[Introduction] Last Laugh

[death_kl0wn]

The game is over. Nobody won, any more than anyone in the Shinigami realm really won those interminable rounds of gambling. As soon as he realizes the game was coming to an end, that Light's fascinating plan had fallen apart, Ryuk leaves the warehouse, leaving the humans to squabble among themselves and phasing through the iron roof before vaulting

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[thrice_gifted]

Gabrielle is perhaps sitting with a book from the library, Aiden playing around near her feet with his little stuffed cat. Gabrielle is distracted, but if Ryuk approaches the little boy will certainly notice...while he's young yet he certainly has plenty of inherent magical ability.

[death_kl0wn]

Little kids can vary between boring and interesting, depending on how old they are, and this one at least is in the interesting range. Thus Ryuk comes closer, studying the toy, which looked almost alive to him, till he realized it wasn't, then studying the little guy.

[thrice_gifted]

It might come as a surprise to Ryuk when Aiden looks up and stares straight at him. He doesn't react for a moment, then he just raises the cat to make it 'look' at Ryuk. "Rawr!"

Gabrielle doesn't notice anything yet, absorbed in her book and used to Aiden roaring at pretty much anything with the cat.

[death_kl0wn]

"Ooh, is he supposed to do that?" Ryuk says, a little surprised and curious. "Whoa... hey... you can see me, kid?" he asks, even more surprised now.

[thrice_gifted]

Aiden nods and waves the cat at Ryuk again, roaring more insistantly. "Rawr!" It's supposed to be scary, and he doesn't know he's not supposed to see Ryuk. Or that Ryuk should probably be scary to him. His parents are Blood and he was born at the mansion, unusual things are fairly commonplace.

[death_kl0wn]

"Is that thing supposed to scare me or something?" he asks, puzzled now. "Usually I do the scaring. Geez, this kid's a tough little guy, if he's trying to scare me."

[thrice_gifted]

Aiden pouts a little at Ryuk, and Gabrielle speaks up from behind her book. "Aiden's always trying to scare people with Kaelas, you're right, he's..." She looks up, then, and falls silent as she stares at just what her son's been threatening with his toy.

[death_kl0wn]

"This yer kid?" the thing asks, looking from Aiden to Gabrielle, and as weird as he looks, he doesn't seem like he has any malicious intent toward either of them. If anything, his mask-like face seems mildly bemused.

[thrice_gifted]

"Yes. My son Aiden. My name is Gabrielle." She rises and moves beside her son. "I can't say I've seen anything quite like you before." She's not sure what she thinks of him, though at least he doesn't seem aggressive or malicious.

[death_kl0wn]

"Wouldn't think so, things like me ususally stay in our own world," he says. "Not that it's the most exciting place, and I was on my way back there when I found this place and thought I'd take a look around."

[thrice_gifted]

"Well, there's usually something going on, here." Aiden settles on the floor at Gabrielle's feet with his stuffed cat. Gabrielle hasn't taken her eyes off Ryuk. "What are you?"

[death_kl0wn]

"Ooh, good to hear that: I may just stick around then," he replies. "Oh me? Heh, I'm a shinigami."

[thrice_gifted]

"What is a Shinigami?" She's never heard of that before, and the Blood don't have an equivalent.

[death_kl0wn]

"Well, some humans call us death gods, not that they really worship us and not that we really care, either," he says. "The most that we do is end the lives of humans and add their lifetime to our own, but not many of us bother to do that any more."

[thrice_gifted]

"Add their lives to your own. What do you mean? How?" That it kills the person in question is an easy assumption and is not a pleasant thought to a woman with her son at her feet.

[death_kl0wn]

"We shinigami aren't born like humans or animals, and we can't really die the same way they do, but if we don't add lives to our own, we sort of fade away," he says. "Not a fun way to go, if you ask me: there's too many interesting things to find out."