chicago ♔ back into the end of harmony

[romanticidal]

♬ What Sarah Said - Death Cab for Cutie

WHO || Des, Rafael, Violet, Jade, anyone else who comes to see Jade. [closed]
WHAT || Jade awakes, and asks to see Des, Raf, and Vi...
WHERE || A hospital, Chicago
WHEN || July 4th, 2013
HOW || Actionspam

[ Today's the fourth of July, and the city is bustling with happy, smiling citizens on their way to watch fireworks tonight with their loved ones. And then there's the Corvette of people sailing through traffic with almost desperate abandon, as Des steers his way through the city with a basically heartwrenching nat 20 drive check towards the hospital. Rafael lets Violet sit on his lap in the passenger bucket seat, but he doesn't say a word as he stares forward grimly, lost inside his thoughts entirely the whole way there.

They make startling time. There's another car of Knights on the way, but lagging quite a bit behind by the time Des pulls into a spot right up front. ]

Comments

[nothingsodivine]

[Des keeps running a hand through her hair, listening.] So it was only a matter of time before...

[She would have died anyway, eventually- just slipped through their fingers and they wouldn't have known why.] Funny how I'm still standing here.

[That's not the whole story though- he knows it. He's just letting himself be snarky to force himself to not deal with how tragic all of this really is. He and Rafael both have been damned to lose her from the start and there's absolutely nothing that could have changed that.]

[borrowedheaven]

[ toxic (cover) - yael naim

she slides her arms around him, head moving to his chest as she stares off, looking heavily burdened ]

This deal, I knew fully well that it would have some price, but I didn't care. I didn't care about much of anything. I took the pendant and the power and the promise that with it I would never be alone. That I'd have a hundred people, a thousand, however many I wanted, to want me, to love me, any night, every night. That I'd be all but smothered in it.

It was addicting, overwhelming, and yet none of it was real. None of it could be real. But I couldn't stop, I couldn't leave... I was trapped. In a nightmare that I'd made for myself. And the magic didn't just affect those who were drawn there, it... it influenced me too. I could never remember what had me dissatisfied long enough to -- [ she stops and pulls away to look at him ] You were the first real thing I'd had in a very long time.

[nothingsodivine]

[The look on his face is somewhere between pure sympathy and something deeper- understanding. No wonder the two of them ended up here. They were both so pathetically alone, surrounded by hundreds of people everywhere they went. He didn't have adoration or a prison, but he people he saved, contacts he almost considered friends- everyone who could have touched his life in some way- and he kept them all at an emotional distance, too self-absorbed to let in something that might actually save him.

And then she waltzed in- some girl from a dreamworld and there's been hundreds of girls he'd walked away from money for, because money means little to him, but she stuck around, clung to his brain to the point if he wasn't sure if it was his own selfish motivation to get the Talisman that drove him or simply her. He hadn't even come close to figuring it out by the time the concert happened, even after six months of dancing around her, but he thought maybe, just maybe, he could start looking into it.

He squeezes his eyes shut.] Done a lot of things in my life, but I've never rescued a princess from her tower. [He buries his face in her neck.] How'd I not see it?

[Because he's blind. He sees everything, but he doesn't see anything.]

[borrowedheaven]

Even I couldn't. So you shouldn't blame yourself.

But for all you've done for me, there's something else I need to ask from you.

[nothingsodivine]

[Her hair smells like hospital and he's not sure if he regrets never holding her like this so he can remember what it smells like normally or relieved that he doesn't know what he's lost.]

Anything.

[borrowedheaven]

[ somebody to die for - hurts ]

These men need to be stopped, the ones you're looking for. The deal I took, the power I was offered, it's all connected. This needs to end.

You already said you'll look out for Rafael... and I believe you. I know how he is: what this will do to him, losing me again this way. He'll be challenged in a great number of ways, but I don't want thoughts of vengeance to consume him. He could have a life, a real life, happiness in this world. You won't be able to stop him from throwing in his lot with the others, but please... don't let him carry this quest alone.

Rafael needs to find something to live for. He can. I know he can. And you... [ she puts a hand on his cheek and gently draws back to look at him, eyes all sympathy and compassion, as she gives him the most heartbreaking half-smile. ] Well. You need something to die for.

Someone needs to take it all the way.

[nothingsodivine]

[The smile he gives her in return is just as heartbreaking. It speaks of a man who knew exactly where his roads will lead and what it will take to get him there.] You say that like I wasn't planning on doing that from the jump. And I don't half-ass anything. [and rather than speak the promise verbally he leans forward and kisses her.]

[borrowedheaven]

[ she manages a weak grip on his shirt as she returns the kiss, tender and lasting rather than the heated frenzy of the one they'd shared on the balcony. her hand stays on his cheek, finger tips curling loosely against him as she struggles to keep her breath. rather than pull away, she just tips her nose against his, and turns her head slightly to say: ] Thank you, Des.

[nothingsodivine]

[Des squeezes his eyes shut and presses his forehead against hers.] Don't mention it.

[It comes out rather pained and forced, like it's taking all his effort to keep it together and he has to be flippant to compensate for that. [(will save 13)

He lingers for a few more seconds and then gently releases her as if he's worried she might slip away in his arms.] Hang tight, Sunshine. There's a little slip of a thing who's gonna wanna guilt herself over not being able to fix this. [He reaches out to her again and runs the back of his hand along her cheek.] So let her down easy, okay?

[borrowedheaven]

[ her eyes flutter closed at his touch and she leans into it, but she looks paler, entirely exhausted now, as if the effort of all these final words has finally taken a toll. when she speaks again, it's with a small shuddering breath, as if something's stealing the air from her. ] It won't... be long now. I can--

[nothingsodivine]

[And with a spectacularly shitty will save, Des realizes the reality of the situation and leans forwards over the bed, cradling the back of her head with his hand.] No, no. No. Jade? Jade. C'mon. Don't do this to me. I'm not ready. Please. Please.

[He presses his forehead against hers and growls and frustration, squeezing his eyes shut.] Please just hang on.