Gabriel wasn't sure what he expected to hear in return from Vivi. His explanation to the boy, or rather his excuses, were poor, and he knew this. Nothing that he said had been comforting, nothing to speak to the supposed glory and endless love of the Father. He felt a failure for it, unable to weave the truth in a way that might excuse it all.

Even now, to speak against Him was impossible, he couldn't even bring himself to question a corpse.

So when Vivi sat beside him and rested his hand upon his own, the wave of confusion was if nothing else, understandable. Why? When nothing he'd said spoke of splendor or kindness? When it was a realm the boy would never be given the grace to see?

"It's... peaceful." Moreso now, but that was something he omitted. "Pristine. Limbo still falls far short of its splendor and calm, but it is far closer to it than anything here. Perhaps-" when this is finished, his words caught on the suggestion like dust, and he swallowed. "When... I have time for it, I can take you to the upper levels to visit it." An ugly, bitter thing to lie.

"The souls that reside there are joyful and content, living for all eternity free of pain, or want. Heaven itself is a sprawling city that bleeds into golden meadows and lush forests, the skies are ever clear, and they are richest blue you have ever seen." The picture he painted was, at least for himself, both comforting and painful, a wistful tone seeping into his words the longer he spoke. Gabriel trailed off as he concluded, staring at the fire Vivi had made.

"... It was beautiful." They had deserved so much better.