CW: mention of death, implied abuse, and religious homophobia (nothing in detail)
"Wait wait, okay, so why is it that when you're in the spirit world you can stand on the floor and not just fall straight through it?" Roman asked. They had gotten back from Disney World to their hotel after it got dark. Virgil was sitting on his bed, waiting for Roman to fall asleep, but neither would stop talking.
"That's 'cause we subconsciously focus on the floor," Virgil explained. "Also, in case you can't remember, we can sit or stand on other things. Like how I'm sitting on the bed right now."
"Oh shit that's right! Why is that? You've literally thrown me through my couch before."
Virgil laughed at the memory. "Think of it like... Danny Phantom. He can touch things but can also go through things."
"Like a ghost. So can you just pick something up to mess with people who can't see you?"
"Strange enough, no. A piece of paper in the living world would feel like a thousand pounds, it's really weird. Like... the living world's gravity changes in the spirit world."
"That's crazy, I'm going to be thinking about that all night. Wait, if you can touch inanimate objects then can you touch living beings?"
"Also no. I don't understand that, but we just can't. It just feels like a cold spot to the living."
"I've noticed."
"Yeah," Virgil laughed slightly, looking over to Roman. He was on his back, the blanket pulled up, but his arms were over the covers and his hands were folded on his chest. "You should probably go to bed though."
"Don't need to!" Roman reminded him. He closed his eyes and pulled himself out of his body. "You keep forgetting that I can do this!"
"Looks like I just can't get rid of you."
"You can try! Only way I'm leaving is if I fade! And let's hope that doesn't happen because I don't want to figure out what happens when we do fade." Roman sat at the edge of his bed as his body rested soundly.
Virgil shrugged. "It's always a risk."
"So, what about fish? You take animals to the afterlife, but what about the marine life in the ocean? How do you do that?"
Virgil laughed, "Okay, so usually only reapers who are punished have to deal with marine life. We don't have to breathe, but it's still uncomfortable if we don't. We hate it, and Death knows this, so they only assign us to the ocean when we do something bad. If you're disrespectful to a soul for something like race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, et cetera, then you get sent to the ocean. If you break a rule, which there aren't that many, gotta take fish to their afterlife."
"Have you ever been assigned to the ocean?"
"Only once, and not as punishment. After the world wars, there were so little reapers left that we were stretched thin. We needed more reapers on the ocean, especially during the industrial revolution. So I got sent there for a decade. It was horrible." Virgil shivered at the memory. "But as compensation, I have one week to myself every decade instead of just one day."
"So... when we go to our afterlife we can't fade, can we?"
"Yeah, but we also can't leave."
"What's your afterlife? Do you know?"
"Well the reaper who was there when I died never told me, but I have a pretty good idea where I would go if I decided to go to my afterlife."
"If?" Roman frowned slightly.
YOU ARE READING
Reapers
Fanfiction*Completed* After a near death experience, Roman can see strange things, things that don't make sense. Animals that died, strange creatures that roam about, and a strange hooded figure that seems so familiar. No one else can see these things, though...
