The first thing Lotz noticed about the afterlife was that it was very, very white. The second thing he noticed was that there was no one there. No one at all. In fact, there was nothing there.

"…Hello?" he called out, listening to his voice echo (though he didn't see any walls for it to echo off of).

The sound of someone clearing his throat came from behind the hawk. Lotz jumped, whirling around to see a nonchalant-looking raven standing directly behind him.

"How long have you been there?" the hawk asked, startled.

"…A year, give or take a few months." The raven leaned against – well presumably there was a wall there, but it was the same blinding white as everything else.

"Oh." Lotz paused, and then extended a hand. "I'm Lotz."

"Seeker." The raven shook the offered hand firmly, with a slight smirk. "Welcome to the afterlife."

"It doesn't seem like much of an afterlife to me," Lotz commented. "Isn't there supposed to be an eternal reward or something? Sunshine, flowers, wine, et cetera?"

"Reserved for people with mourners." Seeker sighed, rolling his eyes – well, presumably it was heavenward, not that direction meant much here. "Until someone cries for you, you're pretty much stuck here in the land of white, white, and some whiter white."

Lotz shrugged. "King Tibarn's not really the crying type."

"And Naesala'll start bawling riiight after he becomes a nun."

The hawk snickered. "I'd pay to see that." Then his face fell. "…So we're stuck here. Forever."

"Pretty much." Seeker snorted. "You won't go insane – believe me, I've tried."

Lotz sighed, feeling around for a wall to rest against. When he found it, he leaned back and studied his fellow laguz.

Seeker was black-haired, with gray eyes and a small scar on his chin. He wore a dark blue tunic over similarly-colored pants, a heavily worn brown belt, and a blue headband that barely kept his unruly hair in check. A watery sheen adorned his black wings.

"…You drowned?" Lotz asked quietly, not meeting Seeker's gaze.

"Had a javelin thrown at me, shot with an arrow, blasted with wind magic, and then drowned." Seeker crossed his arms. "You?"

"…Stabbed. By a man in black armor." Lotz winced as he remembered it. "Survived long enough to watch Lady Leanne be kidnapped, sadly."

Seeker nodded. "Watching the rest of my flock be killed before me wasn't exactly the greatest experience of my life, either." He paused, eyes widening slightly. "…Lady Leanne is alive?"

"I hope so," Lotz answered, looking back up at the raven. "From what I've gathered, she slept through the massacre, and her brother just recently found her. The forest's been restored, by the way. And there's a Crimea-Gallia alliance at the moment to counter Daein's attacks… You missed a lot."

"Really." Seeker blinked. "…The laguz-beorc alliance wouldn't happen to be led by a swordsman with blue hair?"

The hawk nodded. "That's Ike – or at least that's a pretty good description of him. Why?"

"That's… err…" Seeker laughed quietly, disbelieving. "That's got to be the leader of the group that killed me. Heh."

"…Really?"

"Kilvan, remember. They sail, we lay traps and loot them."

"Huh." Lotz thought a moment, and then changed the subject. "How is it that we're the only recently deceased who don't have anyone crying for them?"

"We're not," Seeker explained. As he spoke, Lotz could make out a dark shape appearing far off in the distance. "Most of the hu-"

"Beorc," Lotz corrected tiredly.

"…Most of the beorc wandered off immediately. You're the first laguz I've seen that isn't either crazy or incredibly boring."

Lotz smiled at that, replying, "I guess I'll take that as a compliment."

The pair continued to think in silence, until Seeker asked, "How is it that no one's crying for you? I mean, I'd have thought your girlfriend-"

"Don't have a girlfriend," Lotz interrupted, looking away again. "Never did."

"Oh." Seeker thought on that for a while. Then he grinned. "Oh."

Lotz definitely did not trust that grin, and turned back to stare at Seeker. "Oh…?"

"You know," Seeker started, walking forward until he was directly in front of Lotz, "I did see two hu- beorc who had found a way to occupy themselves."

"R-really?" Lotz squeaked.

"I could show you, if you like," Seeker practically purred. He leaned forward so that his face was mere inches away from Lotz's.

Lotz stammered, "I… err…"

Apparently that was all the confirmation Seeker needed, as Lotz found himself pressed against the wall, lips captured in a scorchingly hot kiss.

Seeker was the one who pulled away first, smirking, eyes lidded. Lotz, on the other hand, was flushed and gaping.

Finally, Lotz managed to whimper, "That's certainly better than being bored for the rest of eternity…"

"Thought you'd say that."