[The hesitation of a former slave, yes. One that runs tight as tempered steel through his own shoulders on final, inevitable approach, setting jagged teeth down firm across the outlines of their twins in the seconds where he's grateful that eye's already shut. It wouldn't be the first injury endured, but every spawn has their preferred hiearchy of tortures that they'd rather (not) find at the end of a raw bit of misfortune, well-applied. Scalding his own cursed eyes? Oh, yes, darling. It's up there. Far, far up there.
And yet he's aligned in that cloth's shadow.
And it's sharp, at first— the kind of crispness that runs in anything white-hot, piercing its way through beseiged senses—
....only....it isn't?
No. No, it isn't.
It's cool. It's cold. That's all there is. No tailing wave of agony. No Searing blister. No stabbing bite. His heartbeat's in his throat, but even that tails off in the steadier aftermath, now that the pressure (and clean water) carefully applied has drained the swell above his lid. Wrestled its enmity down into something ugly, yet sedate.
In disbelief, both eyes open. He hadn't even heard what Fenris said over the pounding in his ears, and now— ]
Well, shit.
[Don't mind him, Fenris. He's a little breathless. A little distracted. That comment isn't aimed at you, though it does sound like it, doesn't it?]
no subject
And yet he's aligned in that cloth's shadow.
And it's sharp, at first— the kind of crispness that runs in anything white-hot, piercing its way through beseiged senses—
....only....it isn't?
No. No, it isn't.
It's cool. It's cold. That's all there is. No tailing wave of agony. No Searing blister. No stabbing bite. His heartbeat's in his throat, but even that tails off in the steadier aftermath, now that the pressure (and clean water) carefully applied has drained the swell above his lid. Wrestled its enmity down into something ugly, yet sedate.
In disbelief, both eyes open. He hadn't even heard what Fenris said over the pounding in his ears, and now— ]
Well, shit.
[Don't mind him, Fenris. He's a little breathless. A little distracted. That comment isn't aimed at you, though it does sound like it, doesn't it?]