[PRP] Reactions (Kituko x Susurro)

[mouselet]

It was a sparse, marginal land that he chose to live in, the better to avoid having to see other people. Having to see them dying. It was Susurro's lifelong curse, to be able to see the deaths of every individual he gazed upon, and he desperately hated it.

So he was rather annoyed to crest a ridge of earth and see someone before him. However, his anger was short-lived, replaced by curiosity. Not only was this some massively large lioness, but she bore massive wings in addition. And he didn't see any trace of death. Oh sure, he saw plenty of other things, but not that.

Interest aroused, the leopard came closer, not making any effort to conceal himself.  

[mouselet]

"Hello," the leopard responded, watching the other curiously. Her body language told him much more than her appearance - he could understand shyness and wanting to conceal her wings, futile though the effort was.

"I've never seen a lion with wings before," he remarked. Maybe he should've just asked outright, but it seemed rude, a demand for information he didn't necessarily have a right to. This way, she could avoid answering the question if it made her as uncomfortable as his very presence seemed to.

Hell, he was just awkward. Susurro cultivated a grumpy outside to chase off anyone who might come close so he didn't have to see them die. But in the presence of someone whose death he didn't - couldn't - see, the leopard felt young and naive.  

[mouselet]

The leopard blinked in surprise at the question and paused to consider it. Obviously the liones seemed somewhat embarrassed, but now she'd become quiet, as hif she didn't want to scare him off. Why that should be the case, he didn't know.

"No, I am not frightened," Susurro replied at last. "Should I be?" he continued, mouth feeling odd as he finished speaking. Something about the muscles...then he realized; he was smiling. It was such an unfamiliar expression for his face to wear in a world surrounded by death, that the change was noticeable.  

[mouselet]

Fear? She was...Fear? Susurro wasn't certain what the lioness meant by it, but he did not feel such emotion looking at her. Or perhaps it was overshadowed by his relief at not seeing her death, his puzzlement, confusion, curiosity, and joy at the same. Regardless, it was an odd consideration.

"Perhaps, but I cannot imagine fearing you. To see you is...a release from Fear," the leopard told her. He decided to come clean. Something told him she might truly understand.

"When I look at a person - any person, I see their death. Always. But...not yours. How then could I fear to look at you?"  

[mouselet]

Purple eyes widened in shock. A goddess? The goddess of Fear? Well, at the very least that did explain wings. Goddesses wouldn't have to worry about little things like having extra limbs, or so Susurro reasoned. But of course such a powerful being would be beyond the deaths he could see, it did make perfect sense.

"I've heard it said that fear is what keeps us...non-gods...alive," the leopard offered diffidently. "Certainly fear of what I can see is what drives me to live in such an inhospitable land," he told her wryly, gesturing at the scrubland all around them.  

[mouselet]

"I can see why people would fear meeting your gaze," Susurro agreed. He himself wasn't too certain he wanted to take a good look. Thus far it had been a decent meeting with the wonder of the goddess whose death was nowhere in Sight. He didn't want to ruin it simply for something neither could help.

"Still, I think you're not a scary person, even if you embody Fear. That's what you are, not who. Just like I'm not just a Seer of death, I'm Susurro," the leopard explained, introducing himself finally.