milliways_bar | (no subject)

Enter Svava, in a blue ~~star trek~~ dress. A faint smile and wave to Arithon.

He returns her smile with a faint frown, and a somewhat brusque motion for her to come and sit next to him. Arithon, let us remember, is very good at reading emotions.

A bit of a sigh, and Svava heads over. She manages a smile. "You're definitly looking better, Arithon. Since I've last seen you, and the time before."

"Thank you. What is wrong?"

Aside from the fact that the dress he is most emphatically not looking at seems to have been created in order to mimic having been partially torn off.

The dress? Could be much, much worse. Trust us.

She takes a deep breath, and sighs. "Nothing with Archie, so please don't think you have to go off and threaten him again?"

"I would not threaten him again."

He says with dignity. Then he frowns again;

"That did not, however, answer my question."

Another sigh, and from a small drawstring purse she carries (when what she's wearing doesn't have pockets), she pulls out a folded piece of paper. (http://www.livejournal.com/users/skjaldmeyjar/20408.html)

"Have you learned to read the language here?"

He shakes his head, and takes the paper in one hand anyway. After a moment, he's holding two of them. He hands her back the original, and reads the translation.

"Oh, daon ka."

Its all he says. But he says it with a simple sort of compassion that far, far outstrips any words of grief or fear.

She takes her own letter back, folding it very, very, carefully.

"Please don't... don't start getting all... all..." A deep breath. "I've gotten so I'm not letting it make me upset, so I can try to think insted of breaking down." Though add in 'barely' a few times there, and it would be closer to the truth.

He reaches a hand out, and covers hers gently;

"I saw you here."

It is all he can say.

"... But everyone's supposed to die, Arithon. Even the gods themselves, there." She squeezes his hand.

"That...stops people from being here?"

Arithon was under the impression that Archie was dead. So. Yes.

Svava just sort of stares at Arithon for a long moment. "... I do not know how people manage to come here after they die. I had never heard of this place before I came here... and helping to escort the dead was one of my jobs."

"...You could ask around?"

Where do dead gods go? He certainly doesn't know. He just pats her hand again, and looks helpless.

Svava winces slightly, and nods.

She sighs quietly.

Arithon has managed to be at Milliways this long and not hear about the Endless. So he just looks a little lost and leans back in his chair.

Svava blinks at him. "... Death. One of the Endless. She's here at times... but doesn't work."

She gets another blank look, then a nod.

"If she is someone you can talk to, I will be pleased."

A bit of a wince, and she nods, closing her eyes.

"...It also says that I don't have to go..."

He doesn't answer that. How can he? He has no choice but to someday exit himself, even if he has a choice.

"I will return."

And he moves to order hot chocolate and ale.

Svava nods, and slowly sits down.

Arithon returns, hands Svava a cup of ~~tea~~ hot chocolate, and manages not to be snippy about the idiot behind bar. It takes every muscle in his body.

She smiles faintly, taking the cup of hot chocolate. "Thanks."

He makes a hand-gestures that seems to mean more or less the same thing as a shrug;

"I wish I could do more."

"... Many people have said that to me. Its alright." Quietly.

He doesn't agree with her. That's okay too. So, in silence, he drinks and watches her.

"... What do you think? About going, or not going?" Finally.

"Daon ka I can not make that choice for you."

He leans forward, and reaches over to touch the back of her hand lightly,

"I would go, but I am s'Ffalenn. I will not blame you either way, but I can not make your choice."

She nods. "I know. I just.. want to hear ideas. Options." A deep breath and sigh.

"I'm sorry. I don't have any."

He looks at his ale as though it could help. The ale is silent.

Neither does her hot chocolate, alas.

"...how do you see things?"

"I know you will come back, if you go. But I can not tell you what you should do."

But if she asks? He'll scry for it.

A slow nod. "... just... how sure are those things, that you see?"

"Certain enough that I have staked my life on them."

"... oh." As much as she cares for Arithon, finding out he could make mistakes on such a thing would have been nice.

He has. Sometimes. But....he's still certain enough that he's staked his life on it.

She sips her hot chocolate, finally. ".... back, you said. Here."

"Back. Here."

Bleeding on the floor, people calling for healers....he swallows, and smiles at her. It takes effort, but it looks fine.

And the mun is evil. Svava nods, with a faint smile to Arithon, taking a bit of hope in his reassurance.

He'll pay for it later. But he smiles at her again, and takes a long drink of ale.

"I wonder if anyone back at Asgard even knows I'm missing." She mutters, after a while.

Is there a safe response to that?

~~Its a much safer question than the dressed "does my rear look big in this?", really.~~

Thankfully, Svava's not expecting an answer. The only people around here from 'home' that she knows of are exiled from there.

So he's safely silent.