bsumone | ❝ Temptation is irrelevant ❞

Usually, the mess in the kitchen is due to Hurricane Matthias intentionally being a careless thing while preparing a meal or a snack. This time? He was fussing over a bag of Frosted Flakes. The bag tore magnificently and a rain of cereal flakes cascaded around before his eyes. Before his eyes!

The color fades from the world as he watches, hypnotized, while the flakes seem to move in slow motion from the air to scatter across the kitchen floor. Something in the very core of him snaps and an irresistible compulsion grips him. It claws up from somewhere deep inside, wrapping around him with a vise-like force. Of all the things Matthias can do, to be held hostage by such a thing as this!

The empty bowl and the rest of his breakfast forgotten, Matthias follows the impulse that now controls him and sinks down to his knees to start counting those damnable Frosted Flakes. And there he sits, hunched over and wholly focused when someone else finally wanders in.

There was a pattern to some deaths. They could be caused by creatures like demons at times and he'd been there to take away plenty a soul fed upon until there was nothing left. Usually they were just a husk of who they were when he claimed them but in death they found peace. At least, that was the intention. There had been some who had the energy to still try to fight against Death himself to keep living.

A pointless task. No one could fight Death.

But today he'd taken away a soul and found it was near one who could be the cause of these deaths at times. Not this one but it was enough for him to take notice. So he moved like a shadow through the building to enter the dwelling.

To find the demon counting cereal on the floor. Curious.

Quietly Death watched him, intrigued as to why this demon was living in this particular building. Was there a victim nearby? Or in this very place? Well none of that could be revealed until after this counting was completed. Demons could be very focused on the matter and interrupting it could be...impossible.

He could wait though. He was used to waiting.

Impossible, perhaps? Maybe if Death were a more noticeable presence, Matthias would’ve looked up at the intruder then gone into a rage over having to start over with his counting. Perhaps it was best for the demon that he was so highly focused and his visitor was so unassuming.

And inhuman visitor. Something that wasn’t like him, something that was a force of nature. Something old and patient. It was certainly saying something when Matthias acknowledged something as old. But it was all in the back of his mind, focus laser sharp on moving each individual cereal flake to indicate it was counted.

The thing about Matthias, though he was an endlessly hungering creature made of greed, he didn’t enjoy killing his victims. They could live without guilt. He never took it from them completely – it didn’t behoove him to have the world filled with psychos who didn’t feel remorse, regret, and that delicious guilt. He’d starve if they didn’t feel bad over their sins.

But sometimes, yes, they died. After he wrung everything he could from them, after he played whatever part they wanted to make himself an integral part of their lives, then vanished without warning. After he made his promises (lies), ruined the things they loved so that they would forever remind them of him, after he grew bored of them… Yes, sometimes they didn’t want to live anymore, but was that really on him?

That sounds like a them problem, not a Matthias problem.

Once all the Frosted Flakes were scooted to one side, Matthias heaved a small sigh and craned his neck in an almost birdlike fashion to stare up at the intruder. There was no surprise at seeing him there. But no recognition either. Death wasn’t a thing that could touch him. Not naturally, anyway. Not without Divine intervention. So why would he recognize it when it stood before him?

“What do you want?”

"I was only curious."

The voice that spoke was like that of a whisper. His lips moved but it was more like the words were felt rather than heard. He watched the demon another moment before shifting his dark gaze to the cereal that was on the floor. After a moment, he blinked and the bowl and cereal was as it was, as it should been. On the table rather than in a pile on the floor.

Moving over to it, he lifted up a piece to look at it, curious about this as well.

"You often are tied to the souls I see. I wondered if perhaps another soul was tied to you in this building." Just to see. Not to interfere. It was never his place to interfere. No matter how pure or tainted the death was it was only his job to collect the fallen.

“There shouldn’t be. Not in this building.”

Though he does sometimes let his playthings know where he lives, he has a strict rule about eating where he lives: don’t do it. It’s much harder to ghost someone when there’s a very high chance of bumping into them in the laundry or ending up in an elevator with them. And oh, the knocking on his door at all hours! Not that he sleeps, but still! That’s precisely why he lives in a secure-access building. If someone wants to wail and scream for him, they can do it outside the building, not his door.

Matthias looked from the intruder to the bowl of cereal. “That was on the floor. You don’t really expect me to eat that, do you?”

Death looked to him and frowned a little. The first real expression he'd made so far. Tilting his head, the powerful being pondered the demon for a moment before finally speaking.

"You eat this?"

After all, he wasn't familiar with the things that being ate. He never ate nor slept nor anything that most living creatures did. For he wasn't any of those things and didn't require any of them.

“Typically, yes, one would eat that,” he explained without any impatience. He could sense that this person wasn’t human – obvious even if he couldn’t sense the difference given how Death simply appeared in his kitchen! Not only that, but he didn’t appear to be wholly connected to the human world. Adjacent to it, perhaps was the best way to describe the impression Matthias had of him.

“It’s called cereal,” he added. “It’s usually eaten as or as part of the first meal after mortal things wake.” Matthias didn’t sleep, so wanted to be specific about what it was. “They call it breakfast.”

"Breakfast. Breaking fast..."

A clever word. Death hummed in thought as he took up a piece of the cereal to look at it before placing it on his tongue. It had a dryness to it. A sweetness and crunch as well. He tilted his head then swallowed it before looking to the demon.

"You are not mortal." So why was he going to consume this?

Humans could be very clever with their languages, that’s true. Matthias nodded to affirm what Death parsed from the word was correct. Even many humans didn’t realize its meaning. They knew the word and didn’t consider it a compound for breaking the fast. He supposed, like many things, the meaning was lost to time. Just like words like ‘zounds’ and ‘goodbye’.

“No, I am not.” He pointed to the bowl. “Humans like it with milk.”

"Milk? What is this?"

He wasn't so familiar with the things that gave life after all. Which he assumed this was much like the cereal. Things that offered life to those who consumed them. A strange thing to be so fragile. Yet he supposed if they weren't then they wouldn't be his to claim so easily at their end.

“A drink. A liquid,” he adds to clarify. If his companion didn’t eat, he probably didn’t drink and he might not know to associate the word ‘drink’ with liquids. Matthias turned away from Death to rummage through the fridge to get the liquid in question. He held up the carton so Death could see before he set on the counter to pour him a small amount in a glass. Matthias wasn’t going to encourage him to eat more floor food by pouring the milk in that bowl. But, if it turned out he liked it, Matthias would make him an untainted bowl of cereal.

“Here, try it,” he said as he held the glass out to him.

Intrigued, he took the offered glass. Looking at the white fluid within it, he pondered it a moment before lifting it to his lips to sip it. What he got was a rich and creamy flavor. Nothing too strong but one that seemed to linger on the tongue as well. It was pleasant and Death pulled it back from his lips to gaze at it with interest as he swallowed.

"How is this created?" he asked, curious about it.

“Do you know what cows are? It’s their milk. Oh, there’s some process It goes through, but at its most basic, it comes from dairy cows.” While he explained, he poured more from the container into the bowl of floor cereal. Fishing out a spoon, he dipped it into the bowl and held it out for Death to partake of the gloriousness that is Frost Flakes.

He nodded to say that he knew what cows were. Tilting his head, he watched him add more of this milk to the bowl then the spoon was offered to him. Intrigued, he took it to investigate it then had a bite of the food. It was sweet. And the milk was cold and refreshing. He wasn't sure of the nutritional value but he could see why humans would enjoy this.

Death hummed in thought. "Do you like this sweetness?

“Very much,” Matthias chirped with a subtle smile. As soon as he spoke, he turned to get another bowl to fill with cereal and milk for himself. He probably shouldn’t have let his companion eat the cereal from the floor, but it’s too late for that now.

“I don’t have to eat food, but I enjoy doing it. Gluttony is one of my many sins.”

"Sins..."

He'd heard that word in the past and he hummed a bit as he let it mull around in his mind. Such a strange concept really. Sin. And yet so many living beings were hung up on it for some reason. Enough so that when they died many of them were still clinging to the notion of it.

"Enjoyment in abundance. That is this...gluttony."

Matthias grinned and held up a finger. "According to humans. Mostly those of a particular religious persuasion." Tapping said finger against his lips, the demon pondered his unexpected companion. "I lean into a lot of that, even if it's mostly bullshit. I don't suppose those sorts of details matter a lot to you, hm?"

"My lot? There is only me."

He looked to the window suddenly as if someone was calling to him. Rising to his feet, he moved with quiet elegance to open the window. Leaning out of it, he held out his hand. A glowing orb was caught in his hand as screams were heard outside and someone saying someone jumped.

Death paid this no mind and just closed the window, taking the orb and gently cradling it as he lifted his other hand to let the orb slide into a ring there. Then, as if nothing had happened at all, he returned to the cereal to keep eating it.

Matthias didn't start at the shocked screams. Though he didn't interfere with the people who lived in this building, he still had a good understanding of what was going on with whom. Mostly because he didn't want to get caught up in any of their issues.

Dark eyes watched curiously. Matthias has long been around dying people, but he's never witnessed death in this manner before. When something is new to him, he's always a little surprised and deeply inquisitive.

"So she finally did it," he mused with a small sigh. Not because he felt anything about it, but more because he was annoyed it interrupted their conversation. "Is that why you're here? To collect her?"

"No. I sensed you were near another soul I collected. I was curious since those who die have often been near you."

The one who jumped? Well, he just happened to feel her as she was perishing. It was easy for him to collect her now since he was right here. And she would be safe with him until he could return to his realm.

But, he was liking this food. So he should finish it.

It would be rude if he didn't finish it. Not that Matthias was some sort of arbiter of politeness.

"Mm, I can believe that." While he doesn't kill humans directly, he's been known to have an indirect hand in it. That's probably just what happens after he worms his way into their hearts and souls and then just... abandons them when he's bored.

"I like to think of myself as a storm. Awesome and beautiful and its power, but leaving only devastation in its wake. That's too romantic, though. She wasn't one of mine," he added nodding toward Death. "I think she was just tired of living."

"No. She was not one of yours. She experienced many tragedies and could not maintain. It is time for her to have peace."

Souls like hers? They were not suited to rebirth. They were best kept with him to rest. Returning a soul that damaged into a new life would only breed a harsh tragedy. He'd seen the cracks and it was time to pull her away from the world for good.

"Though, a storm is appropriate for you."

Peace. A strange concept to someone so used to being a chaotic force. But even Matthias has his quiet, calm moments. Maybe that's what peace was like.

"You think?" He preened a little at having his own concept of himself affirmed. Maybe it wasn't too romantic after all. "What makes you think so?"

"Storms will move through the world and can bring disaster for those unprepared. They leave destruction and death in their wake when they have moved on. In those times I am pulled to collect the fallen. A similar thing happens when you move on as well."

Then Death would again come in to collect the fallen. So to liken Matthias to a storm was rather accurate. Perhaps not quite to the level of a natural disaster but a storm was simple enough. A few possible deaths that would require his attention and nothing more.

How apt. Matthias would agree that he's no natural disaster. That's far more damage than he wanted to cause. It's part of why he has such a low opinion of the many demons he's met: they're mindlessly destructive, wasting so many resources in the process. Matthias liked having the option of going back for seconds.

"Do many of mine die because of me?" He's not worried, only curious. Whatever they do when they stop calling him, stop banging on his door, stop screaming up to his window at some awful time of day... It's not his business once he's done with them.

❝ Temptation is irrelevant ❞

Counting compulsion

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cw: suggestions of suicide

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