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“There’s so much to live for.”
Death says this a lot. They say it every time they eat something new. They say it every time they see the sky be a different shade. They say it every time they encounter something new about life for the living and what it entails.
Today, they say it about the wasp that has gotten stuck in their scarf they're crocheting.
Carl is squealing as he wacks it with a newspaper and Martha watches calmly with amusement, sipping on the tea that sits warm in between her palms.
"You know I could—" Death starts.
"No!" Martha and Carl shout together.
Even though killing is Death's role in the universe, Martha and Carl know how much it hurts them to kill, especially the more they learn about humanity.
Death can't stay for long, but they visit when they can.
Martha was the first human they had ever spared, one that Death promised to spare until she lives a long life.
Martha tries to not to think about it too hard. If she does, she'll just fall into another existential spiral.
Recovering from her sickness was the hardest thing she's ever done besides preparing for the sickness to take her, alone and afraid to tell Carl that she didn't love him the way he loved her anymore.
And now, not completely healed but with the reassurance that it will not take her soon, not ready but resigned, she is able to live again.
There's something about Death that is so full life. They see the world with wonder, with all that life brings and what humanity brings to it.
It's a lonely existence, to be Death. So Martha and Carl give them the companionship they need.
They introduce Death to something new every time they come to visit. They have a whole list of things to show them, organized and color coded by how long it will take and if it's a pleasant or not experience.
Because Death is also fascinated by things that humans don't like. Foods that taste foul, textures that itch at your skin, sounds that scrape at the eardrums.
They are delighted all the same at these new experiences.
They love humans. They love humanity. They always have. And that is why their job is so tragic.
Carl had tried asking once, what comes after. Death couldn't tell him. Not because they didn't want to, but because it was something beyond human comprehension.
It was a bit awkward at first, after the breakup, but with the closure he got from knowing why Martha broke up with him, they were able to tentatively become friends once again.
And, of course, they are the only two people in the entire world who know what it's like to be friends with Death themself, so that definitely bonded them.
Death is a bit like a little kid, constantly learning, knowing so much yet so little and soaking up everything they encounter like a giant sponge.
Pseudo-coparenting/humanity tour guiding Death with Martha was definitely not the family Carl had envisioned for the two of them.
But it works, somehow. The three of them and whatever they are.
Carl won't lie. There will always be a part of him that will love Martha, love her so much that it hurts and overwhelms his every sense.
But in the moments where it doesn't entirely consume him, it's just a warm, constant hum of a content kind of love.
She's Martha. And she'll be in his life however she will be and Carl is glad just to have her in whatever way she is. To have her here at all, alive and well.
"Yesterday. All my troubles seem so far away..."
"Ah! Death! Do not eat the wasp!"