All lives end in death (Flynn)

[Deleted]

Hel was still becoming accustomed the world here in this place called Trenale. The mortals wore such strange things. They wore all kinds of colors that seemed to assault her eyes. She was not used to such brightness. The souls of the sick and the elderly were not bright. Neither was the whole of Niflheim. It was a cold place full of mist and fog. Colors were muted. Hel herself seldom wore anything that was not either black or white. These mortals, however, wore every color under the sun it seemed.

The styles were so different as well. It was time for Hel to get some different clothes, something more of this time period. She had heard it said that the mall was the place to get anything one could want or need, so it was to this mall that she headed and this mall that she was currently wandering through. She had yet to come across a shop that tailored to her clothing needs, though there were many shops which she had not yet entered.

She meandered into one shop that seemed to catch her eyes. It advertised that it sold jewelry for those in need of adorning themselves. She had never been one for jewelry herself and truly had no need for it, but the sparkling gems intrigued her. They sparkled and glittered, catching the light just so. It was interesting that so many of these mortals would wear these in their short life times, but could not bring such treasures with them in the afterlife. It made her wonder why they even bothered at all.

[flynn]

When Flynn had been unceremoniously catapulted out of the portal into this strange place, he had immediately noticed that all of his things were gone. Not like...his clothes, he still had those, but all of his little things that he'd stolen. Trinkets, jewelry, all the shiny things he'd lifted off of far-too-wealthy merchants in the streets, and what kind of thief didn't have a single thing to show for well over five years of skilled thievery? It was a disgrace. An outrage. Unacceptable.

He would just have to fix it.

This mall, Flynn thought, was paradise. So many different stores, with so many different things to steal. And each store had different security measures. It was like the ultimate prize for a thief who loved stealing things just for the sake of stealing. He could spend the rest of his life in this mall learning all the ways to take things from all the different stores. (Alright, so he'd have to go home every now and then to drop off the things he'd stolen, but still).

The jewelry store was appealing because...well, for obvious reasons. He started small...he'd already nicked a couple of cheap bracelets, and he was moving towards the larger things, the ones behind the glass. How could one get at them? He could break the glass, but he was certain that wouldn't be subtle at all.

Opportunity presented itself in the form of a few diamond rings set out on display. A couple had been looking at them, and the salesperson hadn't gotten around to putting them all away yet. Flynn sidled by, pretended to adjust one, hopefully keeping attention on that hand while the other hand slid one of the rings off of another display. He wandered for a moment, then headed for the door. He was almost to freedom when he was stopped by a very tall man who looked rather grumpy.

"Can I help you purchase that?" the man asked. Flynn gave him a blank look, until the man pointed to the ring concealed in his vest pocket.

"Oh, oh, that, no, no, that's fine, I was just...looking for my consort, she's bound to be coming along soon, I wanted to try this on her." Flynn's eyes scanned the passers by frantically, but somehow, now that he needed a woman, they all seemed to be men. Looking back into the store, he saw Hel...and decided she would have to do. Hopefully she didn't have an angry husband or something waiting in the wings. "Oh, would you look at that, she's back now already! Darling, why didn't you tell me you were back?" He slid over to her side, leaning inappropriately on the glass case in front of her, traced a finger down her arm, lifted her hand, and slid the ring onto her ring finger.

"Oh, it's a perfect fit. Isn't that wonderful, dear, such a shame we haven't the money to buy it today, we'll just have to come back, thank you sir for your time, hope to see you again soon!" He tugged the ring back off of her finger, set it down on the counter, then, holding onto her hand, made for the door again. "Come along, muffin, we don't have much time before the...meeting...party!"

[Deleted]

Hel respected that mortals lived vastly different lives from her own. They were interesting to watch. She had spent so long away from the company of those that were alive that it was still an experience for her. She was detached from them and their way of life. She did not understand most of it or the cultural reference. She was still adjusting to the noise and the less damp atmosphere. It was all interesting. She had much to learn from these mortals.

She looked in mild surprise when she was addressed by a young man, though the surprise did not show in her face. She looked at him the same unreadable and expressionless face that she always used. She watched the young man, though she stiffened when he touched her. The feel of warm flesh was also not one that she was used to feeling. She did not even allow her servants to touch her and this boy was touching her as if he knew her. It was strange and mildly curious. How strange to be touched.

The weight of the ring on her finger was also strange and the thing glimmered in the light. It was pretty to be sure, but she had never so adorned herself. She had no need to adorn herself. The practice of wearing jewelry was a foreign one and something she did not rightly understand. But then the boy was tugging the ring off of her hand and towing her out of the shop, continuing to babble pointlessly.

When he finally stopped talking she pulled her hand from his grip and stood motionless, her hand back at her side. “I am not a muffin,” she stated calmly. “I have heard that a muffin is something to be consumed and I am not consumable. Furthermore, I do not know you and I am neither headed to a meeting nor a party. Kindly explain yourself.”

[flynn]

She could have reacted a lot worse than she did, Flynn knew. She could have thrown a fit right there in the store and gotten him arrested. At least she had the presence of mind to wait until he had her out of the store to start taking his terms of endearment literally.

"Er, well, I didn't mean that you actually are a muffin, that would be a bit odd, considering the fact that you are, rather, a human being, and quite a lovely one at that. I was just..."

He dug into his pocket and pulled out one of the minor trinkets he'd stolen from the shop they had just exited, a silver and diamond bracelet, and offered it to her.

"Here. For your trouble. Sorry to have dragged you into that little mess, it's just...sometimes they catch onto what I'm up to and that won't do at all, do you know what I mean? I'm not particularly interested in having a hand sliced off for theft at the moment, I have so many things I intend to do with my hands, it would be such a shame to lose one of them now."

He held the bracelet out in his outstretched hand, palm up, silver circle resting flat on it.

"Silver does look lovely with your skin tone."

[Deleted]

Hel was not one to cause trouble regardless of who her father was. She did not cause chaos. She was calm, quiet and collected. That was not to say that she was against chaos. She knew perfectly well that chaos was only a part of life and she accepted that. However, she much preferred sitting off to the side watching. Today it seemed that Fate had brought her some chaos in the form of a young man.

It was of her opinion that he spoke too much. One could not get a word. It seemed that he hardly paused to breathe even. It was obvious to Hel that he did not interact often with others. He had not learned the give and take of a conversation.

“I am not human,” she interjected calmly. It seemed only right that she tell him so at once so he would not assume otherwise. In her true form she was a giantess. She was half Jotun after all and daughter of the god Loki. She was certainly no human though this borrowed form suggested otherwise.

She merely glanced at the silver bracelet. She had no use for such adornments. She did not care for such things of superficial beauty. She cared nothing for things that would only make her beautiful for a short time. All beauty must fade sometime.

“I do not interfere with the lives of mortals, but Fate has put you in my path. Keep your trinket. I have no need to adorn myself.” She did not understand this mortal. His preoccupation with jewelry and things that sparkled was only in vain. He could not bring them with him to the Afterlife. It was pointless. She had much to learn from these mortals.

[flynn]

Flynn, on the contrary, was a troublemaker. He stole things that didn't belong to him, and that was probably one of the most outstanding examples of troublemaking one could think of when they tried to define the word. As it turned out, though, Flynn the troublesome wasn't above being thrown for a loop himself. She wasn't human? Well, that wasn't unheard of - he was coming to accept that a lot of people here weren't what they seemed, but she certainly did look human.

"Well," he said, only missing about half a beat before his answer came to mind, "you're doing a bang-up job of it, if I may say." He accompanied that compliment with a toned-down version of the Smolder, which he thought quite appropriate and potentially convincing even to a...whatever she was.

She didn't like the bracelet, apparently, which surprised him. Nice jewelry matched pretty women the way toast matched butter, the way icing matched cake, and a lot of other metaphors not necessarily concerning food.

"What happens if you interfere?" he couldn't help asking, since technically, her even being in the store in the first place had, from a certain point of view, interfered with his life already - in a good way (like not having his hand cut off).

[Deleted]

Hel merely watched the young man, her undead expression never changing. She did not understand what he was doing. The compliment was one thing, but a seductive look was entirely another. If he only knew who she really was then perhaps he would not act so. It was an interesting theory.

Hel was a little taken back when he asked what happened when she interfered. It was an interesting question to be sure, but as to what actually happened if she interfered she did not know. She had never interfered in the lives of mortals. Before she came here it was rare for her to even walk among the mortals, never mind interfering in their lives.

She tilted her head to one side, considering the question. “It is not my place to interfere,” she decided to explain. “I am the goddess of the dead. It is rare for me to communicate with the living. I am still learning.” She did not know what would happen if she interfered in the lives of mortals, but it was not her place anyway. She was merely an observer of the way mortals lived their lives.