"Death must be so beautiful. To have no yesterday, and no to-morrow."

[scissorbite]

Comments

[juddering]

No. There are things I need to do first.

[defythehunger]

Don't we all?

[juddering]

Some might be more ready than others to meet their ends. [ she stares at him blankly. ] But there are things the rest of us can do to prevent it.

[defythehunger]

[ He smirks a bit, shaking his head. ]

Nobody is ready for death, even if they say they are, even if they are expecting their God to meet them. [ He shrugs, pulling his helmet to his lap and dusting it off with mild interest. ] Nobody wants to die, not really.

[juddering]

You think them liars? [ she eyes the helmet with cursory interest but her gaze quickly travels to look the man up and down. ] I know some who would welcome death gladly.

[defythehunger]

Liars without intention to lie.

[ Resting his arms on the helmet lazily, he looks up at her from his seat on the stone steps. He's taking a break from a long travel. ]

Nobody wants to die. [ He repeats with a drawl on his speech, as if analysing his own words. ] Some people just want to stop living, though.

[juddering]

[ she nods slowly - not necessarily in agreement, but at least in understanding. ] Is this the first time you have thought about death? Your opinions are - sound.

[defythehunger]

[ He smiles a bit ruefully at that, but quickly covers it up with a non-committal shrug. ]

I try not to think about it, but it's inevitable. [ Kind of hard to avoid it when you are someone who constantly tries to avoid it - or causes it in some cases. ]

[juddering]

You are - I think I remember the word - fatalistic. A little sad to see when you could change your fortunes if you wanted. [ she lifts her chin expectantly ] And if you had the heart for it.

[defythehunger]

[ His eyebrow arches, wonders if she has just insulted him. Still, he seldom pays mind to insults so he simply watches her curiously. ]

Are you some fortune-teller? [ Like those in the fairs. She's missing a crystal ball and big earrings though, isn't she? A Romanian accent too, perhaps. ]

[juddering]

[ it wasn't meant as an insult, but as encouragement. Tough love, perhaps. ]

No, but I do know about fortunes. They are not as solid as you would think. [ she pauses and begins to slowly smile, as if she had suddenly begun remembering something that cheered her. ] Death and other fates can be held at arm's length but it takes courage. And great cruelty.

[defythehunger]

[ He does not need to sniff like a dog to take her scent. He finds it odd. Not sulfur nor human, not like the flesh of a sibling either, more like a monster, but not the stench they usually perspire. No, something else entirely. ]

Sometimes you have to be cruel to survive. [ He watches her, interested. What is she? ]

[juddering]

[ a shallow human body for an unlucky curse, that's all she is. Treated like a beast since her creation, Dilla is exercising her new-found freedom: she's never given counsel like this before, she's barely even talked to another creature outside of her own kind and those that held them prisoner. ]

Yes. Cruel men seem to live long lives; they must be doing something correctly.