"So, should I be calling the police or something?" asked Audrey, sitting down at the counter in the kitchen of his temporary residence. Across from him was a full-blooded, professional grim reaper, calmly sipping tea after being invited in.
"Probably, since you're the one who 'found' the body." answered Maxwell with a nod. "It's obviously washed up, so no one will suspect you're a murderer. Calling it in is a good idea, if you wanted it out of view of your house, here."
"Yeah, it's kind of weird to be able to see the body from here and not." sighed Baines. He really didn't want any involvement in this, but alas, it couldn't be helped.
A body washed up on the beach, allowing a grim reaper to access the soul inside and harness it. It was pure coincidence that Audrey happened to see the reaping, but he felt like the polite thing to do was offer the other some tea. That, and it cured some of his loneliness for a while, even though Maxwell wasn't allowed to divulge any interesting information on the deceased. The extent that Audrey was allowed to know was "there is a body" and "it washed up on the beach." Honestly, that was all that Bones needed to know. It wasn't his business.
His business was calling someone to come down there and get rid of it, though. It was already starting to be pecked at by birds. It smelled, too, so Audrey made the wise decision and picked up the phone. He called the local police station and alerted them of the situation. All the while, Maxwell listened in.
"You're awfully casual about this." he noted as the other hung up.
"Not the first time I've seen a dead body. I'm with H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. remember?"
"I guess so. Maybe it's just that the whole situation is odd."
"What do you mean?"
"Well," began Maxwell. "Ordinarily, people can't see us, and I certainly didn't expect to see a half-reaper here."
"Yeah. It's kinda weird. I don't mind, though. I was getting kinda lonely down here anyway." Audrey said while leaning against the counter. "I kinda took this trip to be alone and sort through some stuff, but it turns out that being alone kinda sucks."
"What do you need to 'sort through'?"
"Death of a friend." Audrey replied. "It's complicated."
"Oh… Sorry?"
"Don't be. I don't even know how you guys would reap his soul. He was stabbed, but sank to the bottom of the ocean months ago."
"Well, we would probably use a sub- or the team who handles that sort of thing will." Goddard informed.
"You guys have submarines?"
"Those souls need collecting somehow, you know."
"True." As per usual, the Baines was accepting of bizarre information. It had become his forte over the years and was showing no signs of disappearing any time soon. "So you've got subs, you've got gardening tools, but do you have vacation days?"
"If you're lucky." laughed Maxwell. "Getting a job interview is tricky, though."
"I think I'll pass. I'm still happy with my current line of work." Audrey said with a smile, but the more he thought about it, the less his smile showed until eventually, it was an almost sombre frown. "Well… Most of the time..."
"Is it about that friend of yours?"
"Yeah..." Bones began, standing up. "I think it's a bit heavy to just lay on somebody who I've just met, though."
"You're saying that talking about the death of someone is heavy… to a grim reaper." reminded the other.
"Well, if you put it that way..." Audrey trailed off before starting right back up again. "The place I work for, H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. was tasked with killing my friend. A mutual friend was the one to actually do it, but I heard about it. I wasn't actually there. It's still hard to wrap my head around what the guy did to get in that kind of trouble… I know what he did. He was a criminal. A bad one, too. I just have trouble imagining the same kid he was when we were in school. I'm actually kind of mad at the other guy for killing him, even though it was perfectly justified. It's just… complicated."
"I don't know about all of that." replied Maxwell, pausing to take a sip of his tea. "I do know that when people die, the people who cared about them mourn them. Sometimes, even if their relationship was strained. It's odd, but not unusual for humans. It takes time for them to accept the loss and accept the person for who they were."
"Even if they were on the opposing team?"
"You're thinking about it in terms of black and white." he explained further. "There's many layers, here. Being a reaper is actually very difficult, because people will have done horrible things in life but for a good cause, or as a result of some horrible, horrible inner turmoil, and you can't help but sympathise a bit. You still need to make the decision on what happens to their soul, though. What I'm trying to say is that your friend had many layers, too. He could still have been the person you knew, all while having something else going on in their lives that made it spiral out of control. Something might have changed in them to make them act differently, but they will always be the person they always were deep down. That person you knew in school was just one step in becoming the person who died."
"That's… depressing..." Audrey stated, taking a seat at the counter before resting his head in his arms on it's surface. "But also… comforting? Ugh, this is confusing..."
"People often are."
"I'm sorry for unloading on you. It's not right to do to a stranger… Especially when I'm complaining to Death about death."
"It's no problem. It's not everyday I get to talk to people like this." stated Maxwell, resting his hand in his palm. "I'd rather be doing this than filling out paperwork, I assure you."
"You've been pretty helpful. Have you considered being a therapist?"
"Nah. This job is much easier. Most the people I work with are dead, so I don't have to worry about ruining lives or anything."
"Word." Audrey snorted, his attention shifted with the sound of crunching gravel coming outside. Leaning back, he peeked out the window and saw police officers approaching the body. Bones knew that it was only a matter of time before they came to the door of his temporary lodgings for questioning. He also knew that eventually, he would need to tell Daniel about this.
"You should probably go and take care of that." spoke the grim reaper. "Don't worry about me. If they come in, they won't be able to see me. I'll just be here."
"You can leave if you want." said Audrey, looking over his shoulder while heading toward the door.
With a shrug, Maxwell paused for a moment before speaking. "If it's not an inconvenience to you, I'm kind of enjoying the time off my feet. If you want me to leave then, I will."
"Doesn't matter to me. I'll just be a second."
"I'll be here, then..."
A/N: About 400 words into this, I realised that I didn't have much to say. I'm sorry.
Ah... I dunno what I'm gonna do in the next chapter. Story of my life, though. What can ya do?
I got a question:
"I just re read some of DLTD and I noticed that all the way back in the 100's you were already comparing Jim to a lion, and I fangirled a little bit! Was it on purpose, like did you know that Jim was going to be the Lion all the way back then?" by BlazeingEcho
Yes and no. He always felt like a lion to me. He just has this vibe, y'know? Also, if you look at his face, he kinda looks like a lion cub. I didn't know I called him a lion that far back, though! That's great.
Until the next chapter, my duckies~!
