"You'll have to pardon me if I find it a bit hard to worship you, given that I spend a good amount of my time in your vicinity. Being next to a deity tends to humanize them, you know."
"Ah, Spirit-kun seems to have no trouble accepting me as I am, and he spends most of his days that he isn't at Chupa Cabra's with me."
Cigarette smoke wafted into the air. "Yes, well, there is a marked difference between myself and Spirit-senpai."
"Perhaps not as much as you think."
There was a pause in the conversation as a long stream of smoke was blown into the air. "And what could you mean by that, Shinigami-sama?"
"What makes you so different?"
"I don't chase women as if there is going to be a shortage the next day, for starters. I'm also much more observant than he is."
"Yes, we all know that it took him years to find the scars that you left on him."
"Only detected by Kami. I wonder how long Spirit would have allowed me to continue if she hadn't interfered."
"You would have grown bored before long with him."
Another pause as smoke billowed towards the ceiling. "You're quite probably correct."
"That still doesn't explain why you believe that you are so different from Spirit."
"He can have blind faith. I require proof."
"I stand in front of you, is that not proof enough?"
A harsh laugh. "Like I said earlier, being next to a deity tends to humanize them."
"Then what do you believe it?"
A long pause followed. "That which has been proven." A sweeping gesture towards the row of crosses. "That once I die, which I do believe will be sooner rather than later, I will reside under one of them." A smirk on a stitched face. "And then you will be able to question me for eternity if you choose."
"Yet you find it hard to worship, even knowing that which has been proven." Arrogance? Laughter? Something else entirely? Stein couldn't place the emotion in the being's voice.
"Not hard, impossible, truthfully." More smoke floated towards the ceiling.
Definite laughter this time. "Good."
Green eyes stared at the skull shaped mask. "Good?"
"It's nice to feel, what was your word? Humanized."
A low chuckle, a smirk stretching stitches. "Anytime."
A/N: I don't know. I just don't. Don't ask what spawned this thwack of the inspiration stick, it came, I wrote. And yes, it is supposed to be dialogue heavy. I couldn't bring myself to do straight dialogue, so it just happens to be dialogue heavy. Enjoy, I don't own Soul Eater.