Private Finished Lily in the Sky

KirMir were at a loss to explain anything related to their soul, which was frustrating because they knew how much souls were a part of Lily's life and being as a psychopomp. But the truth was they didn't know how that end of things worked. They only knew the science behind their bodies. The genetic programming, effectively.

Thinking better about the situation KirMir started gently moving their little group down to sit on the floor. They were prepared to answer as many questions as they could, but given her reaction so far they feared she might panic so it was better they all sat down.

Kir gave Lily a comforting smile as Mir rubbed her shoulders a little. "It has happened before, though it was not in public. If it does happen we would appreciate someone explaining to the authorities what happened and keeping an eye on our cocoon to protect us," Mir began as she continued to massage Lily's shoulders. Hoping they could keep her from being too distraught.

"If at all possible the other body should be put onto the cocoon. It.. shortens our gestation if we have more of the original material. Either way though, as long as we can create new bodies we remain living and will emerge from the cocoon as you see us here. Minus the belongings and clothing not being in their proper places of course," Kir finished the explanation and looked at poor Lily. This was a lot to handle all at once. They took a deep breath and waited there with her as she processed what they were saying.

And weighed whether it was a good idea to further explain that their bodies degraded and needed to be 'renewed' monthly. They honestly weren't sure if Lily could handle that discussion.

As Lily seemed to be less panicked Mir slowly stopped rubbing her shoulders and relaxed against her, with Kir doing the same from the other side. To them the way their bodies worked wasn't disturbing at all, it was just how it was. Thinking about it though, the way their soul must function had to be somewhat unusual. In addition to being stretched between two bodies, it would have to also transmit itself into their new bodies as they were formed. KirMir wondered if there would be some scientific merit to having someone watch what happened to their soul when one body was killed.

At the same time they were having that somewhat cold thought they were also listening to Lily's next questions and Mir took over answering them. "Yes, we keep our memories and learned skills when being reborn. The only change is that our new bodies are free of any physical degradation suffered since our last rebirth." After a pause Mir looked over as Lily curiously. Was her reaction before because she couldn't handle death? No, She dealt with the dead as a psychopomp so that couldn't be it.

So what could she... oh. They realized that she might have been afraid she would lose them. Have them leave her behind in death or even just forget all about her. The realization made them even more glad to be with Lily because it meant she really wanted to be with them.

Kir softly commanded the room to display a distant nebula, with its bright colored swirls of light and dust. It bathed the whole room in warm colored light. "As long as we have the body mass to be reborn we won't be forgetting you any time soon Lily," he said quietly as he reached into their pocket dimension to retrieve water bottles for all three of them. The day had taken a fairly emotion-heavy turn, but it had been kind of necessary.

Their first instinct was to lie and tell her that no, there was nothing else they should be telling her about them. To protect their secrets, their vulnerabilities, and let them all slip back into enjoying the day. To only focus on the cute blushing face of Lily, rather than watch it again be distorted by what they assumed was some level of anguish.

But on the other hand, she would find out eventually. Weighing the costs and benefits resulted in one reasonable answer: the day had already been affected by mixed and unpleasant emotions so it was probably better to just go ahead and tell her now. They could focus on cheering her up afterwards.

Or if she couldn't handle it... well maybe they didn't deserve to be with someone like her. That was weird, vaguely illogical thought they had noted. But they'd had it all the same. Both Kir and Mir took long sips from their waters before they answered. Mir moved to hold Lily's hand in anticipation of the reveal even as the two leaned so comfortably together there on the floor.

"There is one more thing we should probably explain to you. We debated not telling you yet, because it will be quite disturbing to you," Kir began as he looked in Lily's pretty eyes. There was no going back now. "Anything more than minor wounds cannot be healed. This includes the degradation we mentioned before. We are forced to physically kill off one body and rebirth ourselves at least once a month."

They let that hang there for Lily to take in. waiting for the inevitable questions. Or perhaps for Lily to express her abject horror at the idea of what they had to do to survive.

KirMir just sat there silently as they let Lily process the new information. there was nothing they could do but wait and react to however she decided to respond.

Fortunately she didn't freak out too much and instead began asking clarifying questions to better understand. Maybe they had underestimated her. "It does cause us a significant amount of pain, yes. However we do stop processing it once we are cocooned," Kir answered first with a flat, even tone. It depended on how they went about it but if they were quick and efficient about it they did not suffer too long. Once they had formed the cocoon their whole being was focused on growing new bodies to the proper specifications ingrained in their genetic code and any outside stimuli was more or less ignored.

KirMir were very careful to keep track of when they required renewal. To the point that it was labelled on their calendar, along with the reminders to restock anything necessary beforehand. Very much like preparing for a ritual in many ways. "We know our limit is approximately 30 days before we start to risk having it happen at an unpredictable moment. So we plan it out beforehand and do it before then so we can be prepared and do it in the privacy of our apartment," Mir explained as her head rested against Lily's. The next time was coming up too. They were going to need to go shopping for more food before then.

"We did not want to make you scared or feel upset today but these are things you would eventually learn about us. We assumed stumbling upon these situations without prior knowledge would be worse for you," Kir finished as both of KirMir's bodies extended an arm each to make one big hug around Lily.

KirMir both smiled as Lily alternated between gently leaning her head on one of them or the other, even sort of curling up between them as they hugged. Enjoying physical contact wasn't one of their most well-known traits, but they really, truly did like holding hands and hugging and just generally having a physical connection with Lily. A combination of culture, necessity and comfort made it so KirMir's two bodies were at their most comfortable when they were in direct contact and it seemed like there was something similar, at least emotionally, when doing the same with Lily.

Mir used her other hand to play with Lily's hair a little as they sat there and Kir guided the display above them through some of the more interesting looking features in the nebula. "If you decide you do have additional questions we only ask on that you do so privately. We can answer more honestly when it is just you, not in public with others around," Kir nodded at Lily. They didn't expect she would have done otherwise but it didn't hurt to reinforce it. They had shared with her a lot more about themself than they would with just any person.

"We trust you a great deal and would be fascinated to see such a thing," began Mir as she turned to look into Lily's eyes. With Lily now leaning her head on Kir's shoulder Mir was more free to react and speak for KirMir. "Another time though, when you and we are more prepared for something that extensive. For now though, would you like to return to the planet and relax with a movie?" They had some misgivings and questions of their own but those would surely be answered when Lily was feeling more up to it. They did wonder if they could physically do whatever it was she needed them to do for her plan to work. Their fight or flight response was amplified so there was a very real chance they would have trouble cooperating.

Kir and Mir both stood up and offered Lily their hands to help her to her feet. Ready to head out if she was.