* 𝖇𝖑𝖔𝖔𝖉 / ʷᵃᵗᵉʳ

𝚂𝙿𝙾𝙺𝙴𝙽 :

" that's a lot of blood. "

" it isn't mine. "

" what did you do ? "

[ sigh ] " what did you do ? "

" come on. have a taste. "

" holy shit, are you okay ? "

" it looks worse than it feels. "

" you should see the other guy. "

" it's a good look on you. you should get covered in blood more often. "

" lean on me. "

" oh my god. oh my god, oh my god, what the fuck ? is that what i fucking think it is ? "

" . . . gross. "

[ standing over a body ] " oops. "

" is that a fucking body ? "

" look, i'm sorry, okay ? "

" what the hell happened ? "

" before you say anything, it wasn't me. "

" at least it wasn't me this time. "

" look at me. this is who i am, no matter how much you pretend it isn't. "

" look at me. this is who i am, no matter how much you wish it wasn't. "

" i'm not scared of you. "

" you don't scare me. "

" shut up and let me help you. "

" i got your shirt all bloody. "

" let's get you cleaned up. "

" that looks like it hurts. "

" i'm fine, just. . . give me a minute. "

" we are so fucked. "

" what the fuck is wrong with you ? "

" are you gonna help me clean it up or not ? "

" the fucker deserved it. "

" red looks good on you. "

" what the hell did you do ; tap - dance all over the body with ice - skates ? "

" what, did you run over the body with your car a couple times after ? "

" i. . . i didn't mean to. . . "

" sorry. fuck, i'm sorry. "

" this isn't what it looks like. "

" it was an accident. "

" motherfucker ran right into my knife, i swear. "

" people need to look both ways before crossing. . . bullets. "

" would you believe me if i said wrong place, wrong time ? "

" hey, look at me. i don't care. are you okay ? "

" they deserved it, right ? please tell me they deserved it. "

" you're bleeding. "

" what the fuck happened to you ? "

" you're getting blood on the carpet. "

" sit down before you fall down. "

" that looks like a you problem. "

𝚄𝙽𝚂𝙿𝙾𝙺𝙴𝙽 :

sender spits out a mouthful of blood at receiver's feet

sender spits out a mouthful of blood on receiver

receiver finds sender covered in blood

sender tries desperately to stop receiver's bleeding

sender helps receiver clean up after a kill

sender wipes blood from receiver's face with a washcloth

sender wipes blood from receiver's face with their thumb

sender licks receiver's blood off a knife

sender licks receiver's blood off their thumb

sender lights up a cigarette a foot away from someone they killed before offering one to receiver

receiver finds sender stood over a body

sender stitches up receiver's wound [ optional wound placement ]

sender digs their finger into receiver's wound [ optional wound placement ]

sender frantically checks receiver for injuries under all the blood

sender guides receiver's bloody hands under a faucet / water source and begins washing them clean

sender bites receiver hard enough to draw blood

sender tilts receiver's head back to staunch a nosebleed

sender draws a smiley face out of the blood they spilled :)

receiver finds sender cleaning up a kill in a daze

sender looks receiver in the eye as they shoot / stab / kill someone

sender ruffles receiver's hair, getting blood all over their hand

sender gets some of receiver's blood on them and makes a face

sender flicks blood at receiver to annoy them

sender stomps in a pool of blood to splash it on receiver

sender slips in their victim's blood but receiver steadies them before they can fall

sender steadies receiver when they slip in the blood sender spilled

receiver comes home to sender covered in blood and waiting for them with all the lights off

sender spits out a tooth and it hits receiver

sender tries to wipe blood off receiver but the blood on their hands just makes it worse

sender takes an injury meant for receiver

sender shows up on receiver's doorstep covered in blood

sender sits down quietly next to receiver after receiver kills someone

sender punches receiver in the mouth

receiver watches sender lick the blood off their fingers like its cheeto dust

sender helps receiver bury a body

sender hugs receiver just to get their victim's blood all over them <3

sender hugs receiver just to get their blood all over them <3

sender leans on receiver for support

sender kills someone to protect receiver

receiver finds sender in a frenzy maiming a body after they've already killed it

sender kills someone and the blood spatters on receiver

receiver finds sender desperately trying to wash the blood off of themself

sender kisses receiver to taste the blood on their busted lip

as seraphina explains like gritting against the torture of pulling teeth, alara cannot help but keep tally. all guesswork, albeit not totally unfounded. were it up to her, they'd have visited the towers first, secured their position in the cult – & the same means of protection to traverse the curse – & only once they knew what was on offer, snuffed out the last light. much like, come to think of it, how seraphina had plotted to turn on the grove, before she'd been resoundingly overruled. infiltrate first, calculate for advantages, then decide.

seems democracy is coming back to bite them all in the ass.

❝       for how long ? hmm ?       ❞ she challenges, tearing her gaze away from the campfire forge keeping them going to glare once again, the blue of her eyes hard & glacial. the rough tempest her idiot boyfriend often invokes. ❝       what happens if they kill the cleric, what then ? some plan – you're going to get us all killed. we don't even know why she's so godsdamned important to them, or when she'll outlive her usefulness.       ❞

a silent battle of wills; seraphina as cool & collected as she wishes she were, & she, like a wounded bitch growling, ready to lunge. against her better judgement, the threat wrings out a laugh, a hollow, strangled thing. ❝       by you ? i'll take my chances.       ❞

better by her companion's hand than the stretch of hungry shadows.

"the cleric is no longer my concern." she says, attempting to keep her voice steady through the rising rage. alara is, after all, still of some use to her. seraphina's plan does no good if the rest of her companions begin to see how willing she is to dispose of them... or alara could be just the example she needs. maintaining her position in this party through fear is one way to keep the rest of them from making the same mistakes of challenging her. "see which of our other companions would like to play hero with you if that cleric truly means so much. the rest of us will be finding our way to the source of this tadpole."

he had long since made peace with what's to come long before they set off to confront what awaits them. he had been a fool for so long, too long, but he could see now. things had never been more clear, nor dire. sights once set upon taking the crown of karsus for himself have shifted. he has been ambitious once before, & given all that's happened since then — gale can wager it'd be unwise to go for another time.

seraphina's hunger for more had almost gotten him too. he'd almost believed she meant it when she said it'd be his, that she would ascend with him. she said such pretty words, pretty lies, with a pretty look in her eyes. she had done the same with shadowheart whose hands are now stained with the blood of her parents. to astarion who took countless amounts of souls to become something nearly unrecognizable. tried it with eliana. it has never been a selfless act. power was the root of it. that crown was never going to be his. it was going to be hers, & he would not stand idly by & allow that to happen.

he wonders, briefly, if he had not been so blinded by false affections if he could have stopped it all. innocent blood would not stain the streets of this city by seraphina's hand. the absolute would be no more. he supposes the what ifs do not matter. the here & now do. here & now, the orb stirs violently & awaits to be unleashed.

he is surprisingly calm, despite facing his own mortality once more. this is as good of a send off as any. a hero's death, he supposes, to sacrifice himself to save the world. gale never thought himself to be one of those, but there is a first for everything. he watches seraphina start the climb, followed by the other two, & he reaches to begin the climb to his last moments when eliana stops him. desperation burns bright in her glistening eyes & gale's feature sadden. it's bittersweet. those words would have stopped him in his tracks before, but it is far too late to stop now. perhaps another time, another life, when he had not fallen victim to his ambitions once more, she would have been enough to save him. fate would not have that be so here.

the smile he offers does not touch his eyes & his hand lifts to caress her cheek. he takes a moment to soak her in for everything that she is. beautiful. determined. kind. far more deserving of life than any of the rest of them. she would not die here.

"you and i both know that there is very little else that can be done, eliana. are we to take on a vampire ascendant, shar's forces, the brain, and seraphina all on our own? i believe you to be very strong and myself as well, but i do not think that would have the ending we wish. this is the only way." the silence that follows is heavy. his hand remains on her cheek & he steps forward, dipping himself down to catch her lips in a kiss. something he should have done ages ago. though, if he could be so easily swayed by someone such as seraphina, he does not believe himself to ever have deserved eliana. he does not have the time to think on the what ifs or could've beens. time is short, his most of all. he kisses her until the need for a breath arises & his forehead lingers against her own, sharing the same breaths.