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Huh?

[Sano gives a couple of blank-faced blinks.]

Uh. Thanks.

[Does he need to say Ryoji has a nice face too now? He just starts shaping the snow instead. Start with the base...]

I can't tell if we're working together or competing.

[A thoughtful hum.]

Well, they didn't say anything about helping each other. To be honest, I've never done anything like this before, so I wouldn't mind if you can give me some tips!

[Well...]

I'm trying to build it the same way I'd build a sandcastle. A big foundation.

You're gonna be kneeling, I guess.

[Yeah. Yeah. He can shape this base into some legs.]

Biiig foundation. Got it.

[He nods like he's taking class very seriously. Maybe he could have Sano sitting cross-legged?]

As long as I have my scarf, you can make me look whatever you want!

Oh yeah? The scarf's important, then, huh?

Yeah! You could say it's my charm point!

[He never goes anywhere without it!]

What would Sano's charm point be...? I don't think blonde hair would work on a snowman.

Eh...

That, I don't really know...

[He knows he has charm points, considering the fact that everyone at his school is desperate to date him, but he doesn't have anything about him that stands out like a scarf. Maybe the scowl on his face?]

Maybe just...try to get the expression right.

Gotcha.

[He draws a ":<" on the ground. Is that his reference?

For now he starts piling up snow on the ground, trying to form a pair of shoes. However, the snow seems to crumble the moment he tries to give it a definite shape.]

Wow, this is harder than I thought!

[???]

Is that supposed to be me?

[He uses his finger and adds a swooping line above the eyes, "):<".]

The first one was too sad.

[He continues trying to clump the wet snow together. It makes him make the exact same face they just drew.]

It's way too wet...

[A snicker escapes Ryoji - it's perfect, you really could see his likeness!

But now it's his turn to look like ":<" as he tries to compress more snow against each other. That's how it works, right?]

Maybe it needs to freeze more? But it's already pretty cold...

I don't suppose you have secret ice abilities I don't know about...

[If only Fuji were here...]

Nope! No ice powers here! I don't think I can use my actual powers anyway - I tried summoning my sword the other day, but nothing happened.

[Not that darkness and slash attacks would be of any use to building a snowman.]

Oh yeah...

Apparently, abilities are taken away from us when we first get here.

[Sano falls a little quiet when he says that, eyes going to the base of his snowman, where he futility tries to make the shape of two knees.]

You can wish for them back.

Really?

[His own hands idle for a moment, deep in thought. The snow in his hands is melting in an pace that shouldn't be possible in this cold.]

I dunno if I'll do that. It might be interesting to live like a normal human for once.

[Sano's head turns, his brows knitting just slightly together. He's surprised...]

It could be dangerous. Are you sure?

[That does give him some pause. His power is terrible and not exactly something he likes having, but if it could be of use to someone...]

It depends, I guess. If I can protect other people as a human being, then I don't need it.

[. . .

[It's how Sano feels too, but he can't quite bring himself to say it, to admit that his powers are terrible, that they cause more pain than good.

[He asks a new question, avoids again, but he thinks it matters. He thinks Ryoji might understand.]

Does this really make us human, though? Are our abilities the only difference?

[Good question. If this place strips all of what makes them supernatural, does that make them human? What defines what is human and what isn't, when they're all the same inside?]

I don't think it does. But at least this way we could pretend, and isn't that enough?

So, you really wish you were human, then...

Yeah!

[The smile he has is blinding.]

I think humans are great. They live their lives to their fullest with the limited time that they have. That's not something I could just do, as a god of death.

[...And momentarily, as it turns into something more distant and melancholy.]

Although I guess there would be problems too if I would just stop existing as one...

[So, they're both gods. A god of death is perhaps more vital to the universal ecosystem than a god of misfortune, but perhaps Sano isn't giving himself much credit.]

I've thought about it too. Once or twice.

Right?

[He nods vigorously.]

Lots of humans wish that they could be special or something more, but I don't think they realize that there's something to be gained from being "normal" as well.

It's that, but...

[He thinks of Haruaki, of course, the only human he really knows.]

Sometimes humans are exceptional too.

[He's right, of course. Pretty much all of SEES is exceptional in their own ways. And that includes the people who aren't human, too.]

They are, aren't they? There's some things that they can do we non-humans cannot.

[Like fight against fate.]

Like what...?

[Not because Sano disagrees, but because he wants to hear it from someone else too, just how amazing humans can be. Maybe it will validate his own feelings. He's all but forgotten the quarter-built snow-Ryoji.]

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