admittedly, the blunder hurts, his side nearly rent apart in the wake of a demon’s slaughter. Rei clutches at it with nothing short of quiet and stubborn desperation, blood dried onto his hand and robes, keeping his breathing as steady as he can manage it ( because it’ll do him no good to exhaust himself further, render himself even more vulnerable than he already is; and for all the friendly animosity that exists between them, Fae is still dangerous. ) He watches the seer watch him, that youthful face now turned into a mask indignation and, dare he say it, petulance.
❛ With all candor … mercy would be the last thing you would ever show me. ❜ one day, the world’s patience will run out, and you will suffer for it. A warning, issued long ago by a fiend put to the sword ——— and it rings within his mind again, the one thing to keep Rei upright when all he wants to do is collapse. ( One day, his own penchant for banter will kill him, but he’s yet to be surprised. ) Rei’s knees betray him, buckle, and the only thing that stops his body from meeting the soil is a stubborn fist, holding his chest aloft as it digs into the ground.
an arid chuckle escapes him, as does blood as he spits it. ❛ But would you look at that … I am on my knees, though … not of my own volition. ❜
impassive observation is the dark purple of a setting bruise, the disinterest in a stark outline too severe to hide what it really is. there’s no casual dismissal to hide the rot of it, branching roots like a thunderous explosion against the night sky, and he doesn’t smile when the teeth set to his throat. but gods, does he hate the smell of blood. too familiar with it. the meaty griminess, the iron settled at the back of the throat, the cloying mortality of it all, gummed up into something viscous in the palm of the hands.
it’s the heel of a boot that kicks aside his dear companion’s weapon -- lest he find it buried in his sternum, one more life extinguished -- and pulls back just as a glob of blood hits the ground and splatters. with a very blasé indifference, he slides his eyes to rei, and lifts a very delicate brow.
" you’re getting blood everywhere. “ he’s content to lean back and watch, maybe swoop in all divine & halo-lit at the last second, except rei is wiser than that, and seen enough of those tricks to know. maybe too much of the mask drawn back from the flood. a concern he’ll have to deal with whenever they get there. “ and you don’t look as good on your knees as i thought you would. “
it’s boredom that curls his vowels, all warm, like the embers of a fire as he kneels down in front of him. reaches a hand, ungloved and dark as a night sky, to grip his jaw and turn his face to the light. it’s just a moment, just a brief flash of something that looks like real concern, and gone just as quick.
“ now take a break from insulting me, swallow your pride, and ask nicely. “