#malvirel

"Yes, that's correct."

"-Or humans that haven't been buried properly." He blurted, coming close to cutting the other man off.

"...Yes."

Milo had been laying, sprawled across his portable bed—a device he had made himself, a haughty display of both the magic and mechanical prowess he'd accumulated holed up in that castle—not to be confused for a bed-roll. Silence hung briefly before Mal nervously continued on with his reason for bringing the topic up.

"How'd that um... happen to you? Were you some kind of noble that got buried improperly?"

An airy laugh escaped from Milo as he failed to fully stifle a larger one. Slowly, he oriented himself upright, his damaged silvery hair struggled to untangle, but still did not fail to cascade around him.

"All that research, and none of those sources told you that might be a rude question?" A devious little smile had bloomed on Milo's face, whereas Mal's curious expression became shocked, before morphing into one of embarrassment.

"Oh, I didn't-... I-I'm sorry, I was just curious..."

How simple. Satisfied with Mal's reaction, Milo flopped back down onto his bed, staring up at the stars. In all honesty, he wasn't sure he even remembered. A thousand years... Trying to look back on the day, all he could think of... was burning. Searing pain, all throughout. Just thinking of it caused his skin to tingle uncomfortably, inspiring him to change the position he was laying in.

"To be frank, I can't quite remember." Milo spoke in a low, somber tone, one unlike any Mal had ever heard him use. Would Milo have told him if he had remembered..?

More silence. Staring into the fire, Mal held himself anxiously. He mulled over more questions and whether or not he should ask, again and again.

Eventually though, he decided to bite the bullet.

Quietly, and with a distinctly slow cadence, Mal asked,"Do you... remember what your life was like at all..?"

Milo hated the way he phrased that question. He let out an angry sigh through his nose. 'Your life'... as if I'm not still kicking.. this is the most alive I've felt in centuries... Though he knew that's not what Mal meant. Unnoticed by Milo, at some point he'd clenched his fists slightly, but they started to soften again once he began to give the meat of the question some thought.

"...I lived in a village." His somber tone continued as he sifted through his memories. "With a Librarian... He was kind, but weak."

His tone unsettled Mal. He thought of interrupting him, to tell him he doesn't need to indulge if he didn't want to, but he was also partly afraid to at this point. He simply listened.

"I... was also weak at the time... unfortunate given that... most of the village didn't understand the importance of preserving literature..." He didn't take his gaze away from the stars. They never changed. Perhaps they were the only thing. "It's all just a golden haze otherwise..."

Neither of them said anything for an extended period of time. Mal processed what Milo had said, while also mulling over some kind of apology for prying, while Milo continued to stare into the sky.

"What about you?" Milo turned his head to look at Mal, still laying in his bed. Mal could only furrow his brow in confusion. "Wh.. what about me?" "Your life," Milo clarified. "Though of course I don't think life is truly over until you're properly dead... I mean your time as a human."

Mal didn't respond right away, deep in thought. Having quickly learned he needed to, Milo waited patiently.

"I'm... not sure what you mean."

Milo's lack of expression quickly became confused. He sat up, looking at Mal, as if he'd be able to piece this all together just by staring at him.

"Before you died... and became an angel."

"Oh... do people... usually remember that?"

"Yes.. I don't believe I've ever met a carnate who doesn't at least remember... being alive." His incredulous tone put Mal off slightly, but still, he listened and responded, after pausing to think about it first of course.

"...Well... I guess I'm the first you know..." He shrugged. "Maybe it has something to do with how I was created..."

Milo could only respond with a further confused expression.

"......Carnates aren't... usually created, are they?" Milo shook his head. Mal curled in on himself slightly, hugging one knee into his chest as he sat on his sleeping bag, starting to think. Milo was as well, trying hard to decipher what the hell any of that meant.

"...Perhaps it's different with angels, I've only ever convened with demons..."

Mal shook his head to respond, continuing to think. Milo eventually laid back down.

"I was built using magic." Mal spoke unexpectedly. "...Honestly, I might've never been human.."

Milo mulled over what Mal said, staring into the sky with an inquisitive expression.

"Hm. Well I wouldn't worry about it. Being human's overrated anyways."

"Mm...." It was as if he'd missed out on something fundamental. It made him feel different, and wrong. But he wasn't about to go into all that.

"Are you glad you're a vampire?"

Milo didn't respond. Not as fast as he usually would at least. Mal waited patiently.

Glad he was a vampire.... What he really meant was, are you glad you were turned into a vampire. Would he have been better off just dying? What did all those years he spent gallivanting with North really add up to? ...Who was he before all of this? How did this happen?

"I don't know." He barely spoke over a whisper. Questions and details swam around his mind like an overcrowded fish tank. Trying to ignore it for now, he asked in turn, "Are you glad you're an angel?"

Mal also didn't respond right away. Though that was more typical for him, he responded faster than Milo did.

"No." He paused. "I'd rather been a demon." Milo looked over at him, taking in the rather angry expression on his face. "I think I would've been. If I was human."

wip kinda, im rendering the two on the right a bit more

f slur under cut