit he prayed to at night, and saw Sarah reading up on some of the wildlife in the forest we were occupying for the next couple months.

I side-hugged Sarah and waved Ka Hiwa goodnight before going back to my bed. Oliver subconsciously hugged me in his sleep. I kissed his forehead before cuddling with him, falling fast asleep in his arms.