II ○ [voice]

[twicebonded]

[ Vanyel is singing, his voice a soft baritenor. It's unclear whether or not the recording is accidental, because he's not playing his lute, but this song has been stuck in his head for several days. He's only singing the last verse, oddly, as he certainly knows them all... ]

Shadow-Lover, from the Shadows made

Comments

[nojusticeonlyme]

[HEY LOOK AN EXCUSE I mean hello]

There is a problem?

[twicebonded]

[ O HAI 8D An almost startled silence before he speaks. ]

Not at all - it's a song I was remembering from home.

[nojusticeonlyme]

It is a good song.

What is it about?

VAN IS NEVER GOING TO FORGIVE HIMSELF FOR THIS

[twicebonded]

[ His laugh is a little tense, a little nervous. ] It's about Death, actually.

[ A slow inhale. ] Where I am from, Death is... Death comes as a lover, who appears and embraces you when it is your time. [ He regrets saying that even at it comes out, his guilt crescendoing. ]

DEATH IS EPICALLY OBLIVIOUS NYEH

[nojusticeonlyme]

I have never been a lover. Some people fear me and some people seek me, but very few love me.

VAN IS GRATEFUL

[twicebonded]

[ Relief. Van is going to emotionally torture himself for this for aeons to come. He doesn't really get what's going on, just that Death is fascinating and he feels terrible. xD ]

Even in a world without Death as a Shadow-Lover, though, I'd imagine there would be some people fascinated by you, would there not?

[nojusticeonlyme]

There are...those who are fascinated. But not loving.

[twicebonded]

[ Van's smile is perhaps a bit rueful. ] I see. [ He's starting to pull himself back, now, as he tells himself he should have done the instant this began... but he's not about to break off the conversation. ] Would you prefer that things were a bit different, in that sense?

[nojusticeonlyme]

[Looks at Van, and tilts his skull slightly, considering him]

...Perhaps. I had not thought of it. Love is very difficult to understand.

Van has fallen in love twice, and both time it was against his will 8D

[twicebonded]

[ Now this is a flat-out laugh, though he does it quite quietly. ] Yes, you're absolutely right about that.

But to be fair, when is it ever not?

[nojusticeonlyme]

It is a very human thing. And nobody seems able to adequately explain.

True this!

[twicebonded]

It's a difficult thing to try to explain. Love is... happiness, caused by another person's simple existence and presence in your world. But it's a lot of other things, too.

[nojusticeonlyme]

Love is...happiness?

It is possible that I loved my daughter. Also my granddaughter. And my cats.

[twicebonded]

Yes, I'm sure you did - those are the kinds of people we love. [ So alien, explaining love... ]

[nojusticeonlyme]

Is it possible to love a person when you have spoken very little?

[twicebonded]

Yes. It's possible to love someone under almost any situation, I think.