Fandom: Overwatch (kinda), @brancadoodles‘ child AU
Featuring: Naya, The Gravedigger, and Tinker
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Naya belongs to @brancadoodles
Story Summary: Just a w-hole-some conversation.
Quick thanks to my twin @girlwiththeowlhat for spot checking.
One is used to crying in a graveyard just as one is used to another hiding behind the carved memorials, but it’s not often that The Gravedigger found herself catching said griever in her arms as she dug.
She did however expect the kicking and punching that came afterwards. Taking the few seconds to right herself she placed the small child down, who quickly backed into a corner and curled into a ball, and began to rock back and forth.
“Naya!? Naya!!?”
Each call made the girl curl harder. The Gravedigger knelt, careful not to touch, as she drew out a small box from her belt. Tinker sprung to life chiming a few chords to The Gravedigger, she smiled and whistled a few back to the small omnic. It’s single eye blinked twice as it jumped from The Gravedigger’s hand and crawled up to the girl’s leg and tapped the mechanical appendages.. The girl shrugged him away and continued her rocking.
The Gravedigger narrowed her eyes watching the girl curiously. She whistled to Tinker to return to her side but the small omnic stayed chiming a low D flat and F in defiance. She sighed and listened for the calls to continue, they’d grown silent.
The Gravedigger knew that she should find the party but she also knew that when one was hiding they didn’t want to be found till they found themselves again.
So, she did what she did best continue digging. Tinker kept by the girl’s side as she dug. The world drowned out as The Gravedigger worked her rhythm syncing to a song she didn’t know. She gave the girl a small ledge as she dug deeper letting her be by herself. Tinker didn’t leave her side as she dug humming a soft song by her side.
“Naya?”
The calls were closer now. The Gravedigger looked up watching the shadows pass. The girl seemed to press into the wall trying to hide again. Sighing she climbed up the ladder to the top of the grave. She couldn’t tell who it was but they were heading straight towards her.
“Have you seen a small girl around the age of six or eight?” The the woman asked politely.
The Gravedigger shook her head.
“Sorra ma’am ah a’ven’t. A’ve ya looked north? Alex is diggin a grave. She might’a’ve fallin in.”
The woman paled at the thought but still gave The Gravedigger a curt nod before running off to the party. The Gravedigger watched her leave then climbed back down to the small ledge sitting on a rung of the ladder looking at the girl. The girl seemed calmer now and was looking at Tinker.
“Ah can’t keep ya ere. Dell be lookin for ya and will find ya sooner or later.”
“They’re so loud.”
The Gravedigger looked at her for a few moments trying to comprehend her words.
“Ye, mean yer class?”
She nodded looking at Tinker who was now perched on her legs. The Gravedigger sighed rubbing the back of her neck before turning her gaze to the sky. It was almost midday most likely they brought the class to the center as the teachers searched for her.
“Ah Grave isn’t da best place ta hide. We only a’ve six being dug at a time.”
She turned away looking at the narrow walls. The grave was about eight feet long and four feet wide so there wasn’t much breathing room. The owner of the graveyard, Suman, thought those who were outcasted to society could find a place within the hallowed grounds by digging graves instead of a machine. The Gravedigger couldn’t complain, when Suman had found her seven years prior, washed up on the shore with no right eye, no memory, and barely any clothes on her back, it was a blessing that she was given a job at all.
The Gravedigger sighed, tapping her chin twice before smiling as she remembered something. She tapped her work belt as a small box fell out. It hissed a bit as it gained a larger form revealing a pair of red noise canceling headphones. She spoke as she tossed them to the girl.
“Da owner gave me em when ah first started workin ere. Ah found most of the grievers too loud or bothersome but deh headphones help.”
The girl caught them and looked at the ragged pair of headphones then to Tinker.
“Does he have a name?”
The Gravedigger smiled.
“Well, ah call im Tinker but e’s originally Tinker Tox or Tinker Chest. Ah don’t know which is da right one.”
The girl nodded smiling as she poked the small omnic.. He gave a melodramatic death dance and fell down the two feet past the edge. The Gravedigger and the girl both giggled as Tinker crawled back up the ladder and The Gravedigger’s body to get to her shoulder.
“Feelin good enough ta go back?”
The girl was hesitant but nodded putting on the headphones and stood. The Gravedigger stood to the side giving her barely enough room to jump down and access the ladder. The girl, Naya, had however chosen to jump to the ladder. Her mechanical legs gave ample support to get her across despite the soft dirt underfoot. She grabbed the rungs while The Gravedigger steddied the ladder. She was a fast climber and had peaked before The Gravedigger had even gotten a quarter of the way up.
Tinker chimed a few chords in the G dorian scale before holding the sixth in sorrow as he believe he’d lost his new friend. The Gravedigger chuckled lifting her hand to let the small omnic surface before her. Tinker gave a lovely resolution to the fifth in happy surprise when he saw Naya waiting there for the two of them. The Gravedigger soon accompanied the two as she pulled herself up from the partially dug grave.
“E likes ya ah lot.”
The Gravedigger smirked as the small omnic ran around the small girl making her giggle.
“All right, time ta get ya back to ya class little miss.”
Naya frowned but gave a simple nod but still proceeded to drag her feet as The Gravedigger lead her back to her class.
