No, I approached you to see if you were alright, but you already said you were. Or that you were more concerned about whether everyone else was alright, at least.
[how to word all this in a way that doesn't horrify emma and cause her to run screaming, worried that he's some kind of psychopath? (because tbh, not an unfair interpretation of his race, if again grossly oversimplified.)]
There are many differences between humans and my kind. We'd be here all day if I tried to list them all, truthfully. But if I had to name key points in this context...
[sighs, he has to write all this out. not for the first time, shess wishes humans could hear sura speech??]
One being that our society focuses far more on survival than human's. We may cry over our loved ones, and I wouldn't say we feel any less strongly than humans do in that regard. But whereas a human would be seen as callous for not grieving, it would be seen as acceptable, if preferable for us. After all, the dead are dead, but to dwell on that could mean disaster in the future.
Because our lives know no natural end, we—perhaps ironically—are less inclined to live life in the present than humans are.
And when your time is limited, it becomes easy to quantify. How much time you should spend on grief, etc. But for a race for whom the concept of time doesn't exist, then when is it enough? To us, a single moment, a year, ten years—they are hardly any different.
[...]
Don't take all this as firm rules, any more than you could say that all humans act the same way, in every situation. But I suppose that's the gist of it.
That's one of humans' strengths. Though you may not be above killing, you can still acknowledge it as something to be avoided. You hold that value for each other's lives.
Very, very different. I don't particularly wish to get into details, as it'll do me no good in this place, but there is a reason why, for all of humans' flaws and the lack of love I have for gods, both races view us as the "evil" ones.
Let's just say that while I like humans and prefer to avoid conflict—which is why I'm even allowed to reside in a human city—those qualities are not typical for my kind.
[Hm. While she tried to take the last details in stride, it's not difficult to tell from her expression how this piece of news seems to strike her differently.
After a moment:]
...You were right. Can we talk about something else?
[it's hard not to worry that it's him, but he'll let it slide.]
That's a difficult question to answer preemptively. As I said, it's not like I don't understand grief. And truth be told, I consider myself protective of those I care about.
However, perhaps. Still, there are those here who have their own ways of reacting to death or processing their emotions. This early into things, I wouldn't know how I compare to others.
[Something about that, at least, seems to ease some of the lingering tension in her body language.]
Seems like it'll be pretty rough for all of us until we can find a way to stop this. Even if it's a little different, you don't have to count yourself out of that.
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[...]
It's obvious by now that I'm not human, right?
[like, he's kind of skirted around the topic since it's not something he likes to announce from the rooftops, but.]
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[She tilts her head slightly, curious.]
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There are many differences between humans and my kind. We'd be here all day if I tried to list them all, truthfully. But if I had to name key points in this context...
[sighs, he has to write all this out. not for the first time, shess wishes humans could hear sura speech??]
One being that our society focuses far more on survival than human's. We may cry over our loved ones, and I wouldn't say we feel any less strongly than humans do in that regard. But whereas a human would be seen as callous for not grieving, it would be seen as acceptable, if preferable for us. After all, the dead are dead, but to dwell on that could mean disaster in the future.
Because our lives know no natural end, we—perhaps ironically—are less inclined to live life in the present than humans are.
And when your time is limited, it becomes easy to quantify. How much time you should spend on grief, etc. But for a race for whom the concept of time doesn't exist, then when is it enough? To us, a single moment, a year, ten years—they are hardly any different.
[...]
Don't take all this as firm rules, any more than you could say that all humans act the same way, in every situation. But I suppose that's the gist of it.
[sorry for the tl;dr, emma.]
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If your people don't die naturally, why did you mention that you've witnessed constant death?
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[not a genuine question; he knows very well the answer is no. which is the point.]
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[he smiles, just a tad.]
That's one of humans' strengths. Though you may not be above killing, you can still acknowledge it as something to be avoided. You hold that value for each other's lives.
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Yeah. Most of us do, at least. [...] Would you say that's different for most of the people where you're from?
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Very, very different. I don't particularly wish to get into details, as it'll do me no good in this place, but there is a reason why, for all of humans' flaws and the lack of love I have for gods, both races view us as the "evil" ones.
Let's just say that while I like humans and prefer to avoid conflict—which is why I'm even allowed to reside in a human city—those qualities are not typical for my kind.
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After a moment:]
...You were right. Can we talk about something else?
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though emma's own reaction seems to make shess uncomfortable.]
I apologize. What would you like to talk about?
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It's not you. But... [Hm.] Do you think that'll make it easier here for you? That you're more used to people dying.
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That's a difficult question to answer preemptively. As I said, it's not like I don't understand grief. And truth be told, I consider myself protective of those I care about.
However, perhaps. Still, there are those here who have their own ways of reacting to death or processing their emotions. This early into things, I wouldn't know how I compare to others.
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Seems like it'll be pretty rough for all of us until we can find a way to stop this. Even if it's a little different, you don't have to count yourself out of that.
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Thank you, Emma. That's kind of you.
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I would've said it's just common sense.
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Yeah, you can say that again.
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