Fifth Floor Common Room | Late Morning | Friday | January 8

[therewaslife]

There wasn't a lot to do today. That fact didn't particularly bother Bod, though. He'd learned to find entertainment in the smallest things so making his way down to the common room seemed like a logical place to start.

Of course, once there, a few options were presented. He could find something on television to watch. He could spend a few minutes flipping through the channels to find something good to watch and the probably settle on something boring (he'd spent time in hotels, he knew how television worked) or he could try and make himself something to eat.

Now, that option made him hesitate. While he'd been in the graveyard, Silas or Miss Lupescu had done the majority of the food getting. Since leaving, he'd mostly stuck with fast food and prepared meals. This would almost be cooking.

Okay, no it wouldn't. There was cereal (something called Captain Crunch to be exact) and Bod figured he could manage a bowl, milk, pouring and a spoon. Still, it was more than he tended to do. With that done, he was free to find something boring on television.

[common rooms are open places!]

Comments

[living_endless]

"Don't know," Didi said. "Cartoons? Sometimes? I don't watch enough TV to be really picky."

She shrugged at his question. "Nah, it's mostly something to say. But I'm glad you did."

[therewaslife]

Cartoons were a thought. He'd only managed to catch those every so often during his travels and hadn't been disappointed. They were amusing if mindless. Bod wasn't really looking for hugely contemplative this morning either.

So, he kept clicking until he found some cartoons. "Thank you. I haven't run into anything really out of the ordinary yet. I met an angel."

[living_endless]

Didi, who'd been grinning at the cartoons (funny animals were love), shot him a sidelong glance. "See, most people would put an angel down as 'out of the ordinary,'" she pointed out. "You're used to them?"

[therewaslife]

"Not angels specifically but I grew up with people who weren't technically alive," he told her, laughing a little at the cartoon he'd settled on. Animals couldn't do these sorts of things in the real world but sometimes Bod wished they could.

"Ghosts, to be more exact. Angels aren't too much of a stretch. I was a little surprised to find one here and not doing something more angelic but I got over that."

[living_endless]

Didi gave him a startled look. He seemed sincere, but it was still odd, even by her standards. Most ghosts didn't stay in one place long enough to raise a child. "Seriously?" she said. "Or did somebody tell you I'm Death and you're teasing me?"

[therewaslife]

"You're Death?" he asked, momentarily forgetting the question and the cartoons. His gaze and focus were on her now, eyes widening a little. "My roommate told me about you."

And then he fell quiet, silently appraising her. The Lady on the Grey was fresh in his mind (she always would be) and Didi didn't much remind him of her but there was a lot he didn't understand.

"Yes, I'm serious," he said once he found his voice. "I was raised in a graveyard in England by a cemetery full of ghosts. And Silas."

[living_endless]

"An aspect of her," Didi said. "There's a whole incarnation thing. It's supposed to be one day a century in mortal form, it just got ... extended."

Which sounded better than 'I have no idea when I'm going back to work.'

"But mostly I'm normal, no powers. Or scythe." Since everyone else seemed determined to ask about that. (And she wasn't quite telling the whole truth about the powers, but getting free mochas wasn't exactly a superpower to wow the crowds with.)

"I'm just surprised that the ghosts all stayed in one place to do that," she freely admitted. "Usually they like the walk-the-earth deal. Can I ask who's Silas?"

[therewaslife]

"From what I could tell, they couldn't leave that particular graveyard," he shared, feeling a little easier about sharing it with someone he'd met before. Not this incarnation, no, but he had met the Lady on the Grey and he'd felt comfortable (if a bit awed) when he'd seen her "Wait no, that's a lie. They left once to dance but that was it."

Even if they didn't recall that happening, even if Bod couldn't get any answers about that particular night from Silas, he knew it had happened. It had been amazing and sad and gorgeous. He wouldn't forget it.

"Silas is my guardian," said Bod, nodding. "He's not a ghost but he stayed in the graveyard as well."

[living_endless]

"... huh." Different worlds, different rules, and there were certainly ways to bind spirits to a single place even in her own world. Didi nodded in acceptance as she studied him a bit. "What was it like? I mean, not that you had anything to compare it to..."

[therewaslife]

"The graveyard?" Bod paused, looking thoughtful. There were details upon details he could tell her, hours of stories and things he'd learned but he held back. He was new, still learning and he wasn't about to overwhelm anyone.

"Not as scary as many people would think," he answered after a moment. "Quiet at times. Lively at others. Busy. Boring. It hides a lot of things that regular people won't ever see and that's what always made it fun for me."

[living_endless]

"None of it is scary," Duidi said. "I think people get afraid of death, and that turns into being afraid of cemeteries. It sounds like a good place to go up, as places go."

[therewaslife]

"I actually wanted to stay but was told those who stay all lived their lives and I haven't. So, I'm doing that before returning," he shared, sounding a little wistful. "I think I met someone like you once."

[living_endless]

"And how's the living your life thing going?" Didi asked. She thought the ghosts were right, but it was still cold to turn someone out of their home. She bit her lip at the next statement, paying him keen attention. "You may have," she said. "There's a me in most worlds. One girl here says her mom is one of them."

Which was wrong, because Atropos wasn't Death, but so it went.

"Was she nice?"

[therewaslife]

"So far, so good," Bod said, giving her a brief but genuine smile. "It's interesting, if anything. For a long time, I couldn't leave the graveyard for safety reasons and I'm finding there's something new everyday. I like it."

Bod had wanted it all and he was bound and determined to get it all before he returned to the graveyard. He could go back now but it wouldn't be home, not till he'd lived.

"She was," he said, answering her question. "She rode an amazing horse."

[living_endless]

"Horses," Didi said, almost wistful, "are sort of amazing animals. I haven't been riding in a long time."

[therewaslife]

"She looked incredibly comfortable," he said, unable not to grin at her tone. She looked different yes but the feeling was the same now that he knew. It was strange. He didn't question it but it was strange. "Like she'd been riding forever. She came to the graveyard on the night I was brought there."

[living_endless]

Death generally was around forever. It was one of the things about being her.

"How old were you then?" Didi wondered. "You must have been small, not to freak out about how strange it was."

[therewaslife]

"Just a baby," he said, nodding. "I don't remember any of this happening but it's what I was told. Apparently, I just slept."

[living_endless]

"Babies like to do that," Didi nodded back at him. "Or so I heard. I was never exactly a baby, really."

Despite impossibly cute Jill Thompson artwork to the contrary.

[therewaslife]

"I suppose someone like you wouldn't have that part of life, would they?" asked Bod, undeniably curious about her life. "Do you have an age?"

[living_endless]

"Sixteen," Didi said. "Seventeen next month, actually."

Yes, she knew that wasn't what he meant, but she'd never been human long enough for a birthday before and the universe had given her one this time. She was excited.

"... or," she added, "as old as the first living creature. Technically. I think I like saying I'm sixteen better. You?"

[therewaslife]

Despite not being the answer he'd wondered about, Bod grinned. He hadn't asked the specific question so he'd gotten a different yet correct answer.

"Sixteen as well," he replied. "Are you going to have a birthday party?"

[living_endless]

"Good question," Didi said, and grinned. "I probably should."

[therewaslife]

"I would," Bod said, nodding, "if only for the cake. And the candles. If you've never had a party, you should get everyone to sing for you."