Shay had taken to staring at her feet, as she'd pulled her knees to her chest while she told her story. Tears made a silent path down her cheeks while she recounted the details. The awful things It had said. How It had kissed her cheek. She reached up and wiped the tears away as Theo spoke, looking up at him shyly.
"You don't know that," Shay said when Theo asserted that this would never happen again. "Even if it weren't..." she trailed off, breathed in shakily and went on with a firmer tone of voice. "It would be someone else. A cycle."
She was glad when Theo gave her a gentle squeeze and moved on to tell her he was happy she was still part of the world before going right into teasing her about her nosy nature.
She smiled thinly. "It's my job. I guess. I met a man in Limbo. Saw him at the New Year's Party, too. His name is Regis. He's a full Reaper."
"Well, at least you met someone like you. Maybe he can help you figure some reaper things out," he said. "It's not easy when you don't fully understand yourself and no one else seems to be able or willing to help you."
There was a bitter hint of regret in that statement. He reached up and put an arm around her shoulder. "Of course, if you want me to I can dig around and see if I can find anything about reapers too. You guys might be harder to look into than eldritch abominations. Everything I read feels more like a rumor, you know? Just no way of knowing how true they are. It's not like you don't have like all my contact info or anything."
He swallowed,"I guess you're wondering what's with my eye, huh?"
@Foxy
Shay took off her charm as Theo wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She turned into him, wrapping both arms around his neck and burying her face into his shoulder. She let the tears flow freely and without sound.
She wanted to beg him never to leave. Wondered if he'd always be there with her as he had so far. And for once, Shay feared that they would part. He'd see her. He'd hate her.
When he asked if she wanted to know about his newly acquired red eye, Shay nodded meekly unable to find words. No strength to speak and hear her own, broken voice.