[There's a very small knock on the door. A rabbit was standing just outside of it, a wagon behind her with a cake the size for normal human consumption, not rabbit sized, was on it. Judy had help from the apartment staff, of course, but this was a delivery she wanted to make personally as much as possible!
The cake was a carrot cake, she didn't know Thanatos's palette, so it had been a guess. Something mildly sweet as a thank you. She waited nervously at the door, foot tapping rapidly as she pocketed her carrot pen and notebook with the address for Thanatos.]
[First off, he would like to know how she found him. He hardly makes his location public and she would have had to go to some effort to track him down to Hypnos' house.
His brother isn't in and he normally wouldn't answer the door, but Judy will only have to wait a minute before she has the death god standing (floating) in front of her, looking ever-so-slightly curious to see her there.]
There's another soul here- or rather, Hythlodaeus thinks, there is the suggestion of aether that lacks a definitive soul, but is yet similar all the same. That intrigues him far more than anything else here, so he sweeps over and smiles at the man he comes across.
"I was not expecting to run into another here."
His eyes, glowing brightly in the dim light of the graveyard, fix upon Thanatos curiously. Everything about the man screams that he doesn't wish to be disturbed, but since when has that stopped Hythlodaeus?
The work that has been done to the graveyard has done much to settle the spirits whose bodies rest there, but some of them remain restless and likely will no matter what is done to improve the conditions of their afterlife.
Thanatos has little quarrel with such spirits so long as they aren't trying to cause problems for anybody else. Hythlodaeus would find him perched on a tomb with his scythe held loosely in one hand, seemingly engaged in conversation with someone that would only be very thinly visible to his aether sight.
The death god glances to the side, barely looking at him.
"I can indeed." He gestures to the spirit, unaware of their impatience. "I can perceive their soul, if nothing else."
He moves idly over to a gravestone, considering sitting on it before deciding it would be disrespectful, perhaps. He instead brushes it off and stands by it, hand gently resting atop it.
Thanatos can see them clear as day, but for someone not so connected to Death as he to even be able to sense them... Well, he knows that some humans possess the skill, in small ways. It isn't something he has ever really involved himself in, personally.
Too busy with his work.
"This place is teeming with restless spirits, unwilling to move on for one reason or another."
Thanatos himself is... not so far removed from Emet-Selch, even as far as looks go. Perhaps there is something to be said for white-haired, golden-eyed men associated with Death?
He looks at Hythlodaeus impassively for a few moments more, then holds out a hand.
He looks at the hand, before wandering over at a leisurely pace. Hythlodaeus doesn't know what Thanatos wants, but he's always been a trusting sort and has no reason not to trust the man before him now.
Part of the 'skill set' of a Chthonic god of death is the power to give others the ability to fully perceive spirits. Thanatos will do just that, once Hythlodaeus is close enough to be touched.
The ghost he was speaking to is still waiting, still looking somewhat impatient. It appears to be the soul of a woman in her late fifties.
"Goodness," he blinks as he perceives the spirit before him, and then smiles to her. "Ah, you have been waiting for a while. My apologies. I can leave until such a time as you have finished your conversation."
In the meantime, he can always speak with another spirit who has been hovering nearby- that of a child who looks to be around 12, her eyes wide and sorrowful. He crouches down and starts a quiet conversation with her, and slowly the child seems to grow more animated- Hythlodaeus chuckles at something, and after a while he creates a bunch of flowers to rest on her grave. It was an important Amaurotine tradition, to lay flowers at the site of the deceased. He hopes it will bring her some joy.
It's a temporary thing, for now - something he has always been capable of and can bestow easily upon others. Hythlodaeus had seemed curious, and knowledgeable enough to not take the brief gift poorly.
He finishes his conversation with the spirit he was speaking to before the man arrived and then waits, patiently observing, while Hythlodaeus interacts with the ghost of the young child. How people treat those who have passed into death does matter to Thanatos, despite his apparent distant and chilly nature.
His attention shifts between the flowers and Hythlodaeus, then briefly up to his hair. It's an interesting colour to see on a mortal, though he can already tell without asking that this man is no ordinary mortal.
And it isn't as if it's the first person here he's seen with purple hair.
"I'm sure she appreciates your gesture." Then, looking around... "Many of the spirits linger here because they have something holding them to this world. Not all of them remember what that is."
"I should hate to be trapped in such a form, away from the comforts of the Underworld."
It's sad, but he wouldn't know where to begin when it came to helping spirits move on. Had he taken the role of Emet-Selch, perhaps he would be more useful here- but he knows he could never have done as good a job as Hades did, and he had acted accordingly, so the point is moot.
"I would usually be the one called on to do something about such lingering phantoms," Thanatos says after a few moments of silence, sounding distantly thoughtful.
"But no such power is afforded to me here. So, I only offer them what small comfort I can."
He doesn't like it. It's akin to having had a limb cut off.
"Comfort is better than nothing," Hythlodaeus smiles, trying to be reassuring. "And I am sure they appreciate that you do all you can for them. Not many others would even think to come here, I feel... and fewer still would be able to sense them."
It makes him feel badly, that he can't come here every so often to chat with the spirits since he can't see or hear them the way Thanatos can. He simply sees their souls, and that is it.
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timeasmymeasure
Shortly after the bubble incident
Date: 2025-11-30 05:03 pm (UTC)The cake was a carrot cake, she didn't know Thanatos's palette, so it had been a guess. Something mildly sweet as a thank you. She waited nervously at the door, foot tapping rapidly as she pocketed her carrot pen and notebook with the address for Thanatos.]
no subject
Date: 2025-12-08 01:10 am (UTC)His brother isn't in and he normally wouldn't answer the door, but Judy will only have to wait a minute before she has the death god standing (floating) in front of her, looking ever-so-slightly curious to see her there.]
at the abandoned graveyard
Date: 2025-12-21 05:18 pm (UTC)"I was not expecting to run into another here."
His eyes, glowing brightly in the dim light of the graveyard, fix upon Thanatos curiously. Everything about the man screams that he doesn't wish to be disturbed, but since when has that stopped Hythlodaeus?
no subject
Date: 2025-12-26 07:44 pm (UTC)Thanatos has little quarrel with such spirits so long as they aren't trying to cause problems for anybody else. Hythlodaeus would find him perched on a tomb with his scythe held loosely in one hand, seemingly engaged in conversation with someone that would only be very thinly visible to his aether sight.
The death god glances to the side, barely looking at him.
"Nor was I."
It's part of why he comes here.
no subject
Date: 2025-12-26 08:54 pm (UTC)"If you are having a conversation, I can leave... how curious that you can hear them, however."
He can only see the suggestion of the aether there, and that's it. He most certainly cannot speak with the dead. What an intriguing talent!
no subject
Date: 2026-01-01 02:53 pm (UTC)"Chthonian deities have a connection to the dead that most others do not."
Then his attention slides back to the spirit, who is (slightly impatiently) waiting for their conversation to continue.
"But you can perceive them. I find that more curious."
no subject
Date: 2026-01-02 03:26 pm (UTC)"I can indeed." He gestures to the spirit, unaware of their impatience. "I can perceive their soul, if nothing else."
He moves idly over to a gravestone, considering sitting on it before deciding it would be disrespectful, perhaps. He instead brushes it off and stands by it, hand gently resting atop it.
"There are a few here, lingering."
no subject
Date: 2026-01-07 11:51 pm (UTC)"You are correct."
Thanatos can see them clear as day, but for someone not so connected to Death as he to even be able to sense them... Well, he knows that some humans possess the skill, in small ways. It isn't something he has ever really involved himself in, personally.
Too busy with his work.
"This place is teeming with restless spirits, unwilling to move on for one reason or another."
no subject
Date: 2026-01-08 01:14 am (UTC)He smiles then.
"A job that was almost assigned to me, but... ah, I do not possess half of the power he does."
Though he is powerful in his own right, he knows full well that there is none more powerful on Etheirys than Emet-Selch.
no subject
Date: 2026-01-11 06:23 am (UTC)He looks at Hythlodaeus impassively for a few moments more, then holds out a hand.
"Come here."
no subject
Date: 2026-01-12 04:20 am (UTC)He looks at the hand, before wandering over at a leisurely pace. Hythlodaeus doesn't know what Thanatos wants, but he's always been a trusting sort and has no reason not to trust the man before him now.
no subject
Date: 2026-01-13 10:40 pm (UTC)The ghost he was speaking to is still waiting, still looking somewhat impatient. It appears to be the soul of a woman in her late fifties.
no subject
Date: 2026-01-14 12:26 am (UTC)In the meantime, he can always speak with another spirit who has been hovering nearby- that of a child who looks to be around 12, her eyes wide and sorrowful. He crouches down and starts a quiet conversation with her, and slowly the child seems to grow more animated- Hythlodaeus chuckles at something, and after a while he creates a bunch of flowers to rest on her grave. It was an important Amaurotine tradition, to lay flowers at the site of the deceased. He hopes it will bring her some joy.
no subject
Date: 2026-01-17 05:04 pm (UTC)He finishes his conversation with the spirit he was speaking to before the man arrived and then waits, patiently observing, while Hythlodaeus interacts with the ghost of the young child. How people treat those who have passed into death does matter to Thanatos, despite his apparent distant and chilly nature.
no subject
Date: 2026-01-18 07:08 am (UTC)"My thanks. Were it not for you, I would never have gotten the chance to meet her. She tells me that she likes flowers."
He gestures to the ones he laid at her grave. They glow softly, all pinks and purples.
"She also told me that she likes the colour of my hair."
Hence, the colour of the flowers.
no subject
Date: 2026-01-21 10:16 pm (UTC)And it isn't as if it's the first person here he's seen with purple hair.
"I'm sure she appreciates your gesture." Then, looking around... "Many of the spirits linger here because they have something holding them to this world. Not all of them remember what that is."
no subject
Date: 2026-01-22 08:04 am (UTC)He muses on it for a while, then shakes his head.
"I should hate to be trapped in such a form, away from the comforts of the Underworld."
It's sad, but he wouldn't know where to begin when it came to helping spirits move on. Had he taken the role of Emet-Selch, perhaps he would be more useful here- but he knows he could never have done as good a job as Hades did, and he had acted accordingly, so the point is moot.
no subject
Date: 2026-02-06 10:55 pm (UTC)"But no such power is afforded to me here. So, I only offer them what small comfort I can."
He doesn't like it. It's akin to having had a limb cut off.
no subject
Date: 2026-02-16 03:05 pm (UTC)It makes him feel badly, that he can't come here every so often to chat with the spirits since he can't see or hear them the way Thanatos can. He simply sees their souls, and that is it.
no subject
Date: 2026-02-22 12:38 am (UTC)"Those with abilities that fall under the season of winter are able to see the spirits here," he comments. "But I do not see many of them."
Busy with other things, no doubt. He's not annoyed about that - these dead do not belong to the Otherworlders in any form, and yet...
"I do not expect to."
no subject
Date: 2026-02-27 04:09 am (UTC)He wonders if they would appreciate a little music. Maybe he could bring his lyre here, some time.
"I will try to find my way here a little more often. To be alone and unheard is terrible."
It's something he thinks he would be afraid of, but he doesn't think there's much chance of ending up in that situation, either.