Chioniphobia

Pair

*Gabby is an original character by Whiteeyes.

Grim met the girl when her parakeet died.

She'd seen the girl on a few occasions beforehand- mostly when visiting her brother as he made his nightly rounds- but there'd been no proper introduction until the day when Roy the parakeet lay dead on the floor of his cage.

The girl was crying at the time. Grim was used to crying. It happened a lot when a human lost their companions to her. What she wasn't used to was the human in question looking up and gasping.

"Oh," the girl said.

"Eloquent, aren't you?"

Perhaps that hadn't been the most gracious thing to say to a mortal in mourning, but to be fair, Grim had also been rather shocked.

The girl had scrubbed her eyes and straightened her pajamas, as if presentation made any difference when meeting the Reaper. Then she'd held out her hand. "I'm Gabby."

Grim hadn't taken the hand. "You know who I am?"

"I think so. You're Sandy's sister, right?"

Her surprise heightened. "Yes, but that's not usually how people know me. ...You know my brother?"

The girl blushed.

Ah, Grim realized.

"Sandy's a friend," the girl- Gabby- explained.

"Mmm. Nothing more?"

Gabby's blush was a rather flattering color, really; a gentle flush of pink highlighting her cheeks and the tip of her nose that deepened into the warm shade of a blooming rose. "Well...um..."

"If you want children, I hope you don't mind adopting. Natural birth hasn't been an option for mixed couples since Before," Grim told her.

Gabby went from bright pink to vivid scarlet. "What?!"

"By mixed, I mean between our kind and your kind. Although I'm speaking from a general stance on that- I can't birth any young. As far as my brother's virility, I wouldn't know. He's never had any children, so-"

Gabby lifted her hands. "Please stop!"

Grim acquiesced. "Anyway, I'm here for your bird."

"Roy?"

"Is that his name? Then yes, I'm here for Roy."

Gabby sniffled and wiped her nose. "You're late. He's already gone."

"Dying and leaving this world are two entirely different things, my dear. My brother should've told you as such, if he told you anything about me."

Grim waved her hand, and a soul, white and brilliant, arose from the little feathered body.

The girl gasped again, this time holding her hands to her mouth as if she thought her own soul might fly out.

"Is...is that...?" she stuttered.

"Roy? I believe so, unless I'm remembering his name wrongly."

Gabby shook her head. Her brown eyes shone amber in the light of Roy's soul. "He's beautiful."

Grim smiled. It was rare any human older than a child bore witness to the loveliness of a soul let loose from its shell- having a mortal bear witness to the beauty of their lost companion was a rarer treat still. "He is, isn't he? He must have been well-loved, to have bloomed so."

"Bloomed?"

"Souls aren't always this brilliant, darling. They have to be nourished like any other living thing to make use of any potential." Grim met the girl's astonished gaze and smiled amiably. "Well done."

Gabby smiled back. "I think he was pretty brilliant on his own."

"I'm sure he was, but I suspect there was another soul enhancing that brilliance."

Roy perched on Gabby's shoulder, and she laughed, delighted.

Grim held out her hand, palm open. "Will you be coming along now, Roy?"

Roy nuzzled the girl's tousled brown locks, and Grim withdrew her hand. "Seems this soul has a bit of lingering to do yet, dear. You won't mind keeping an eye on him a while longer, I hope?"

Gabby's mouth opened, forming a nearly perfect o. "You mean...?"

Grim nodded, and the girl laughed again, sweeping her companion up in a bundle of ethereal feathers. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

The Reaper shrugged. "It isn't me you should be thanking. I can't take anyone who isn't ready to go, darling."

Gabby kissed the tip of the bird's beak. "Thank you, Roy."

As Grim exited through the window, she called, "I'll be sure to give my brother your love!"

She caught one last glimpse of the girl's blush before vanishing into the night.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

(What do you think?) Sandy asks, handing Grim a scrap of paper.

She reads the golden scrawl with the ease of anyone who's had centuries to become accustomed to a certain handwriting.

She spoke in silence, though she loved words

Whole worlds I'd see within her eyes

Colors brightened in her presence

And grayed with our goodbyes

She asked me, "Can I keep you?"

My answer will always be so:

"I'll forever be well and truly kept

No matter wherever you go."

"I quite like it, but I'm certain she'd love it," Grim replies.

Sandy nods, looking down at the name inscribed on the gravestone below.

Gabby Colette Colorato

Grim glances up at the sky and sees a soul, brilliant and bright, soaring down to perch on Gabby's resting place.

"You're late," she notes.

Roy gently touches his beak to the gravestone.

Grim holds out her hand again.

"Come along now, dear."