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Jimmy was hurting. He sobbed into the palm of his hand, trying his hardest to stop and stifle the noise. He was hunched over, his other hand against the ground. Jimmy was back in a void. A place of endless white, that would surely blind someone if they weren’t welcome. While Jimmy wasn’t necessarily welcome, he had been cursed by the ruler of this domain. He didn’t think he’d be crying like this again. There had been so many servers. So many tragedies. And he was always brought back here. Jimmy thought he had cried out all the tears he had a long time ago, yet here he was. Of course, he didn’t expect what the last server would give to him either. Maybe death found this amusing. Maybe she was laughing at him right now.
“Why are you crying? Did you forget, your injuries don’t follow you here?” An all too familiar voice questioned. Jim screamed, and jumped away from her in panic “Death!”. “Yes, it is I. Now tell me, why do you cry?” She towered over Timmy, far bigger than him, draped in black robes, and as terrifying to him as ever. “Why? So you can rub it in my face and laugh at me?” Timmy quips, despite every bit of experience telling him not to talk back. “I only get vague understandings of the worlds you go to. I sensed you were enjoying that world, despite it being a terrible place” Death explained, confused and wanting answers.
Timmy sniffed and wiped his eyes. Did she think he wasn’t punished enough? Would she send him to a worse fate? I should have kept my mouth shut, and stayed away from the people there, he thinks. “It- It was terrible. One of the worst places I’ve been to. But there was somebody there and I-“ Timmy's throat closed and he couldn’t convince himself to admit it. His breath stuttered, and his heart ached. He had seen worlds end but this felt worse. He wondered if this was how some of the gods had felt, loving someone after so long, only to lose them. But Timmy would never compare himself to a god, not truly. For a god would rip even more worlds apart in anger, but Jimmy could do nothing. He was nothing.
“You fell in love, again?” Death asked, far softer than Tim had ever heard her speak. Probably the closest thing to kindness from her he’s heard since he was cursed. It only confused him, and most definitely scared him. He didn’t know what this voice meant. He had seen many types of her wrath, and he had no clue what this one would bring. “I have seen you in many shades of despair, and I have seen you change a lot overtime. But, I suppose I have too”. Timmy looked up, taken aback by her words “what?” He croaked. But he was even more taken aback by the quaint little house standing behind her. He then realized she had shrunk down, probably to fit into the place. She offered him her hand, and Timmy stared at it for a few moments too long to be considered normal.
Considering everything, and how sudden this was, neither were surprised. Timmy didn’t trust her, or even like her, and for all he knew this was a trick. But he also knew she was a god, and that he should not disobey her. Things were at least a little easier on him that way. So, he took her hand, she helped lift him up, unsurprisingly strong, and frankly it made him feel like a noodle. Maybe that was for the best. Keeps him in place. “I’ve heard that tea helps with heart-ache. Come inside.” And so Timmy followed. He was confused, and sad, and miserable, and frankly the only thing Keeping him from being tired was the far larger fear of the goddess. He just needed to not mess this up.
…
He messed up. He messed up badly. “I let you into my home! I make you tea! I offer an ear, and this is how you repay me?!” Death yelled, infuriated. And Tim was just as angry “Repaid you?! For what?! The curse?! The destruction?! The night terrors?! I don’t know if you’ve ever died before, but it really hurts!”
“You should respect me! I am a God!” “Respect is earned, no matter what status you have! Getting angry at the drop of a hat and threatening to destroy people's lives isn’t something I respect people for!” “Would you rather spend eternity in the void?” Death threatened, and Timmy’s jaw clicked shut.
Why had he gone and angered a god!? Even if he thought himself right, he should have kept his mouth shut. Seeing trechories occur over and over again was terrible, but he at least could talk to people. He thinks the void would drive him insane, if he wasn’t already. Maybe he was, since he did argue with a god. Or maybe he’s just a fool: Death seems to think he is. If he was stuck in the void, he would undoubtedly get lonely. How do gods live in such places? Did gods get lonely? Surely they did. Oh. Oh, was… Death lonely? Timmy’s thoughts were interrupted by her “Finally, he shuts his mouth.”
Timmy wants to fight back, and be spiteful, and argue with her until she finally understands. She probably feels the same about him, if he had to guess. Timmy’s mouth twists and eyebrows scrunch together, but he looked more thoughtful than angry. Death watches him closely, though wrathful as well, she was a bit curious about his expression, and waited for him to work through whatever it was going through his head. He’d have to choose his next words very wisely. “I’m sorry”. That was surprising. “Neither of us have been very polite to each other. No matter how it is we got here, we shouldn't be shouting at each other.” He held his quips to himself that he oh so wished to add on.
Death kept her own mouth shut harshly, forbidding herself from interrupting. He did, as upset it made her, have a point. She hasn’t been very polite “apology accepted”. She wouldn’t apologize in return, and Timmy knew that. So he swallowed his never ending pride and asked “Do you want to hear about the last world I was on? I’m an alright storyteller, I think”. She nodded after a moment, and moved back to the kitchen counter “I’ll make more tea while you talk”. And so Timmy strung together the pieces of his life in that world, and she listened. He cried, and she didn’t. He laughed, and she smiled. Because, despite their hate, at the end of everything, both the god and the cursed were lonely.