Chapter Seven
Death was pacing. He knew something was wrong with his Reaper. He felt a sharp pain in his arms earlier, but soon after anger, then sadness. He knew that something had happened to Matthew and sent a raven.
Death was able to feel all the Reaper's negative emotions and pain. He knew whenever Matthew was in danger. It was his job to keep the Reaper's from dying or committing suicide, but he was unable to leave his house to help them. They had to come to him. He was surprised how long some of them lasted seeing people be killed every day. He didn't see the violence, only set the dates.
The tall man started to worry more when he felt another spike of fear. He paced faster. He wished he could see what was happening. Just as he turned to walk again the door opened and Matthew stepped in pulling down his hood and bandanna.
"Is everything okay?" The Reaper asked worriedly. It wasn't normal for Death to see him on such short notice.
"Everything is fine with me." Death said in his low smooth voice. He looked Matthew over and noticed the bandages wrapped neatly around his arms. "What happened to your hands?" Death asked siting down in his leather arm chair and motioning for the blond to sit where ever he liked.
The Reaper sat and explained what happened with Pitch and how he got burnt. "Hmmm. Those will take quite some time to heal." Death said. The Reaper healed much slower than a normal spirit, but still quicker than a human. "Did anything else happen after?" Death asked remembering the fear from a few minutes ago.
Matthew frowned knowing he couldn't hide anything from Death. "Yes, Bunnymund attacked me. I had to sing to get away." He said looking down at the floor.
"I don't understand why you don't use your singing power." Death said. "Or your specter power. It could scare your attacker off."
"I don't like it." The Reaper sighed. "I don't want people to be afraid of me."
"If it stops someone from hurting you than I'd recommend you use your abilities" Death said leaning back in his chair. "Pitch has been taking souls again? When are you planning to take them back?"
"Soon. He's only been taking one a month, but this month it's been three. He hasn't gotten to a thousand souls yet. That's normally when I go after him." Matthew said rubbing his arm. They were starting to ache.
"Will you take your husband with you this time? Or the guardians now that you know them?" Death asked crossing one leg over the other.
"No." The blond said quickly. "I don't want them to get hurt."
"What about you? You need to think about yourself as well! You heal a lot slower Matthew." Death said with a worried frown.
"I just don't want anything to happen to them." The Reaper said looking at the floor.
"You know better that anyone that no one is immortal. You need to take care of yourself too. Bringing others will make it a lot easier and less likely for anyone to be hurt." Death said intertwining his hands and placing them on his knee.
"Knowing Jack, now that he's fought Pitch and won, he'll probably want to help." Matthew said.
"I hope you let him." Death mumbled. Then cleared his throat. Well I might as well tell you your workload now, it should be about 1,070,000."
Matthew nodded listening closely. It was essential he knew how many people he would be processing. Most people were processed by his subconscious, but it still took a lot out of him. The last couple of weeks hadn't been as bad as usual. The Reaper was enjoying the 'break,' but by the sound of it, his break was coming to an end.
"Alright, I'll let you go now." Death said standing up. Matthew did the same, but stretched. Death lead him to the door and waved goodbye. The Reaper smiled and waved before flying off towards home.
-❄"Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live."❄-
Once he got home, the Reaper tried to lie on the bed, but his hands and arms only ached worse. He got up and laid face down on the cool stone floor. It was pretty uncomfortable, but helped soothe the ache in his arms.
"What are you doing Birdie?" Jack asked flying into the cave.
"Arms are sore." Matthew mumbled half asleep. "Floor cold."
"North gave me some stuff to put on them. It should take the heat out." The winter spirit said helping Matthew up. He led him over to their small kitchen table. Jack unwrapped the bandages and winced. The burns were not a pretty sight. He gently rubbed the cream into the burns and Matthew hissed. It stung for a while, but then all the pain was gone. "Better?" Jack asked giving him a gentle kiss on the forehead.
"Yes, much." The Reaper hummed, then yawned.
"It says that we should change them every other day." Jack said reading the back of the container. Matthew got up and walked back over to the bed and flopped down. "Better stock up on bandages."
"I'll get some tomorrow." The blond said from under the blankets. "I still need to take those library books back."
"You've had them for like two months now!" Jack laughed and crawled into the bed beside his husband. The Reaper cuddled into his chest and Jack kissed him on the lips. The frost spirit pulled back and put his hands on Matthew's waist to pull him closer. "I love you."
"Love you too." Matthew murmured falling asleep.
