- Death and Oliver -
"You okay sir?" Oliver said from afar to Death.
"I'll be fine," Death mumbled.
Oliver didn't have much interaction with Death before their meeting in Passage. He was secretly excited to get the chance to speak with him. He was going to ask if he could practice with him until he saw Death's training. It was different, it seemed more purposeful, as though he was imagining someone as he swung the scythe.
'Can't imagine practicing with that,' Oliver scratched the back of his head.
Death was trying to quiet everything around him. What mattered to him now was staying focused. He couldn't practice his riding with Hrom so he was stuck with just weapon and image training. So long as he kept his eyes closed he wouldn't see the eyes of the crowd and most of them wouldn't dare say anything if they thought he could hear them.
Oliver was looking around at some of the disgusted stares of the resistance soldiers. He had to hold himself back from yelling at them. His anger towards Lucifer and Peter had seemed overblown, those two were clearly dealing with more than he knew, these people, however, had no right to be staring how they were.
'He's going to be carrying most of your resistance on his back and this is how you look at him?'
Oliver felt a growing frustration. He started better understanding Peter's perspective on things. He was used to how the Grim and the humans south of the border see Death. He knew fearful stares were inevitable, but ones of disgust? He couldn't tolerate that, especially given the circumstances. The longer he thought, the more he convinced himself to speak up.
"Drop the stares," He ordered the group.
"Excuse me?" One of the men asked.
"You heard me," He glared at them. "Stop scrunching your faces while you look at him."
The crowd was now staring at Oliver. Most didn't know him and had just met him that day, with the few that did know him only did because of his status as a Grim. He was annoyed by the response but decided to keep going out of loyalty.
"That man you're glaring at is more than half of our total strength," Oliver said while pointing. "None of you will be doing even a fraction of his work in the coming battle."
Death had just barely heard the commotion. He assumed that Oliver had said something to the staring crowd. If he was in a better mood he would have told Oliver to stop.
'Not my problem. Just don't start a fight, Oliver.'
Death continued swinging his scythe and imagining fighting Baal and his forces. He started trying to swing his scythe faster, ignoring the growing sound of an argument. His thoughts were occasionally interrupted by images of Saint. The reoccurring distractions slowed his swings slightly.
"Because I actually know what it means to fucking fight!" Oliver's shout forced Death's attention.
"OLIVER!" Death yelled loudly enough to make most of the crowd flinch.
Oliver looked over at Death. He knew he shouldn't be arguing.
"What's the problem?" Kahvis asked as they walked up.
- Kahvis, Oliver, Death -
"Your soldiers here are being disrespectful to Death," Oliver told Kahvis.
Kahvis looked around at the faces of their soldiers and then to Death. They sighed.
"If you can't be respectful, don't watch his training," Kahvis told the crowd.
"He nearly killed the Saint!" One voice yelled.
"The Saint? Really? You think he almost killed THE SAINT, on accident?" Oliver mocked the voice.
"Death, could you help us with this?" Kahvis asked.
Death's expression showed clear frustration with the situation. The fact that he had been interrupted multiple times after specifically requesting a spot in the camp away from others was infuriating. The conversations with Saint had been kindling for his anger, creating a situation where he has no patience for this type of problem.
"No," He answered. "Handle your own shit. They shouldn't be watching if this is how they're going to act."
The comment made Kahvis tilt their head with curiosity. They thought it was strange that Death would say something so blunt, especially to humans. They were in a tough spot, not wanting to argue with the crowd or Death. Oliver's attitude didn't help.
"He has a point," Kahvis appeased Death. "He decided to practice over here because he wanted to be away from others."
The crowd seemed to calm down at the words. Oliver wasn't sure if he should be impressed by Kahvis, or further annoyed by the crowd.
'You need to teach them to respect beings other than you,' The irony wasn't lost on Oliver.
Death couldn't concentrate. His thoughts were being interrupted by images of Saint and now the noise from the crowd. He decided that talking with Lucifer might be better for him than staying here. He returned his scythe and left the area while Oliver and Kahvis were talking.
"I'm not trying to make enemies of allies so you know," Oliver quietly said to Kahvis.
"Don't let your respect for Death lead to mistakes," Kahvis responded.
"Mistakes?" Oliver was curious.
"Starting avoidable arguments, possibly risking your life on the battlefield. I've seen good beings like you die because of this kind of thing."
Oliver didn't feel insulted by the comment. He found Kahvis's voice and look unsettling. They reminded him of demons he had met in Purgatory back during his original Grim training.
'What are you?' he wondered.
- Death and Lucifer -
Lucifer had been sitting in a stone hut going over a smaller version of the war table. He had put up a cloth that he took from the resistance soldiers that he had burned the words "Do not disturb" on. Death walked in, ducking under the smaller doorway.
"Already done training?" Lucifer asked without looking up.
"You know how it is." Death sat down. "Can't do anything without drawing a crowd. And I can't leave the camp, because knowing our luck that's when the fighting will start," He sighed.
"You really should talk to Oliver before he starts another fight," Lucifer said, moving pieces around on the board.
"He should be fine now that I'm in here," Death's eyes followed the pieces Lucifer was moving. "I'm sure he'll go wait somewhere with Rebecca and Julia until the fighting starts. Sorry about what happened between you two."
Lucifer shook his head. "It's fine. You know I don't care what the Grim think about me."
Death just wanted to sit and enjoy the peace. He found it difficult to tell humans to leave him alone without coming across as terrifying. Lucifer's lack of hesitation with such things was a much-needed relief.
"How do you feel about this?" Lucifer spoke before Death could.
"It's not the worst odds either of us has had," Death could tell what Lucifer was trying to say. "I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't come with you on this mission?"
"I would have died in Sol," Lucifer said coldly. "Even if I didn't, I probably would have died to Baal's army."
Death felt a sinking feeling. He had been convinced by Zach to go on this mission. He had never told Lucifer that his joining of the mission had been by chance. He decided he would reveal the truth after they headed back, assuming it would be a bad idea to add anymore conflict.
"How did it feel killing two of the three heads?" Death asked.
"Hollow," Lucifer replied. "Frustratingly hollow," He closed his eyes. "What did it feel like when you thought you were going to kill Amaterasu?" He opened his eyes and sighed.
"Familiar," Death responded. "Painfully familiar."
The silence in the room felt awkward. It was still a preferable feeling for Death though. He felt like Lucifer was more relatable when it came to problems. He would never admit it, but his time spent with Lucifer often made him feel nostalgic.
'I wonder how Zach is doing right now?' Death wondered.
Lucifer had been thinking about Sol after Death brought up his hypothetical. He was wondering what he would have done differently. Thoughts of potentially having to fight Amaterasu and how he could possibly deal with her while also fighting Cytus and Azriel.
'Would he have been able to deal with all of them by himself?' He glanced at Death.
"Let's say my team and I went back to Hell after Hydern: what would you have done against Azriel, Cytus, and Amaterasu?"
Death gave an explanation that surprised Lucifer. He had a look of sadness as he explained what his plan would have been.
"I guess that's what it would take," Lucifer sighed.
"Don't concern yourself with what-ifs," Death rested his back against the stone wall.
"Concerning myself with what-ifs is why I'm as strong as I am now," Lucifer rested his chin on the back of his hand. "Complacency is poison to a being's strength."
Death didn't want to say anything in response. He knew the real reason why Lucifer was constantly trying to get stronger. To say something contrary would be an insult. Instead, he decided to just be quiet and close his eyes, putting his hands behind his head. He cleared his head and just relaxed his body.
Lucifer thought Death's relaxed position was weird. He stayed quiet. He would rarely ever sleep, and as far as he knew Death never slept, so he decided to just let the man relax.
- Death -
Death was thinking about a very old conversation he once had with Ra.
["How do you live with it?"] Ra asked Death.
["Killing, or surviving?"] Death responded.
Ra laughed, surprising Death.
["Both, I suppose,"] Ra said.
["I remember that there's no fault in being fortunate, friend,"] Death said.
Conversations like these kept playing through Death's mind. There was comfort in these memories. They reminded him of a time that seemed simple relative to now. He stayed in his head while keeping an ear out for any potential dangers that could come their way.
'All this time, and here we are again,' Death started to reflect on the past. 'How humans survived war after war I'll never know.'
Death had a thorough knowledge of the human world, better than any god or human. He was far more knowledgeable than even Lucifer but was rarely ever asked about the human world, much to his enjoyment. He knew that most gods couldn't handle the information and that even if they could it would often be misused for prejudice.
Thinking about humans made Death say something out loud on accident.
"How many times..."
"Till we're done," Lucifer responded.
Death hadn't meant to say anything. He was going to correct himself until he realized Lucifer had misunderstood what he was talking about.