*Mentor, what is Chaos doing?* Ever asked.
Your guess is as good as mine, Death responded. He’s not called Chaos for nothing.
*I’m not talking about him deciding to reappear so soon after writing his note, I’m talking about…*
You mean the flirting with Taylor?
Ever stopped in the middle of the path. “Flirting?” He said out loud. A couple was walking towards him, holding hands. They scampered to Ever’s left, hurrying past.
*Flirting?*
Death chortled. Yes, it’s - he paused, trying to find the right words - strategically talking with someone that you like to try and give signals that you’re into them so that they may flirt back at you.
Ever sat down at a bench, trying to comprehend what his mentor had just said. The sun had just dipped below the horizon, casting shadows across the cars parked on the side of the road and painting the sky with broad strokes of red, pink and orange.
*So… he’s doing it because he wants to become a couple with Taylor?*
This time Death laughed uproariously. I highly doubt that. I think he’s just living up to his namesake and mimicking behavior that he’s captured humans doing over bazillions of years for a bit of fun. I’d bet my thigh bone that the human form he’s taken on is not Taylor’s type, probably too big an age gap… or maybe not, I don’t know. Maybe she’s into that sort of thing. Maybe just my pinky finger.
Ever sat there and closed his eyes. He got tired like any other human at the end of a long day of work. The only difference with him was that he had a cosmic Mentor who spoke mumbo jumbo half the time that he struggled to understand.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
*Should I learn how to flirt?*
Oooooh, does someone have feelings for their colleague? Keep it professional! Death cackled.
Ever stood up again and kept walking. He looked at the path sloping up ahead. Familiar headstones peered down from the top of the hill; he wasn’t far now.
Look I probably could teach you how to flirt, I’ve reaped that many souls who shared the worst pick up lines I’d ever heard, there was this one that a guy with one leg who swore that it got him 17 girlfriends -
*Thanks Mentor, but no thanks.* Ever was more frustrated with the feelings he had when Chaos and Taylor were flirting, if that’s what they were doing. He hadn’t felt them before and didn’t like how they made him feel.
Looking around to make sure the coast was clear, Ever slipped into reaper mode, becoming invisible. He slipped through the high, wrought iron fence and past numerous graves he’d become familiar with.
Dozens of souls floated around here and there, some nodding, others waving. They kept each other company and welcomed Ever as one of their own. When he had offered to send them to the Underworld, they politely refused - the souls who had regular visitors, anyway. The exception was Basil. He had lost his sight because of a work accident years ago. Without any family to speak of, he'd relied on the government to look after him well into his twilight years until a social worker found him cold and unresponsive in his favorite recliner.
"How's it going, Baz?" Ever called as he approached his headstone.
The grizzled man who was also blind even as a ghost, jerked his head up and towards Ever. "Still here, mate. Not going anywhere just yet."
Ever chuckled. Same old Baz. "What are you waiting for?"
"Ah you know," he drawled, "a pretty girl to come say hi."
Ever didn't have the heart to ask how he'd know if a girl had visited, let alone any visitor if he couldn't see them. He floated up and up, winding around an oak tree in the middle of the cemetery. The tree had been planted before there was a graveyard here and had been growing for nearly two centuries. A long time ago, children must have built a treehouse here, which remained in place. It was now inaccessible to people, though the inside bore scratchings and reminders of when it had more visitors.
As Ever drifted in he noticed a soul here, back turned to him, a slender hand against one of the walls of the treehouse.
