avalononline | [video] - un: pinkmemory

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[video] - un: pinkmemory

[This ought to come as no surprise, really. Aerith spends a decent amount of her free time in the flower shop and usually if she appears on Avalon's network, it's there. That's precisely where she is on today's little impromptu Camelot interruption.

Resting on her forearm against front desk counter, she wears a smile, though it's a bit lighter than she normally gives.]

It's been a while since I said anything on here and I realised I should probably fix that. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Aerith. I run a little flower shop here in the business district of the town. I was in the middle of putting a nice little patio setup outside for people who come by, but it's getting a bit colder, so I think that's going to have to be put on hold until it warms up again.

[Taking a pause to sip from the cup of tea at her side, she sets it down before she continues.]

I know I've said this before, but if any of you have flowers or seeds from your home, for whatever reason that you would, if you bring them to me, I'll try to grow you something. I'm also really interested in trying to crossbreed some flowers, especially from anything that might be capable of surviving the colder weather. If you've already purchased flowers from me and you're having trouble with them, you can pay me a visit any time and I'll fix them up for you.

[After a moment's consideration, she sinks down a bit, shifting to settle her chin in the palm of her hand.]

And you know, with the weather getting colder, it's easy to get sick. Make sure you're taking care of yourselves. I don't normally offer this, but I have some healing magic, so if you find yourself not feeling well, I might be able to help you out there. I'm not a doctor or anything, but I like to think I know marginally what I'm doing. At worst, I can make you a nice pot of tea.

[That seems to be all she has to say because not long after, she turns off her video and audio feed.]

[Private to Tifa - Text]
Hey, can I ask you to do a favour for me?

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[After a moment of thought, he nods slightly. It sounds like a hassle, but at the same time he would rather not have the plant die because he didn't give it proper care. Thanatos might be the god of death but he doesn't generally kill people (or things) if he can help it.]

I'd appreciate your assistance.

[And pay her properly, this time, of course.]

Just let me know when would be an appropriate time.

It's no problem at all, really.

[It isn't. This is a case where he'd actually be doing her a favour. Aerith needs every distraction she can get.]

I'm very flexible. It looks like the only things I'll have occupying my time in the next few weeks are flower shop orders, but my clients are pretty good about giving me the time that need to get things done. So you can stop by at any time and I'll show you how lighting and temperature works. There's no better way to get introduced to it without seeing it first at the shop.

I'm impressed you're still doing good business in this kind of season.

[Surely there has to be a limit to the amount of plants and flowers one might be able to successfully keep alive through the winter months? A god of death knows very well the lack of life that can be found at that time of year, even amongst more complicated living things.

But she does know what she's doing, so perhaps he ought to give her more credit.]

But I'll be by then, when I have a moment. I'll let you know when.

I'm actually a little surprised by that, too, but I think it's because I've been able to use the humidity and lighting to prolong. And I guess a little healing magic is slightly useful, though it'd be better if I had the Green magic.

[She really should figure out how that works... Aerith makes a note to find someone who's more experienced in the magical fields to see if they know how to achieve that.]

There's no rush. You're welcome to contact me anytime, Thanatos. I don't think I'll be going anywhere for a while.

You may be able to find someone to help you. [While Thanatos does know someone with Green magic he doesn't think that Set would appreciate being volunteered for such a thing. Perhaps if he asked him, though... the other god had been struggling to find some purpose for the magic he had been given after all.

And a little socialisation wouldn't hurt him either.]

But all right. Thank you, Aerith.

I'm sure I can. I'll just to get in touch with some people I know.

[If they're still in Avalon. There's only one way to find out, truly.]

And no worries! I'm happy to help. Believe it or not, you're helping me too. I could use some distraction.

Ah-- is that so?

[Thanatos is used to being alone and his attempts at conversation can often be stilted or awkward. Sometimes he simply doesn't know what to say and keeps quiet in lieu of risking saying the wrong thing.]

Is... something the matter?

[That's the correct thing to say here, he thinks.]

[It's a very pointed question and cuts right to the heart of the matter. Yes, there's many, many things that are... a concern, but... She softens ever in slight, because regardless of acquaintance or someone she knows very well, it's never been in her habit to get others involved, if she can help it.]

No, no. Nothing like that. [She reassures him with a gentle smile.] I can easily get locked into my own work and forget where to draw the line, so it's good that people can pull me away from it occasionally.

[He considers what she says quietly, for a moment or two.]

I know how it is to be swept up in your work. [More than most, probably. Given that his works is... all that he has, or was all that he had, or so he had thought. It was easy to be entirely caught up in it when it was your sole purpose for existing.]

In that case... do you think you might teach me something of your work, some time? Perhaps it can be a distraction for both of us.

[His question is kinder than he perhaps knows. Aerith's expression turns and shifts... paving the way toward something that seems to be particularly touched. But it isn't hard to stir someone like her. All it takes is a genuine kindness. A sincere altruism.]

I'd like that very much. It sounds like you haven't seen a lot of plant life where you come from. I'm very happy to share with you everything I know.

I see it when I'm on the surface, but I've never liked to stay there for too long.

[It's bright and sharp and gives him a headache. Something that he hasn't suffered here. Over time he's grown used to being in the sun and he can even enjoy it sometimes. It's different when you're not tied to the Underworld.]

The Elysian Fields have plant life, but I rarely have need to tarry there either. [In truth he never stays in one place very long for anything. Such is the life of a god for whom work never abates.]

So... I would like to learn. Knowing something of life instead of death might be a pleasant change.

[The surface. He says a lot without needing to say very much, she finds. She can deduce that he must come from something underground. Although curious, Aerith manages to resist asking. Maybe one day she will, however.]

I'm very happy to teach you what I know. I'd normally say it's not very exciting, but it sounds like you don't get to be around these kinds of things often. [As such, perhaps they'll be exciting to him.] Your world sounds very... interesting. Maybe a little lonely.

[But who is she to judge? In some ways, isn't her life a little like that back in Midgar as well?]

[It isn't something he keeps a secret, but opening conversations with 'I'm the god of death' isn't something that Thanatos often does. Sometimes people already know his name and when they do it's somehow more awkward than when they don't. He is far more used to dealing with the shades of the Greek dead who have no need to ask him who he is, as they already know well enough.

He stays quiet for a moment when she speaks of things sounding lonely. It isn't something he had ever considered before he was here. He didn't have the time to feel lonely - he was far too busy to mire himself in that kind of thing. But perhaps he had been, a little. Even when he made his brief trips back to the House he so often chose to stand apart from everyone else rather than in the bustle of the main hall.]

It isn't one that many living mortals get to see. [Thanatos answers her after some silent thought.] I don't have the time to consider my own lack of companionship. My twin brother has always been more inclined to social interaction than I.

Living mortals...

[That's telling, isn't it. As Aerith settles on his words, turns them over in her head, she finds herself nodding slowly, putting the pieces together. Living mortals. Meaning, he isn't a mortal. From what little they've spoken, she'd not yet come to that conclusion. That seems to be the implication, however.

So if he isn't a mortal, what is he? She can't just ask him that. It's kind of rude...]

You're from... an afterlife, then?

[Because that too, would explain a lot. Especially how he follows that up with a lack of socialisation on his part. Talks of work. The afterlife would be a busy place, she supposes. Even the Lifestream seems a busy place, though Aerith wonders if she would call that an 'afterlife.']

[Ah.

Of course.

Thanatos should have, perhaps, grown more used to people not knowing exactly who he is by now. Usually the name is enough, but he does come across people who have absolutely no idea. Normally he doesn't get to know them well enough for them to have the opportunity to ask.

(Not a reflection on them, but rather on Thanatos himself, who is not the best at making friends.)

He nods slightly.]

Where I come from, I am the God of Death.

[And that... is probably going to open up a lot more questions.]

[Whatever Aerith might have been expecting is difficult to tell. For as open as she is about her feelings, it's not always transparent and this is one of those situations where she isn't just wearing those sentiments on the outside. It's not a completely surprising discovery. Confirms that he's not mortal.

...She's never met a god before, though. And it seems like Midgar doesn't really believe in things like that, so it's hard to have anything for comparison. Even the Cetra can't really be likened to gods and she knows very well she wouldn't want to be. The only thing she wants—]

I guess that would leave you pretty busy, wouldn't it?

[Finally, she breaks into a smile. She doesn't know him particularly well, and so she must study him. She doesn't want to push him because she doesn't yet know what he can and can't withstand.]

I've met a lot of different people since I've come here, but you're the first god. I don't know very much about them, so if I ask you something that seems silly, I hope you'll let it go and not take it too personal. It sounds like maybe... you don't share that very often, so I'll keep it between you and me.

[He lets out a soft sound through his nose. A quiet huff that might have been the beginnings of a laugh from anyone else.]

There are a few of us here. Myself, my twin brother Hypnos, and two others from the Egyptian pantheon. Those are the ones I'm aware of.

[Thanatos speaks quite freely of his status if it happens to come up, but it doesn't often. Were this a place not inhabited by a variety of unusual people, where someone of his height and colouring doesn't draw too many second glances, perhaps it would come up more often.

He shakes his head slightly.]

It isn't a secret, only something I'm not often prompted to speak about... and largely irrelevant while I reside here. [His power is gone, but he finds that some people still offer him the kind of deference that he might expect to receive upon finding out who he is.]

If you have questions, ask them.

I didn't know we had so many. But then it's not like I can say I know everyone here. I don't even know half of everyone here.

[Aerith utters out a short-lived laugh. It's almost a little embarrassing how little she knows, but she also understands why that might be. Her recent days haven't left her feeling particularly sociable and even when she is of that mind, she's usually buried in work at the flower shop.]

Is it weird to be around people who aren't gods like you? I feel like it'd be hard to find common ground because the experiences are so different. Lifespans. Things you've witnessed. I feel like you'd have a lot of experiences that someone like me wouldn't be able to understand very well.

[Although... she wonders where Ancients are on that line of things. Do they live on forever? Maybe, in the Lifestream. Not necessarily in the same way, she supposes, but maybe it's a little similar.]

[Thanatos can't really say that he knows more than a handful of people in this place, so he isn't going to judge her at all on how many people she does know. The question has him slanting his gaze aside in thought, his pale eyebrows twitching into a brief frown.]

It is strange, but stranger still to experience mortality myself.

[Being around mortals? He could have dealt with that, given time... but being like them as well had accelerated the acclimatisation. He is still not like those who have always been mortal and he would never be, but there were certain experiences now that he could share, rather than only hearing of them.]

But I may have views on humanity that humans themselves would find unpalatable or uncomfortable to hear.

You mean... a life that a mortal would have? [Or does he mean his immortality has been stripped of him since his arrival? It's never dawned on her that such a thing might be necessary. Maybe an immortal's lifespan (or lack thereof), is a part of their power? The surprise in her features lessens into something a little more kind and compassionate.] I wouldn't think how we live to be so different.

[Tipping her head as she eyes him, Aerith wears a small smile.] I'm sure not all humans would feel that way, but I think I can sort of understand. [She has her own opinions on humanity, given that she can't completely relate to it. Maybe she and Thanatos have more in common than she's realised.] You might only be able to say such things to certain ones. If you knew how they'd react beforehand anyway.

[At her first question he only gives a small shake of his head, and hopefully that is answer enough. He is mortal here, and as disconcerting as it was in the beginning he has reached a point of having a certain appreciation for it. Though he still worries very much about his brother and what might happen to him if he's pulled into danger. Hypnos has a strength of his own, but Thanatos has rarely seen him pick up a weapon.]

Hmm.

[He thinks that Aerith would probably understand, or at least attempt to. It's likely that many people would simply think that he was talking down to them, however.]

I have been able to observe mortals for... thousands of their years, though often only through the lens of my work. Closer encounters with them have often been... unpleasant. [We don't talk about Sisyphus.] As you might understand, they have tended to see me as... [... Funny, it's never really bothered him before.]

Only something that exists to take their loved ones from them.

[Her head tips as she listens. She can see where others might make that connection. Thanatos, the god of death, associated with loss and pain. It'd be hard for most others to see it as anything else.]

Humans are... self-focused. It makes sense that it's the only way they can see it. It's hard for humanity to see things outside of themselves.

[She says it knowing that she's partially human. Maybe it's because of her Cetra lineage that she's able to see things as they are. But it's still true. Even back home, humanity sees not the life that exists around them, but only that it can be harnessed to make an easier life for them.]

If I were you, I'd try not to take it personally. Humanity wouldn't have any idea how to handle gods or how to talk with them without being a little judgemental. It isn't you. It's them.

[A small smile twitches at his lips.]

You're kind to try and offer me comfort, but it isn't needed. Regardless of what mortals think of me, I will come for them in the end.

[So really, it doesn't matter what they think of him. As for what other gods think of him... well, that doesn't bother him much either. The ones who count think well of him and that's all he cares about. Maybe it's only here and now, when mortality has touched him as well, that he has really started to have any feelings at all about the opinions of others...

But in the end, it still won't matter. In the end he'll still come for them.]

And humanity is not so unlike the gods, in some ways. They are mostly focused on themselves as well.

[He says that, reassures her, as if she can just turn off how she is. Instead of protesting. Instead of explaining. Aerith says nothing about it and simply lets it go. Besides, he's already made his point very clear. He's going to do whatever's required of him and she supposes in a position like his, that's just how it is.]

Hm... I guess since I've never met any gods, I wouldn't have known. Maybe all life forms are a little self-indulgent.

[Maybe it's just a part of being imperfect beings. After all, she knows she's not free from selfish behaviour either.]

I... expect so.

[Even Thanatos, with his single-minded drive and dedication to his work, is not above that same self-indulgence. Though he would be loath to admit it he is self-centred and often petty, with a poor handling of his own emotions.

He does not know Aerith well enough to admit such things to her, but... perhaps one day. He is far more open to the concept of 'friends' now than he ever has been in his life before.]

But if that is indeed the case, how would you know if you haven't met a god? Perhaps you have, but they were so like you that you couldn't see it.

[video] - un: pinkmemory

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