Martyr

If You Must, Do Your Best

The presence of a scythe was cause enough for most people to depart the immediate area, feigning some other task that they had forgotten or making an excuse to leave. It was commonplace for a scythe to clear a setting of half its patrons. Today was no different. Scythe Musk had arrived at a local diner for some food and to scout out possible gleanings. As soon as he opened the door most people excused themselves and departed.

There were brave ones, however, as there always were. Ones who didn't fear the Scythedom as most did. They carried on as if just another person had entered the restaurant.

Then there were the sycophants. Scythe Musk despised the sycophants. It was yet another commonplace upon the arrival of a scythe. They approached the scythe, trying to sway him into granting them immunity. He never did. He just raised his hand and like the old deity Jesus he parted the sea of people blocking his path to his table.

Waiters and waitresses did not hesitate to serve him. Three were upon him by the time he made his way to his seat.

The three were about to bombard him with questions when he raised his hand yet again, as something he used quite often.

"Carry on as usual," he stated, gesturing to the three servers standing before him. "I need not three people to serve me. Besides, I find it most impolite that you would leave another patron of this facility to suck up to me."

Two nodded and obeyed nervously. The third remained, unphased by the presence of a scythe.

"What can I do for you sir?" The lady asked politely, summoning a small pad and a pen.

The scythe scanned the menu. The chicken fried steak tempted his taste buds, but ultimately he settled on a cheeseburger.

The lady wrote down the order, and before she left to place it, the scythe requested there be no pickle on the side.

She scribbled it down and left to place the order. Within a few minutes she returned with a cheeseburger and fries.

Scythe Musk examined his meal, as he always did. He did not check for discrepancies or mistakes, he just found his food was better if he enjoyed it visually as well as tastefully.

He noticed however, that a pickle had escaped the kitchen along with his food. The waiter noticed as soon as he did.

"Oh my, I'm so sorry!" She apologized. "I can take that back for you right now."

Scythe Musk denied. "I do not require an entirely new plate of food just because of a pickle. I request that it is not present simply because I do not eat it. But I understand that everyone makes mistakes and this happens to be one of them."

He removed the pickle from his plate and picked up the burger. He was about to take a bite when he caught his waitress' eye. She stood attentively at his table, awaiting his every request.

"You may carry on as usual, ma'am. I don't require constant service."

She nodded calmly and turned to serve other dinees. Scythe Musk caught her before she left.

"May I guess as to why you are so calm?" Scythe Musk requested.

"I don't see why you can't," she offered in return.

"Have you been granted immunity previously?" Musk queried, positive she had. Immunity from gleaning was granted generously by most scythes. It was uncommon to go about a day and not encounter at least five people with immunity. Today Scythe Musk had encountered none.
"I have not. I merely do not fear scythes. Your people are a regular occurence here, and every time one of you have entered you have left without gleaning me. I find that if I am kind to the scythes that I come out on top.