anniversary ((open))

[righteous_pen]

January 28th

Comments

[endlessgoth]

Death had been watching him quietly for a time before she decided to approach. She knew what the day meant to the poor kid and it wasn't one he should be spending alone. Picking up a fresh cup of coffee and a plate of snacks from a house elf, she wandered over to where he sat.

"Hey. Want some company?" she asked, giving him a gentle smile.

[righteous_pen]

Teru swallowed, forcing himself to look up from his coffee at her. "...I think I do, yes," he said, quietly. Of course she'd know the date. She must have been there, with Yagami as he died.

(And there was that memory, his former god crawling in the dirt, shot again and again, pleading with Ryuk not to write down his name - he'd seen it so often, but it still wouldn't leave...)

[endlessgoth]

She sat down, smiling at the cat in his lap. "Cute lil thing. Does he have a name?"

Death wrapped her hands around her own mug of coffee. "I'll skip the obvious question and not ask how you're doing if that'll help," she offered.

[righteous_pen]

"She. Her name's Masuyo." Who had sat up, looking curiously at Death. Whether she recognised her or was just interested in the stranger and potential provider of petting was another matter.

"And..." He sighed, looking back down into his coffee. "I'm sure you know. It's worse than I'd thought it would be."

[endlessgoth]

Death reached over to scritch Masuyo's ears, "Whoops. Sorry there, little one."

"It's been my experience that people go one of two directions; either they need to talk about it, or they need to be distracted from their memories. Which would you prefer, kiddo?" she asked. "I'm easy."

[righteous_pen]

Masuyo was unoffended, and nuzzled into her hand, purring. Teru drank more of his coffee. "I'm tired of it all," he said, softly. "I knew what was going to happen for so long. It's more than two years, now, since I first came here, and I learned then how it was all going to end. When I went back to face it, to - live through it - I thought it would be over. I thought I could move on. I -" His voice caught, and he gripped his mug tightly. "...finally got what I deserved, didn't I?"

[endlessgoth]

She gave him a sympathetic smile, still petting the cat. "Honey, it's not my place to grant absolution or to say someone did or didn't get what they deserved. I'm just there to try and make the transition a little easier from point A to point B. You had it kinda rough there at the end."

"My brother Destiny would probably agree with you. There's knowing about what happened, and then there's going back to face it. That was pretty brave of you."

[righteous_pen]

"So I've been told." He was trying to believe that. He'd thought of himself as brave, once. And righteous, and ...valuable. A lot of things.

"You have - a brother, as well?" Teru frowned, curious. "I'm sorry, it may be ...forward of me to ask about this, but I still don't know how to think of you. Not really. You're nothing to do with the shinigami I know of, are you?"

[endlessgoth]

"Yep, brothers and sisters. There are seven of us. We're all aspects of human and sometimes immortal existence."

Death shook her head, "No. Not even close." She didn't hold with the sort of shinigami that stole life to prolong it's own. There was a natural order to things that had to be maintained. Once or twice she had been forced to intervene. It had not been pretty.

"It's.. tricky to explain. Think of shinigami, reapers, anything that has to do with dying or death or that final moving on. Now imagine them as facets on a much bigger, much older stone. I'm that stone."

[righteous_pen]

"...oh," Teru said, faintly. "I - think I see." He couldn't have put his understanding into words, but the image made sense. For all he knew, she'd told him this - before.

"You - I don't want to offend you, but... you're not what I'd have expected." Not that he knew what he would have expected from the incarnation of death.

[endlessgoth]

Death laughed, it was a light, happy sort of sound. "Oh honey, if I had a nickel for every time I heard that one, I think I'd have all of them. It's okay, most people expect the grim robed figure with skeletal hands and a scythe. All of that," she pulled a face, "is a little over the top for me."

Which isn't to say she hadn't pulled the Scary Routine out once in awhile, but it wasn't something she enjoyed doing.

"It's not supposed to be something so awful. You're just moving from one plane of existence to another."

[righteous_pen]

Teru nodded, slowly. "It was - waiting for it, that was terrible. Not ...not the end itself."

[endlessgoth]

She reached over and patted his hand. "I know. But you went back, that was pretty brave. Most people wouldn't have done that."

[righteous_pen]

"...maybe not. But..." He shook his head. "After all that, I - I don't know what to do, now."

[endlessgoth]

Death sipped her coffee, considering. "The way you came back isn't making it any easier on you, kiddo. Most of the time after people die, they move on to where they're supposed to go. You.. wound up getting detoured. Now that's not a bad thing, but it's making things like closure a little tricky."

[righteous_pen]

"I don't want to leave this place," Teru said, realising it with a little surprise. "I can't leave Masuyo behind, and ...I have a friend here." He wasn't used to considering such things important, even now.