"Urgh!!! Damn earthlings." Fnipper groaned and spat when he saw the confused look on Callistus' face.
"Listen carefully, I won't repeat myself." Fnipper placed the tiny bottle in his hand down, his expression abruptly turning serious. Callistus adjusted his sitting posture. He paid rapt attention to Fnipper's words.
"I'm not a tiny human, I'm from a supernatural cosmic race known as Daemons. Daemons feed on Faith, which in lame man terms could mean popularity. Belief." Fnipper paused for a moment before continuing.
"Anyways, There are gods and ancient entities—angels, demi-gods, monsters and thousand year old demons, spread throughout! All over the cosmos." a glimmer appeared in Fnipper's pupils as he narrated. Opposite him, Callistus watched with child-like innocence, doubt and yearning colouring his features.
"No way!! Are those real? I thought they were made up."
"Made up? Woah, you better not say that to their faces." Fnipper shook his head in warning. "Anyway, these mighty beings get bored all the time. I mean, they aren't as omniscient and omnipotent as you mortals are made to believe. So, a greedy bastard posing as a business entity came along and created the BIS — Bureau of Interstellar Streaming."
"What's that?" Callistus asked, scooting close to listen.
"It's a platform available all across the cosmos, through thousands of quadrants. Like a cosmic internet. Weaker beings of various species stream interesting things and the more powerful ones pay to watch. Very similar to you earthlings."
"Never heard of anything like that over here, but that's probably by design. We 'earthlings' are best at leeching off things till it's no more. Those gods are probably scared of us. Haha." Fnipper nodded his head in agreement.
"I've been here for only a few years, but this quadrant, especially this planet, is something else." A look of horror flashed through his eyes. "No wonder they sent me here," he added in a whisper.
"So wait, anyone can be a streamer?"
"Yes. Just like how any Daemon can become a channel handler, anyone can become a streamer too. I've seen streamers from all the corners of the cosmos, races you can't even comprehend. Some are as small as what you earthlings call atoms, and some as as big as stars." Fnipper chuckled. He smiled when he saw the look on Callistus face. The boy almost didn't look sick anymore.
"Here, in your lame world, cancer is deadly and has no cure. Out there, there are many ingredients that can cure it. It's like getting a pimple. For you, these ingredients are impossible to get, but with the streaming platform?... Easy peasy." Fnipper picked up his bottle and took a large gulp. A different kind of smile spread on his lips, one of pure satisfaction.
"It sounds so surreal. To think such a world existed. I can't even fathom how the experience must have been. Streaming just became my all time dream job." Callistus sighed, his eyes glowing with yearning.
"Meh! I've experienced it already. It's a beautiful thing, but just as with any other place or thing in existence, corruption has taken root within. Now it's as ugly as the evergrowing lump of cells slowly pulling you to oblivion." Fnipper spat. He jumped up, defying gravity as he gently handed in the gravestone. He took to a laid back position once again.
Callistus looked up, his interest still piqued. "You were a streamer?"
"The streaming platform quickly became important to Daemons because it is an easy way to gather faith, but no, I wasn't a streamer. Daemons don't stream, we manage channels. Streaming is useless to us."
"So you managed a channel? What was that like?" Callistus asked.
"Should a dying man have this much strength? Aren't you tired of talking?" Fnipper groaned. Callistus shrugged. He chuckled as he replied,
"When you know you could die at any time, not the usual dying from unknown causes, no. When you know that you are already half a foot into the grave and you know you'll be forced to take the second step soon… you learn to live in the moment."
Fnipper narrowed his eyes.
"I mean, look at me. I'm in a cemetery, sitting before my mama's grave, listening to a supernatural short man tell me about things that only exist in dreams. If I told anyone, they would think I either had too much weed, or I'm crazy."
"True. I'm shocked you even belief this." Fnipper scoffed.
"What's the worst that can happen… right?"
Fnipper took his time, nostalgia quickly overtaking him. "It was amazing." He finally said.
"It was my first channel and I was successful at it. They called me a genius…" a wistful expression coloured the features of the miniature man. Then anger abruptly flashed through, a seething rage that made Callistus flinch.
"Nevermind. It's all over now anyway."
Silence reigned in the cemetery, and Callistus was left to his thoughts, mulling over all he had just learned. Only after a while did he realise how silent it was, and only then did he realise how loud they had been.
Only then did he realise how lonely he had been.
Callistus suddenly burst into laughter, Fnipper stared at him in shock, his grip on his bottle tightened. Then he began snickering,
"Jeez, I wonder who the drunk is." he said amid laughter. Callistus kept laughing for a long while before finally stopping.
"You know, my mother died when I was seventeen… that way five years ago. A year ago, I was diagnosed with heart cancer. Very rare condition. Many said it's a miracle I made it this far but I don't believe in miracles. Six months, one year… It makes no difference. I'm dead either way."
Callistus looked down at the grass, his fingers playing with the leaves. His lips spread into a wistful smile.
"I'm honestly ready to go. There's nothing for me here anyway, and life can be very boring when you have no one to be there for you…"
The wind blew through. Trees rustled. Leaves and flowers danced in the air. Callistus raised his head, his brown pupils suddenly had a golden tint in them, like glazed honey. Fnipper was stunned as he stared into the glow.
"Who could have guessed that such a world existed. Although I'm sad I didn't get to experience it, I'm also happy I got to know about it."
"Thank you, Fnipper."
"Holy shit! This is it…" Fnipper suddenly muttered. His azure pupils glowed as he stared into Callistus'. He suddenly jumped down from the gravestone. He ran forward and grabbed the sick boy's hands with his tiny ones.
"Hey, I know we only just met, but… would you like to be a streamer on my channel?"
Callistus paused for a bit before chuckling,
"Like I said, what's the worst that can happen?"