Seasons don't fear the reaper

[controlsthedie]

Who: Thanatos & OTA
Where: sleeper/passenger car hallways, greenhouse, training gym
When: Kazoo, Day 2 or 3 (after Jack's "Musical" Mayhem, before dance)
What: Death is being a dork: chores, flower growing, sword practice
Warnings: none

Chores: Death approaches the dust

[ A new month means a new type of chore assignment, apparently. At least this one doesn't need someone coaching Thanatos on what to do. He takes to the passenger area first, dressed in the train's standard blue hoodie and cargo pants to keep his own stuff clean. (Zagreus wanted to wear red not blue, so Thanatos just gave him the spare red hoodie he had.) Floating towards the ceiling with a feather duster in his hand, Thanatos gets to work.

Thanatos may not have paid much attention to Dusa while she worked (or at all really...), but he knows that she was always up high dusting the rafters. Sorry if he startles anyone going through a door to see legs dangling down. He's dusting the top of the door frame. ]

Greenhouse: Thanatos's Poppy Pot has sprouted!

[ Done with chores for the time being, Thanatos has returned to his usual way of dressing (chthonic death god style) and is crouched low to the floor. Mort is perched at the edge of a pot. They stare at nine tiny points of green pushing out of the soil. Thanatos is smiling, awestruck. (An expression that wasn't as rare when he was a godling days ago.) ]

They sprouted… they actually sprouted....

[ Thanatos speaks softly as if he fears being too loud would bring destruction upon them. Green. Growth. Life. He thought they would never sprout. They would never grow. Yet, here they were. Poppies, his and Hypnos's shared symbol, growing in this pot. Nurtured by Death of all people. ]

What do you think, Mort? Do they need more water?

Training gym: Trying not to float like a butterfly

[ There should be a mission coming up soon, and Thanatos is determined not to have a repeat of the last time. He had lost his powers, his divinity, and had become useless. He would have been a liability if other passengers hadn't come to his aid.

Gods, if Thanatos froze like that while Zagreus needed his help.... No. That's not going to happen. He's going to make sure that he can still fight, still protect… well, more than just Zagreus. It's still strange to think that he's developing a new role for himself on this train.

He summons his sword, not his scythe, and sets his feet upon the ground. Thanatos starts with a few basic motions when he notices he has company. ]

Pardon me. I'm not taking too much space, am I?

Comments

[ourtomorrow]

Waagh!!

[ And that's Wormmon noticing LEGS, tripping over his own plethora thereof, and wiping out. Ken scoops up his partner and hurries out of the way of the man in midair. ]

No, we should have looked.....Are we disturbing you?

[ ...up......there.....doing.....

.......dusting?? ]

[controlsthedie]

[ Thanatos similarly moves away to give them space. It doesn't help the motes of dust floating down. Is that why Dusa is so adamant about cleaning up there? ]

No, I'm only doing the assigned chores for my team.

[ He didn't think about when passengers might be active, so perhaps he had chosen a bad time. (Is it one of the meal times?) ]

[ourtomorrow]

Right, we have chores.

[ Orange is meal prep. Uh-oh. His mother likes to cook, so Ken has never needed to....But there surely must be something he can do!

No, don't space out while talking to someone.

Wormmon sneezes again, rubs his mandibles. ] Voids make lots of dust, Ken-chan.

[controlsthedie]

[ Last month, Red Team was in the kitchen. Thanatos didn't know how to cook, but luckily, his cabinmate, Soldat, enjoyed both cooking and teaching. They were a real help.

Also, Thanatos relates to becoming lost in his own thoughts when he should be speaking to someone. Mort's a good reminder to speak up. ]

It's the whole team's responsibility, but... you're both new, right?

[ Thanatos doesn't approve of shrugging off responsibilities, but someone who had just arrived gets some leeway. Gods know he needed some time to adjust. ]

[ourtomorrow]

That's right.

[ Ken nods, having brushed some dust off his orange hoodie. Wormmon, sinuses cleared, waddles up to his partner's leg and clings. It's going to be okay, Ken-chan. ]

[controlsthedie]

Then, you have enough to worry about right now. Familiarize yourself with the train first, and then you can contribute to your chores.

[ Looking at the small worm creature, something comes to mind. ]

Your name is Ken? That's what your companion called you. They're not called, Nemesis, are they?

[ There's a reason for this question. Honest. ]

[ourtomorrow]

[ Neme.....? Like in mythology?

Ken is quick to shake his head. Wormmon is quick to enlighten the floating dust man, who is showing interest in Ken-chan and is therefore One Hundred Percent All Right By Wormmon. ] I'm Wormmon. Ken-chan's partner Digimon.

Ah....Ichijouji Ken.

[ Wormmon does make it easy for people to learn Ken's name, doesn't he. ]

[controlsthedie]

[ There is a Ken on the train with a Persona named Nemesis, named after one of Thanatos's older sisters. There is also a Persephone who isn't the Persephone from his world yet still her. Thanatos can be forgiven his confusion. ]

Wormmon and Ichijouji Ken. I'm Thanatos, and this is Mort.

[ He pulls aside his hood a little to reveal a small plush mouse. Mort squeaks a greeting. ]

[ourtomorrow]

[ Ah, the mythology theme continues. Perhaps there are worlds where that's common. Or else -

But could that really be? Would Death carry a squeaky mouse? ]

Nice to meet you. [ A pause. Ken and Wormmon did interrupt Thanatos (& Mort) doing a chore...Ken should probably make up for that. ]

...Is there...any way we can help with the cleaning?

[controlsthedie]

[ Death Incarnate totally carries around a squeaky plush mouse made by his mother.

Thanatos thinks for a moment and looks at the feather duster in his hand and the dust bunnies that had assaulted Wormmon's sinuses now on the ground. ]

If you'd like to help, I can get both of you something to use.

[ourtomorrow]

[ Ken is the rare child who does not mind cleaning. And it needs to be done - everyone has to do their duty to the train - so why not? ] Please.

Please. [ Echoes Wormmon, who will do, uh. His best. ]

[controlsthedie]

Wait here.

[ And with a burst of light and darkness, Thanatos shifts to where the cleaning supplies are. A broom for Ken, and a dustpan for Wormmon. He also grabs a cloth for Wormmon since he seems to be sensitive to the dust and shifts back to the car he was just in. The car briefly takes on an eerie green light as a bell tolls. Thanatos appears with the same light and darkness.

The whole exchange takes about a minute. ]

You can use these.

[ourtomorrow]

Yeep!

[ Wormmon had been doing okay up until the bell. The bell is startling. He calms down as soon as he sees that it's the nice floating man, but he also looks around. Where had that...?

...Ken has a feeling he had best not question it. So he steps forward to accept the supplies. ] Thanks. That's a useful ability.

[controlsthedie]

[ Best not to question gods. The answer is usually that they are gods. And Chthonic gods seem to enjoy being extra for the aesthetic. ]

I wouldn't be able to do my job without it.

[ He hands the appropriate tools to each of them. ]

I can knock the dust from above, and the two of you can clean it up from the floor. Does that sound all right?

[ourtomorrow]

[ Ken nods, kneeling to help Wormmon tie the cloth around his mandibles. (Okay, Ken is doing all the tying. Wormmon is standing still. But this counts as participating.) ] Leave it to us.

[ Wormmon grips his dustpan carefully, wanting to do a good job. ]

[controlsthedie]

[ With a nod, Thanatos floats up high again and begins to dust. Bits fall down to the floor in grey fluffs. He tries not to drop it atop Ken and Wormmon's heads, but if someone opens a door or walks by, the air currents will change. It's not 100% avoidance. ]

[ourtomorrow]

[ The attempt is appreciated, all the same, and Ken at least knows to shift his position as necessary.

He also has to help Wormmon a few times when Wormmon's grip on the dustpan slips, but he's patient about this (Wormmon is trying his best) and Wormmon is touched. ]

Thanks. Helping everyone is nice, huh?

Mm.

[ Which...has Ken glancing up to check on Thanatos, too. He has the job that's more like work, after all. ]

[controlsthedie]

[ Thanatos nearly asks Wormmon if a different tool would be easier for him, but then Ken helps him. He wonders if that would be meddling or simply drawing to much attention to something. Unsure on which would be the right action, Thanatos doesn't comment. ]

There are many helpful people on this train. You'll fit right in.

[ourtomorrow]

It really is a common trait, then?

[ Ken glances up during his sweeping. Wormmon has a nice firm hold on the dustpan now, too. Ken-chan showed him how to do this and he WILL NOT LET KEN-CHAN DOWN. ] I'd thought....maybe it was coincidence....

[ That everyone was like "HELLO! WELCOME!". It had been so nice at the time, but given enough time to brood he ended up wondering a little whether it were too good to be true. That was unfair of him, huh. ]

[controlsthedie]

[ Way to go, Wormmon, Defeater of Dust! ]

It's far more common than what I'm used to at least.

[ Which doesn't say a whole lot given he lives in the Underworld and is Death. Or maybe it says even more because the people on this train are so nice to Death. He's not entirely sure anyone has gone out of their way to be anything but nice. ]

[ourtomorrow]

[ Ken meticulously sweeps some dust into the pan, then decides, sure, he's going to ask. Everyone is from different worlds. Everyone will have had different experiences. He can take nothing for granted. ]

Was your world....not like that?

[controlsthedie]

[ Thanatos knocks another large dust clump from above as he tries to think of the best way to say it. ]

People would rather not see me around, back home. Mortal and god alike.

[ourtomorrow]

[ "Mortal and god"... ]

Then, you are...

[ Wormmon wiggles forward to see if he can bulldoze the dust into his pan. ]

[controlsthedie]

Thanatos, Death Incarnate. I'm not here on assignment.

[ He's not here to cut anyone's soul away from their body is what he's trying to say. He's not a threat. ]

[ourtomorrow]

Assignme...?

[ Oh. Ken thinks he sees what Thanatos means. (Though what on Earth is this train up to where it thinks it needs both someone with that much power and him?)

Wormmon is also thinking about this, not having quite gotten multiverse theory yet. ]

Weird. I didn't see you.

[ W O R M M O N ]