driftfleet | video

Entry tags:

video

Who: Undertaker and ERRYONE
Broadcast: All
Action: Goldstone
When: After calibrations/shuffle

[Welcome to the parlor. Or at least, it would be the parlor if it was back in his home. Either of the ones before. For now, it's just Undertaker's modest little abode on the good ship Goldstone, not too unlike many of yours who stand witness to it now. Maybe he'll add to it over time. He has heard audiences like to get to know people, and what better way to do so than to personalize?]

[Alas. Without much means to add such customizations (yet) you get only to see his smiling face, complete with the scar crossing right over it. How's that for unique?]

We're a lively bunch here, aren't we? Starting things off with a bang, visiting people in their past lives with or without them knowing. Just like the good old days, back in the academy. [There's a giggle, one which might or might not put a shudder down spines. He's an... unusual git and he knows it, complete with the mortician's facade and, some might recognize, the overly cockney accent.]

Ah, we're going to get along just fine, I think. Too bad they've not made use of the smarts I was given, [He flicks a hand.] lab support or something other, bandages I suppose. Wouldn't be much use to me anyway, but you'll find me on the Goldstone, should you have need of my assistance. Look for Undertaker.

[And, with a tip of his hat, the video feed ends.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[A soft, thoughtful, little hum.]

It just seems strange to hear you talk like that again after the past year and the Campania. Is that something you started in grandmothers time or while father was Watch Dog?

[Curious boy, always so curious.

He does remember something about that, kind of, from Ronald.]

I remember something about overtime? I hadn't been paying too much attention, it was just after that first doll woke up on the Campania. I ran after Ryan, but that one reaper mentioned it to Sebastian.

You'd think the afterlife would be more... relaxed, I suppose.

[He lifts a hand to tap at his chin with a long fingernail.]

Mm, do you think I should drop it entirely? I've had it since I started my business as a mortician. No one knew me then and I thought I'd give myself a fresh new start.

[He adores that. This twin, always so curious. He supposes the boy would have to be, growing up as he did.]

Oh, it is if you end up like I did. There's more to the afterlife than becoming a grim reaper, but I've never actually seen what happens if you die as you were meant and see the other side of the bridge, as it were. [And at this rate, he never will. Ciel, on the other hand...]

[Just... shaking his head.]

Not if you don't want to. It just seems strange for me, hearing it again, but I don't mind it.

[Always the curious one. If nothing had happened on their birthday, it would probably have been the easiest way of telling them apart over the following couple years.]

Really? [New information.] I guess that makes sense. Not every soul you collect could be a reaper so there must be something you do with them. [He's not so sure about that.]

Hmm. [He tilts his head back against the cushioning, staring up at the ceiling.] We'll see how it goes. Might be I keep it, might be I don't. I'll let my mood decide.

[Between the two of them, the thickness of his accent slips, as it had before on the Campania, when everything first fell apart. It hadn't made sense then to keep up his facade and it doesn't now, not where Ciel is concerned, not after everything. They've had too much between them to put on a face anymore.]

Well, that's the thing. We don't collect the souls of those who become reapers. We simply take them back to the academy and they're initiated. You don't get a pass into the rest of the afterlife for killing yourself.

[Ciel won’t object either way. He might have a year before but not now, not when he’s done some growing up. And they’ve grown closer. Undertaker is exactly what he needed over the past few years. So he won’t try to argue it with him.]

That’s how you become a grim reaper? [He can’t contain his shock at the revelation. It’s impossible for him to imagine Undertaker in that situation, always asking for laughter from him as payment, always teasing him about a custom coffin.] That seems so... wrong... Especially now, knowing you defected,

[So neither Grell nor the demon had let that little detail slip. Somehow he thought the other reaper would've been only too glad to brag on himself or the demon would have divulged that bit of information at some point before now. He's almost disappointed.]

It is. All grim reapers were once human, no more or less like yourself. We become reapers as punishment for ending the gift of life granted to us, forced to collect the souls of the dead and dying until we're forgiven. Isn't that funny? We who once suffered so greatly we wished to end it all, being made to take away the very thing that countless others would cling to desperately. The gods have a twisted sense of humor.

[Never once. Grell was already had a general dislike for him, and what did Sebastian care to tell him that wasn't strictly related to his revenge or his duty as Watch Dog? It was more fun to see him struggle and the surprise when he learned something new.]

Isn't that cruel? If someone goes to such lengths- that's not punishment. It sounds more like torture. No wonder you left...

[Seems he's the one to be the bearer of... odd news. It wouldn't be the first time, and not likely the last.]

Yes, that's what I thought. We were trained not to feel anything for the souls we collected, but alas. We were all human in the end, and I suppose that was the flaw in their design for that organization, but there's the beauty of it, too.

[Very odd. It makes him wonder if it's something Sebastian knew at all, knowing his disdain for reapers.]

It's ridiculous and cruel. I can't believe they don't have more people abandoning a fate like that. How can they expect anyone to just... stop feeling?

[That gets another giggle from him.]

If I didn't know any better, I'd say if you were to end up a grim reaper yourself, you might end up right where I am now, too. [He shakes his head.] I thought about that long and hard. They always told it like it was the gods dangling in front of us what we were missing out on, to make us regret our decision and when we'd suffered enough, they'd forgive us and let us go on our way. Did you know some of the reapers chose to stay in their positions? Not all of it was soul collection, mind you, but there were people there who'd been in the business longer than even I had. By choice.

If I did... I would try, I'm sure. I'm not strong like you though. Even as a reaper, I'm sure I wouldn't be able to get away for long.

[He shakes his head though. As far as they've come, Undertaker would never let him reach that point. And he's already starting to learn how to enjoy life again and not living for revenge alone.]

Why would anyone choose that? It sounds absolutely wretched.

[He tilts his head, leaning over a little to look at the boy - squinting and everything with his grin.]

You? Not be able to get away for long? Oh, I'm sure you could find a way. [As many times as the boy has been kidnapped, even while under the watch of a demon...]

It's a job, same as any other. It keeps us busy, keeps us from going too crazy. I suppose they just got comfortable with it.

[He just makes a little face. Those weren't his fault, and he was tied up and otherwise incapable of getting away on his own.]

I'm not so sure. Not that it would become necessary though. The chances of my death were entirely from outside influences. [Like Sebastian.]

It still sounds wretched. I can't understand anyone who would be comfortable.

[He leans back again, through with his teasing... for the moment.]

Of course they were. Death would have lost you your soul and broken the contract. How terrible. [Sarcasm much? Nah.]

Well, take it in a different light. Did you enjoy your place at the Queen's beck and call?

[Oh no, no sarcasm at all. Ciel just looks at him with a little smile.] As though you would allow it to get that far.

[No. Even with all the possible deaths that might have been waiting for him, he's sure Undertaker was more than prepared to intervene somehow.

That question though, it silences his for a moment. And then he shakes his head.]

Not particularly. It was a necessity.

[He grins and let that say anything he would need to. It wouldn't be the first time he'd revived the dead, and he didn't intend to need to again. He didn't mind pushing boundaries, but where Ciel was concerned, he wanted as little risk now as they could get.]

Then you know my meaning. Take away the mystery and that's all grim reaping is, just another job. I didn't like it, none of us really did. It was something we had to do. Not quite so otherworldly now, is it?

[He knows Undertaker would probably revive him, he knows he wouldn't take any risks with him. It would be as if nothing happened.]

I suppose it doesn't sound it. It's still awful sounding, I'd hate it. I'm not sure which sounds worse, staying on as a reaper or as the Queen's Watchdog.

Eh. [He shrugs a shoulder and folds his fingers under his chin, elbows propped on the arms of the chair. It's not as comfortable as it sounds, even leaning over.]

No, I suppose not. It wouldn't be a far stretch to say I'm a bit jaded over it all. Luckily you won't have to find out yourself, not here or now. But rest easy knowing should you have to, I'll know where to find you.

[Both reaping and going back to serving the queen after a year being able to be himself, not having to clean up messes that displease her, he would hate to lose that.]

I'll hold you to that, I hope you know. I'm sure you'll never have to though. I've been happy this last year.

[A soft hum, wiggling his fingers.] Mm. You've seemed it. I don't think I've seen you this content with yourself since before the fire. Who knows? Maybe this world and its strangeness will have something to make your life complete.

I think you might be right.

[Those days before the fire had been some of the happiest in his life. The worst he had suffered was from small illnesses and his asthma. Sometimes the odd blow to his self-esteem.] I'm not sure that this place will though. I'd rather our little cottage back.

[That hand settles back down to his lap.] And that. I do miss the smell of the place and the way that it felt. Even in the winter, we could still warm it better than this, but the blankets are thick. If you need, I can wrap you in one while you're here.

It was warm and cozy. [There's a pause and just a little, wistful, sigh.] It was home. It felt more like home than England had in a long time.

[That does make him smile.] They aren't as nice as ours were but I won't say no when it gets chilly.

[That drags at his heart, hearing the longing in that tone.] Oh, my lord. It'll be hard to adjust. It always is. I think we've seen that by now. But you're here now, and I'm with you, for what comfort it is. Maybe this is better than our old home in some way we haven't seen yet. Try to give it a little time. Please?

It's a great comfort, actually. Being here alone, I think it could have been absolutely unbearable. [His first meetings with a couple people on the Marsiva had been a little tense. They had calmed but he wasn't good at meeting new people in stressful situations.]

I suppose I can try, at least.

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