Fandom: World of Warcraft
Pairing: Male Orc OC x Male Human OC [Romantic]
Rating: Teen
Content: Alternative Universe, Theramore joins the Horde, Bigotry in a fantasy setting, Worker abuse, Alcoholism
Date originally written: 6th June 2019
Summary: Tom hasn't seen the wolf in a while, and the owner of said wolf decides to go and investigate to see where all these fish that Kal has are coming from…

Author's notes: Big thanks to Windwyrm on Ao3 for helping me with the grammar and wording of this chapter!

It had been a week since Tom had seen the white wolf walking around the docks.

Usually he paid no mind to who he did or did not see around Theramore, as people came and went all the time to see family, check up on the businesses that they’d invested into, or simply to have a beer at the pub with some old mates. He saw all sorts of individuals come and go, and for the most part, Tom didn’t give a shite. But humans- no, people were not one thousand pound wolves, and Tom felt a bit alarmed that he’d not seen her around lately.

He hated to admit it, but he’d started to actually like that wolf. For him, animals were just far more easy to understand and get along with than people were. They didn’t lie or cheat, they had a strong loyalty to their masters that could outmatch the loyalty of any human or orc, and most importantly, they did not judge anyone based on who they were or what they looked like. If they judged anyone, it was by smell. And Tom liked to think he smelled rather nice.

Well...maybe to a wolf, perhaps. He was sure no lady or gent would enjoy being in the presence of someone who constantly smelled of seawater and fish. Either way, that wolf had not seemed to care that he was human, and he’d grown fond of her despite only having seen her a few times. He hoped that she was alright, and that she’d just been in other parts of Theramore, or perhaps had simply moved away with her master.

He couldn’t dwell on it for too long though, as the sun would rise in a few hours and the citizens of Theramore with it. He needed to get ready, as he had a long day of work ahead of him. It would be just another day in the hundreds he’d spent fishing the area. Sometimes he wondered how the local populations of fish survived with just how much fishing he and the others did. He guessed that was probably why there were regulations put in place for what fish you could catch each day.

Sharks gotta eat too, I guess.

Tom was about to start getting dressed when he heard footsteps coming from the living room.

His father couldn’t possibly be awake at three a.m. He knew that he sometimes had trouble getting to sleep, or even staying asleep once he'd managed to doze off, but for his father to be awake at such an hour was absurd. He was getting on in his years and spent most of his free time guzzling down a drink or sleeping, sometimes both. He wouldn’t dare get up if could help it.

Which meant that maybe something wasn’t quite right.

Tom grabbed the little fish-gutting knife that was on his bedside table, and silently opened his bedroom door to peer his head out and have a look, and was relieved to find that it was in fact just his father, and not some burglar trying to nick a family heirloom.

He quickly put the knife away, and went back into his room to grab his lantern, and lit it. He put all of his work clothes on, and double checked his bag to make sure he had everything he needed. The rest of the equipment he’d need was already stored on the little red sailboat, so he wouldn’t have to be carrying any large nets with him any time soon, until his current one ripped and was made unusable. He would usually make a cup of tea on the fire in the kitchen, if his father was asleep, but if he tried that now when he was awake, Tom would just be lectured about how he was wasting time that could be used to walk to the docks. He did not want to be dealing with his father's ire right now, especially not today, noting that his father had been getting more and more irritable as the week went by.

He could drink some tea when he got home.

He walked out of his room and grabbed the thick, navy blue jacket that hung by the front door, and was just about to walk out of the house when his father stopped him.

"Thomas!"

He froze and slowly turned around. "Yes, father?"

"Don't ye be going out talking to no orcs, ye hear me boy?"

Tom looked a bit confused at the suddenness of the request. "Um...o' course not, father. What's brought this up?"

His father just sighed and grumbled. "Been 'aving trouble with some rude arse orcs and trolls at the fish stall….they’re all up to no good, I tell ye. I’d suggest ye stay far away from any orc, troll or tauren that ye come across. They’ll only give ye trouble, and I doubt those orc-loving guards will come to ye defence if they do somethin' nasty to ye. They’ll probably think ye be the instigator, if anything! So ye stay far away from them. Don't want me son ending up dead on the street."

Tom just nodded in confusion. "Uhh...yeah. O' course, father. I...won't be doing none o' that, I promise."

"Alright then. Now, get a move on! Ye got work to do!"

Tom nodded again and rushed out the front door before his father could chastise him for being late to work or continue his very questionable rant. He’d really rather not entertain those sort of thoughts from his father if he could help it, and he was almost glad that for the most part, he never saw his father except for the few moments during the day when he was ressupplying the stall with fresh fish. He couldn’t imagine having to deal with his father’s shite for any longer than 5 minutes.

As for his father’s request…

I think I can tell apart a sketchy character from a trustworthy one for meself, thanks, ye old geezer.

Although Thomas had never spoken to an orc, tauren or troll before, he knew they weren’t as bad as his father thought them to be. He’d never had any trouble with any of the other Horde members before, and he remembered when a week ago at the fish stall, when the wolf had been begging for a fish, that a nearby orc had smiled at him. It hadn’t been an evil grin, or a smile that was supposed to demonstrate their menacing, sharp teeth at him. It had been an honest, genuine smile.

Tom didn’t think that anyone that was even slightly sketchy was capable of pulling off such a charming smile.

Sod off with yer bigotry, old bean. I’ll talk to whatever orc or troll I feel like.

He’d been thankful that when he’d woken up in the morning, that it hadn’t been a stressful one. Kal’Grok was still laying by his bed when he eventually got up, and what was more relieving, was that she was still asleep.

He didn’t know why she’d stopped running off when he wasn’t looking, but he put it down to the fact that Kal was still trying to learn the landscape of Theramore, and had finally been able to sate her curiosity after a while.

The past week had gone as smoothly as it possibly could have. The hunts he’d ventured on had proven to be fruitful, and he was not only able to provide food for himself and Kal, but was also able to make some gold off of the furs and extra meat that was left over. He was in quite a good mood, and with it being a day off for him, he decided he’d go out to sate his own curiosity, for once.

He was going to figure out who had been giving Kal free fish.

Maybe he’d make a new friend, and perhaps he could even pay the person back for their troubles.

He leaned down and gently shook Kal awake. “Come one, time to get up. We’re going for a walk.” The moment that she heard the word 'walk', Kal’s ears perked up and she quickly hopped up into a standing position, almost as if she hadn’t even been asleep. She stretched her legs and body, and then sat near the front door, patiently waiting for her master to get ready.

Soon enough, he stepped out into the fresh morning breeze, Kal close behind him. He looked over to her, and urged her to walk ahead of him. “Go on, show me where you got those fish. You’ve got my permission to wander wherever you like, this time.”

Kal just looked at him like she hadn’t heard anything he'd said, and only started walking when he did. She eventually understood after a few tries of his master to get her to go in front of her that she was meant to be leading the walk, this time.

She started her trot down the streets of Theramore, looking behind herself every minute or so to make sure her master was still behind her, following along. She let her nose guide her towards the busy market where all the nice smelling food was, hoping she could get some fish from the small creature that gave her nice pets.

She made sure to smell everything else that was in her path as well, including the legs and hands of a troll woman who had walked by. She gave the wolf some scratches behind the ear, and spoke to her master for a few minutes before Kal decided she was done waiting, and bolted off towards the market. Her master quickly ended the conversation and followed suit.

They finally made it to the market, where Kal decided to start sniffing absolutely everything she could see: meat, fruit, weapons and armour, people and their very interesting bags, and their hands and legs and feet, if they were available. Most of the smaller creatures cowered before her, but the more familiar and bigger creatures welcomed her presence. Her master scolded her when she sniffed a woman’s purse, telling her to leave it, even though it smelled really good.

She could smell the fish on the other side of the market, but was far more interested in the other scents that she hadn’t paid attention to the last time she’d been there.

Her master started talking to one of his own kind as she sniffed somebody's axe.

“Have you seen where my wolf Kal has gone to get fish? I’ve never actually been able to figure out where she’s gotten them from. She just shows up at home with fish in her mouth.”

The other orc laughed. “Yes, I’ve seen where she’s gone. There’s a fish stall that way-” the warrior pointed towards a far away stall that he could just barely see in the distance, “-that’s run by a human. Last I saw, she left that stall with a fish in her mouth. She got lots of pets from that human as well, from what I heard.” He raised his eyebrow at that. “Huh...interesting. Thanks for the information.” He looked over to his wolf, who’d been growling and huffing at a cat that was high up on a ledge, hissing at her. “Kal, come! Leave that cat alone.” Kal whipped her head around to look at her master and hesitantly left the cat alone at her master’s request.

They walked over towards the fish stall, and as it came into view, he was able to see an older human man hunched over the stall slightly. The human looked like he’d not slept in over a thousand years, and like he was about to snap at the next person that annoyed him.

He thought to himself that there was no way that a human that looked like that would give free fish to anyone, let alone to a wolf.

He sighed and considered the possibility of the man simply having a tough exterior, but in reality was a softy when it came to animals. Hell, he knew many orcs who were like that, there was no reason why this human man couldn't be, too.

He quickly pulled his thoughts together and walked up to the stall, trying not to seem too intimidating. Beside him, Kal was wagging her tail at the prospect of getting some fish for breakfast. He truly hoped that this was the right man, and the right fish stall.

“Excuse me, sir...you wouldn’t happen to be the one who’s been giving Kal here free fish, have you?”

The human looked him dead in the eye with a look that might’ve made him retreat had it been coming from another orc. Subconsciously, he stood his ground as the human spoke. “No. I haven’t. I wouldn’t give free fish to no one, especially not to some green-skin and his feral dog. Don’t know where ye got that bloody idea from...”

He was completely shocked, and confused rather than angry that a human would actually say that to his face. Usually humans were more petty and passive aggressive than outwardly rude.

Around him, the people that’d heard the human’s vile words had become quiet, and looked over toward the two men. Beside the man running the fish stall was another stall, run by a woman who was a little bit shorter. She looked very concerned, and whispered over to other human. “Alfred, you can’t say shit like that !” The man, apparently named Alfred, looked over at her with the same expression shown toward the orc. “Oh, and why the bloody hell not?” The woman looked exasperated at his response. “You know damn well why! You just can’t!” Alfred grumbled and looked back to the orc in front of him. He said nothing for a few moments, just staring at the orc with a look of displeasure.

“Leave. Yer driving away other well paying customers.”

He almost didn't want to leave, if only to piss off the human even more, but in his peripheral vision, he was able to see some guards who had been alerted to the situation, who were staring right at him.

They were waiting for him to make a move, and he decided he didn’t want to get into any sort of altercation with the city guards. All fights that had happened between humans and orcs within the city walls had only served to make the relationship with Theramore and the rest of the Horde more shaky and unstable, so most did their best to not offend one another or get into any racially charged fights. It had worked well so far, and he didn’t want to cause a situation that would have major consequences over some fish, so he decided that he would, in fact, leave.

Through clenched teeth and tusks, he bid the man farewell. The man scoffed at him.

He didn’t bother to look behind him to see if the guards had stopped staring at him or not, and only did so a few seconds later to ensure that Kal was actually following him.

The orc was frustrated that he'd left the market with no more information than when he'd arrived, and that he’d also been put in a rather sour mood, to boot. He truly believed that he was going to need to let off all of this steam before he snapped at someone who didn’t deserve his ire, and decided he’d go meet up with a friend he could spar with and vent his frustrations to.

He had definitely been right about one thing, that man had not been giving Kal fish. So...either somebody else worked at that fish stall as well, or the orcish woman he’d spoken to had either lied to him or had questionable memory.

He liked to believe that the woman had been speaking the truth. It never did any good to expect the worst of people, so he liked to give everyone the benefit of the doubt until they gave him a reason to assume the worst.

Someone else had to have been giving Kal fish. It was the only explanation.

Either way, to him it didn’t matter anymore. He was in a foul mood and didn’t want to think about the morning’s events for even a second longer.

As he turned a tight, narrow corner, his hip was painfully smashed into by a wooden cart, filled to the brim with a large pile of fish.

“Aw shite! Ahm so fockin' sorreh!”

Before the orc was a much younger, tanned and freckled human, who just barely came up to his chest. The man’s dirty blond hair was short and curly, and was currently mussed up by the wind, falling in front of his face. His brown eyes looked up at him apologetically. “So sorreh ‘bout that, mate. Ah didn’t see ye there!”

He looked down at the fish, and back up at the human. He looked somewhat similar to the older human that’d insulted him earlier, only younger and less angry looking.

His thoughts were interrupted by Kal trotting over to the human and sniffing and licking at his face. The human laughed and gently pushed Kal’s snout away from his face. “There ye are, ye silly wolf! Been wonderin’ where ye’ve been off tae!”

Oh. It was him that'd been giving Kal fish.

Well, that certainly made much more sense.

“I’m assuming you’re the one that’s been giving Kal the fish that she’s been randomly showing up with?” He questioned. The human suddenly looked guilty. “Aye...ah ‘ave been...hope ye not mad or anythin’ o’ the sort. She’s just vereh persistent and ah’ve not ‘ad the heart tae turn her aweh.”

The orc almost couldn’t understand the human’s Common because of his very thick, odd sounding accent. “Sorry I’m...having a hard time understanding you.”

The human let out a laugh.

“Oh, quite sorry! I know me accent’s quite thick. I’m from northern Kul’Tiras, and I was mostly raised by me dwarven aunt and uncle, so me accent’s all over the place. I’ll try tae tone it down a lil’ bit, but no promises!”

The human’s accent was still very noticeable, but at least he was able to understand him now. “I have no problems with Kal being given fish by anyone, I was simply curious as to who was doing it. She’ll just wander off and a few hours later come back with a fish or two in her mouth. She’s a bit mischievous, though I’m sure you probably already know at this point.”

The smaller man suddenly perked up, and spoke more confidently than he’d ever heard a human speak before. “Do I ever! Could ye believe that she followed me all the way tae the docks at three in the morning? She followed me, and then tried tae jump in me bloody sailboat when I was about to leave! I went fishing, came back a few hours later and she was still there, waiting for me!” The human said, amusement clear in his voice.

The orc burst out into laughter. The human couldn’t help laughing along with him.

“Oh, I don’t doubt you for one bit. She’s done worse, unfortunately.”

“Has she, now? Can’t imagine all the other mischievous things she’s done! Ay there, girl?” The human turned his attention to Kal and started petting her thick, white fur. His entire hand and half of his arm got lost in the wolf’s mane as he attempted to scratch her neck. Kal closed her eyes in contentment.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, didn’t catch ye name!”

The orc smiled and pet Kal along with the human. “My name is Korgah, and my wolf’s name is Kal’Grok. Uh...the rough translation of her name into common would be...Bone Crusher.”

The human grinned, this time. “What a fitting name for a wolf! And...the translation of yer name?”

“Untranslatable, as I’ve learned.”

“Ahhh...I see. Well, me name is Thomas. Thomas Wesley, though ye can just call me Tom, for short.” Tom held out his hand for a handshake, and Korgah hesitated for a small second, before he encapsulated the human’s hand in his own. “Throm’ka, Thomas Wesley.” Tom looked a bit confused, not knowing what he'd said. “It’s an Orcish greeting. It means ‘Well met’." Korgah explained. Tom’s confused expression quickly changed to one of understanding. “Oh! Well, Throm’ka tae you as well then, Korgah!” They shook each other’s hands, and Tom couldn't help but notice how incredibly massive Korgah’s hand was in comparison to his. His own hand could barely wrap around one finger, and his entire arm could easily be crushed in an instant, if Korgah chose to do so. And yet, the orc's grip was as gentle as ever.

“Well...I’ve got tae go now. If I’m late me father will kill me! Ye know how it is; no rest for the wicked!" Tom started pushing his cart again to leave, but quickly stopped and backed up after only a few seconds. "Oh, I forgot tae ask ye, is it alright if I give Kal some fish? Trust me, ye gonna have yerself a hard time trying tae get any fish from me father! Better now than later, if ye know what I mean."

Korgah considered it for a few moments before he nodded in agreement. "I can only assume that your father is the human working at the fish stall that called me a green-skin earlier?" He questioned, watching Tom as he picked out the perfect specimens of fish for Kal. Tom stopped in the middle of picking up a trout, his expression changing in an instant. "Oh, bloody hell, he didn't really, did he? He really said that tae ye?" Korgah hummed in confirmation, his expression becoming grim. "Mate, I'm so bloody sorry. He shouldn't have said that tae ye. That's bloody awful…"

The were both silent for a few moments, Tom seemingly deep in thought before he started to speak once more. "Ye know what, I'll make it up tae ye. Since me father was such a prick tae ye, I'll give ye four fish; two for yerself and two for Kal! How's that sound, ay?" He said, lifting up for fish in his hands. Korgah seemed quite surprised. "Oh..I'm not sure that's necessary-" Tom interrupted the orc by shoving two fish in his hands, and throwing the other two in Kal's mouth. " Please. Consider it an apology. Me father may be a prick, but I'm not, and I want tae apologise on behalf of me father, since I know he ain't gonna apologise any time soon."

Korgah looked at the fish in his hands, at the ones in Kal's mouth, and then back to Tom again. He wasn't sure if he should accept the fish or not, as he wasn't well versed enough in everyday human interactions to know if this was 'normal.' He wasn't sure how he felt about being apologised to on behalf of someone else, as orcs didn't do that for each other, but Korgah would simply have to accept that this must be the cultural norm for humans, no matter how weird it might've seemed to him. 

"Um….thank you..?" He said, unsure if thanking the human was appropriate in this instance. Tom smiled at him though, so he had to assume it was fine. "No worries, mate! And, ye know...if ye do want more fish in the future, I suggest coming 'round when me father's not the one manning the stall. I don't do it very often, but there are a few rare times when I'm the one selling the fish instead. I promise ye, I'm much more polite than he is!" Not that Korgah needed any convincing of Tom's politeness, though it was good to know he could perhaps still pay the human back for all the fish that Kal had conned out of him. "I hope to see you in the market then, instead of your father. Kal seems to like you more, anyway."

Tom laughed again, and gave Kal a few more pets before gripping the handle of his cart. "Well...hope tae see ye around Korgah! Unfortunately I got lots more fishing to be doing today so I can't hang 'round. Cheers!" He gave Korgah a little wave before he started to hurriedly push his fish-filled cart up towards the market, leaving Korgah there with two fish in his hands. His slight confusion was interrupted by Kal attempting to follow the human back into the market, before Korgah called her back.

"What a strange little man. Though I'm not sure you care about that, do you? Little rascal." He said to Kal, who looked very pleased with the fish she had received. Korgah just chuckled and turned back around, trying to remember what he had been doing before the human had accidentally smashed into him.

Ah, yes. Sparring with Hau'ne to get rid of my bad mood.

A bad mood which he no longer had, surprisingly.

It didn't mean he still couldn't go visit his Tauren friend to at least talk, and maybe have some fish together for breakfast.

"Come on, Kal. Wanna go show Hau'ne your fish?"

Kal's tail started to wag fast at the thought of that. She growled deeply in excitement, fish still gripped in her jaws.

"RrrruuuUUUuuuooooo!"

Korgah laughed as Kal started to lead the way.

It had taken Tom only a couple of minutes to unload the fish from the cart onto the stall where they were to be sold. He'd shared a few words with his father but nothing more than that; his father was too distracted by his thoughts to really pay attention to anything Tom was saying.

I can only take a guess as to what he's thinking about. Bet Korgah stood his ground and embarrassed the hell out of ye! Serves ye right.

Tom had quickly went back to the sail boat with his now empty cart after he was done, and along the way he started thinking about the orc he'd spoken with earlier.

The conversation had been pleasant, and although Korgah had had trouble understanding him at times, it had gone surprisingly well.

It went entirely different to how his father thought such a conversation would go. The orc had given him no trouble whatsoever, and when they had shaken hands his grip had been gentler than most human's that he'd experienced. The situation had gone in the literal opposite direction of what his father thought, and Tom could only come to the conclusion that his father was completely and utterly delusional.

I don't have tae listen tae anything me father says. As long as he doesn't catch me disobeying him, I'll be fine.

Tom would make sure of it.