lifeaftr | [open] if you're the bird, whenever we pretend it's summer

Who: Kravitz and you!
What: Ren has so graciously gifted Kravitz a new pet, and he is very, very excited about it.
When: Backdated to January 15th
Where: Starting at Elf Camp and then around Enso's shoreline
Warnings: Should be good!

i. [closed to ren, elf camp] you and i left our troubles far behind

[The thing about this plan is that Kravitz was not informed it was even a plan.

When Ren so innocently asked him about birds he liked over a month ago at the petting zoo, Kravitz had truly thought nothing of it. He's spoken about ravens before, and Ren ends up intent on the strangest things- it would be a lot to keep track of if he tried to record everything she's ever done. So the morning it Happens, he's peacefully sleeping away in the main tent of elf camp, none the wiser for what's about to go down.

Good luck, Ren. Or really, good luck Kravitz, in holding his own shit together.]

ii. [open, enso's shores] but i still have just one more question on my mind

[He had no idea this was even going to work, but now that it has, Kravitz is intent on testing the new bird out. He can be found along the shoreline of Enso, a large black bird on his shoulder that Kravitz seems to be talking to. It, on the other hand, is looking very intently at his closed fist at his chest.]

Okay, Lieutenant Pepper, we're going to go over this again. I'm going to throw this, and you're going to bring it back, and if you do-- without swallowing it-- you can have a treat. Okay? Good.

[The arm that has the bird on it produces a rock, which he tosses underhand away from him.]

Go on! Get it, bring it back--

[Yes. He's teaching a bird to play fetch. This is exactly what's happening here.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I had to check.

[He doesn't explain why. It's as short as anything he says when he doesn't feel up to explaining; he had to check, and that's the end of it. It's not just that there's shit in his head he'd rather not be public - invasions of privacy are standard, for him. It's that he doesn't want It infecting anyone else.]

[(Too late for that, of course.)]

I never said you were.

[He just shrugs, at last not seeming bothered by it.]

I tend to assume people think the worst in me. Or at least, of Death. Most people don't have such favorable opinions.

[They project, he thinks, as if a natural process could be good or evil. It's just a matter of balance, what keeps mortals mortals and gods gods. He'd reason it that everyone wants to live, but he's been proven continuously wrong around here.]

You sound like you'll probably know if I'm around, anyway.

[The irony: Tim's views on death are less than charitable not because of a fear of the concept, but because death apparently won't do its damn job where he's concerned.]

Probably not. Just...don't go using it with me unless you have to.

[Disembodied voices in his head make him cagey, even if he doesn't see or hear things that aren't there so much these days. Not unless he's in a bad way.]

[Which does tend to happen.]

[Yeah, that's only a foreign concept to him because he does his damn job. Lots of other worlds' Reapers need a talking to, in his opinion. A long one. Using his hands.]

Right. Only in case of emergencies.

[Which can happen a lot around here, but-- one can hope they won't.]

Well, uhm. I hope you enjoyed meeting Pepper anyway.

[Said Lieutenant is still hopping about in the sand, cheerfully oblivious to any trauma.]

I think Pepper would've enjoyed meeting me a lot more if I had food.

[It's not a pointed remark - just an idle comment, which as close as he gets to amused without it sliding into something potentially condescending. He's making an effort here, which is more than he usually does.]

[Maybe because some part of him feels bad for the way they met.]

[He's not totally expecting a joke, and it catches him off guard. He's quiet for a moment, unsure of what to say, until Pepper looks up at Tim and lets out a loud and obnoxious caw.

And that gets a chuckle out of him, a shake of his shoulders and a raise of his hand to his mouth to cover it.]

Well, it seems she agrees, unfortunately for you.

[It helps, for the half second that Kravitz laughs, in that Tim feels like less of an asshole than usual, and he doesn't smile, naturally. He just glances at the crow in question and there's a stirring at the corner of his mouth and it's gone again, just as quick.]

Good luck with teaching her, I guess.

[It's okay, in the end. They're both just a little off. What else is new?]

I appreciate it. Feel free to uhm... visit, I suppose. I'm sure we'll both be around.

[He leans down to try and compel her onto his arm, and she approaches but just kind of... stops. So much for any kind of dramatic exit.]

[It's a good thing Tim isn't one to laugh at that little stumble; it'd just add insult to injury, and Kravitz is probably used to being a lot more impressive. It's not his fault that Tim is so desensitized to just about every-fucking-thing that so little rattles him anymore.]

You're living with the elves, right?

[He figured, but it pays to make sure.]

[He feels like he traded away every chance he had to be impressive when he got stuck here and made mortal. It's just all he's got. Thankfully Pepper gets the hint when he finds more food, and he transfers her up to his shoulder as she munches.]

Yes, with them and Ren. It's not far from the Storyteller's temple, just watch for traps.

[Since they don't really check the pits enough and that would be a shameful way to die.]

[If Tim is shocked to discover that the elves surround their home with traps (he isn't), it doesn't show. He just nods, tiredly.]

I'll keep it in mind.

[The traps, and the potential to stop by, if he needs it. He doubts he will. The store's usually a safer bet, and less liable to ensnare him with some fucking...traps...apparently.]

I'll see you.

["He nods, tiredly" could be the title of Kravitz' autobiography. He feels that emotion more than he feels most emotions ever. It just happens like that.

But he won't stop him, giving Tim a little wave as he goes.]

Of course.

[And then he turns, taking Pepper further out in the beach for more practice.]

[open] if you're the bird, whenever we pretend it's summer

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