For the damned | ✓

17

DELILAH WASN'T QUITE SURE what to say. She had been arrogant to assume, even though she hadn't said so out loud. After all, why else was she disappointed? It had just all seemed to add up: the fact that she had no soul, the comparisons he had made, the dreams she had. Most of all, it had seemed like a logical explanation for everything that was happening.

"Where do the dreams come from?" she said.

"Oh, that," he said lazily," that was me. I had to get you interested to help me somehow."

"What?" she asked, genuinely confused.

"Why else would you have said yes?" he shrugged," I needed you to agree and with the close contact you had with the Grim Reaper, I knew anything regarding him would catch your interest. It worked, didn't it? You stayed for the information."

"I would have helped you regardless," she said, truly meaning it.

"Why would you?" he said," out of some obligation to be kind?"

"Not an obligation, simply out of empathy," she said.

"Empathy is overrated," he scoffed," fuck other people, why should I care about them? They're all the same anyway."

"I don't really see it that way," she said, the wind blowing dandelion seeds past," most of the time a single sentence alone can already brighten up someone's day and it costs me zero effort, so why wouldn't I?"

"It's also easy to ruin someone's day with a single sentence," Niccolo interjected," and way more fun, you know."

She stared at him and he shook his head slowly, clicking his tongue.

"We have an eternity ahead," he said," you'll turn to the dark side with me soon, I promise you."

"Aren't there nice gods?" Delilah said.

"No," he said without any hesitation," they all suck, except me." He paused for a moment, before tapping his fingers on his cheek. "Though you know what, I suck as well, so there's that."

"Either way, I do enjoy your company," she smiled.

She meant it. Despite the fact that he was unpredictable and doing whatever he wanted, she did feel at ease with him. Honestly, when he had first told her to kill him, she had expected him to ask her point-blank to strangle him or something the next time they met, but he seemed to be quite laidback in his plans. His expression was a bit curious as he looked at her, before he concealed it again.

"Don't get too attached," he grinned," or you'll end up crying in the end."

"Where do you go after this?" she asked.

There was no need to clarify it any more, something serious flickering briefly in his eyes.

"I wonder," he mused," I hope nowhere at all or..." He seemed to want to say something, but swallowed the words, instead continuing on. "Anyway, if the Reaper even tries to guide me somewhere I will fistfight him, I swear."

"I'm not saying this to be mean," Delilah said as she placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed comfortingly," but you will lose."

She had expected him to be offended, but he laughed, looking ethereal with his smile.

"You're right," he said," that man is surprisingly strong in hand-to-hand combat for someone who doesn't need to fight on the job."

His hand grazed his lips then, as if he was only then realizing how wide his smile was, and he quickly scraped his throat, all amusement gone. He looked at her and it seemed like he was seeing someone else for a moment, voice clear all of a sudden.