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

[controlsthedie]

[ Thanatos freezes completely and quickly when he sees the blade move through Kitty's body. He doesn't sense her death, but he knows what he saw. ]

Are you all right?

[goingthroughaphase]

[ She breathes out a sigh, lowering her sword just a bit. ] Yeah, I'm good. Didn't quite avoid that strike fast enough, good job.

[controlsthedie]

I thought...

[ He makes a noise somewhere in between a sigh and frustration. ]

I think I'm done with sparring for now.

[goingthroughaphase]

[ A bit surprised, she nods a little and relaxes her stance. ]

Oh...okay, sure.

[ She takes a moment to re-sheath her sword. ]

...I'm okay, by the way. I have an ability that lets me phase through matter, so I used it to let the sword pass through me when I didn't have time to move out of the way. That's all that happened.

[controlsthedie]

You can go intangible like a shade?

[ He replays what he thought happened in his mind but pretends a shade is before him instead. While considered bad manners, the gods of the Underworld can move right through the shades as if they weren't there. (The shades are usually don't like that though, and they usually want to avoid Thanatos in general.)

A little bit of the tension in Thanatos's body eases. ]

That would explain what happened.

[goingthroughaphase]

[ She nods a little. ] Yeah. [ Or at least she assumes so, given what she knows of shades. ] Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you or anything.

[controlsthedie]

It's... Forget about it. Thank you for the spar.

[ There's no need to worry her about his own insecurities, especially when she helped him learn something. ]

[goingthroughaphase]

No problem. Thank you.

[ Turning a little, she's about to head off, but pauses a bit. ]

...would you, um...maybe be up for sparring again sometime? It's okay if you don't, I just, uh...need the practice.

[controlsthedie]

[ Thanatos is silent as he thinks, possibly for longer than what would normally be considered polite. ]

If you think sparring with me will help, I suppose we could.

[goingthroughaphase]

[ She's a bit nervous the longer he doesn't answer, but when he finally does she offers a smile and nods. ]

Yeah, definitely. I could use all the practice I can get.

[controlsthedie]

[ She'll learn that Thanatos is just like that. He's more used to (over) thinking rather than speaking his thoughts. ]

Then... I will see you again.

[ Assuming Kitty is allowed to borrow the sword once more. ]

[goingthroughaphase]

Yeah. See you later!

[ With another smile, she waved and headed out to return the sword to its owner. ]