Okay, something a little different... I'm going to inject someone in the most basic of ways into Dallas, and try and save Mr. Two Thousand Years Old and Suicidal.
Wish me luck.
Aude.
xx
"Godric?"
"Mm?"
"I just wanted to let you know... I'd be really sad if you truly died. Even if it saved a hundred, a thousand lives. I think you're better than that. You have to be, if you're already feeling apprehensive about it."
Silence.
"So, Mr. Bad-ass Vampire. What do you think about that?"
"I think... That you are very kind. And I am glad I could know you."
Slight pause.
"Please don't do it."
"What if the next person I attack is you?"
"I would forgive you."
"What if you died?"
"You can't honestly tell me that in two thousand years your hunger had achieved such a level as draining my entire body."
"It might happen."
"It probably won't."
Longer pause.
"I will meet the sun; I will go in peace. Do not mourn me. I should've died long ago."
"But you didn't. And I-...Shit. Never mind."
"Tell me."
She sighs.
"I love you, Godric. I don't know if you could ever believe that, but I do. In you, I see something beautiful, and gentle, and wise. It may have taken you two thousand years to get here, but don't you think that, maybe you were supposed to get here?"
"No."
"You believe in God, right?"
"Yes."
"So don't you think God would've killed you ages ago if you weren't supposed to be around?"
"It is not up to God to battle all the darkness of this world."
"Well, isn't that the point of him being God?"
"No."
"Don't you think, Mr. Vampy Vamp, you were supposed to be here, wise, all powerful, and enlightened, for some greater purpose?"
"I was supposed to meet the true death a slave, broken, and bloody, over two thousand years ago. I'd be less than bones, now."
"Doesn't this seem much better?"
"I had never killed anyone while my heart was beating."
Long pause. Shuffle of their clothes. One pounding heart.
"I know it doesn't mean much, but I do love you."
"And I thank you for your love. I don't deserve it. You should spend it on someone else."
"It's not a credit card, Mr. Tats."
"Don't be angry with me."
"I'll be angry if I want, you're the one who is leaving me for some self serving plight before you even try to contain yourself!"
"I have been trying to contain myself, I can't stop what I am. You don't understand."
"You don't understand."
Intense silence. She sniffs, tries to contain it behind her hand. Then, a small and choked sob breaks the seal of her tightly bitten lips.
"Please don't cry. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. You'll be truly dead soon, what do you have to be sorry for?"
"Everything."
"I hate it when you get like this."
He smiles.
"I'm always like this."
"Well aware of that, thanks, Fangs."
Sniff. Sniff. Sob.
"Don't cry because of me, please."
"Then don't be stubborn and give yourself to the sun!"
"Come here."
"No."
"Now who's being stubborn?"
Pause. She goes to him, and he holds her, tucking her head under his chin. He closes his eyes and pretends that they share a heartbeat.
"Before I go..."
"I like the way your arms make me feel safe, Godric."
"I have to tell you something."
"Like shields. Like towers. I'm invincible here."
"I must confess."
"I love your tattoos."
"Please?"
"Begging doesn't become you, lover."
"Will you listen to me, one last time?"
Her tears are dropping onto his biceps. Her tightening fingers claw against his spine. He smooths her hair down over her shoulders, knuckles trailing along her spine.
"I always listen to you. You're two thousand years my senior. You should know best."
Loud sniff.
"The moments I spent with you were always very good for my soul. I am at peace, and I am happy, so please, do not fret for me."
A small pause, broken only by the sound of a tender, first kiss.
"And I do love you too, my human. But that is why I must go."
"Please don't."
She begins to tremble. He tightens his hold.
"Tell me you love me?"
"Godric, please..."
"Hush...No more tears. Just give me your love. One last time."
"If you stay, I would give you my love forever. Yours or mine. Whatever you wanted. I could be so good to you. Please, please, Godric, don't leave me."
He inhales, but doesn't exhale, trapping her scent inside his nose.
"You know what it is I must do?"
Pause while she thinks, while she considers that look on his face. Shocked intake of air.
"No."
"I can't leave you like this."
"Don't you dare."
"You are hurt."
"Because you're killing yourself!"
"I can't stand to see you crying."
"Then don't meet the god's cursed sun!"
"I must. I can't leave you like this."
"So what, you're just going to take it all my memories away because you're hurt by my tears? No! You don't get to make that decision! I'd rather die myself than ever forget you!"
She shoves him away. Starts to cry harder into her hands. He is left wounded, hurting for her misery, but he can't risk himself around her blood, around her body. She is too good for him, too kind to his murdering hands - he'd be a selfish animal, incapable of rational thought and procedure, if he stays.
"After I glamour you, you won't feel anything for me. You'll be freed of my memory. A gift."
"You are stealing from me."
He winces. Her tone slices into his chest, deeper than any knife.
"My human, look at me. It will only take a moment."
"Just go."
She's shaking now, her back turned on him.
"You want to kill yourself, fine. There is literally nothing I can do about it. But you can't take yourself away from me. I won't let you, not without a fight."
He reaches out his hands, and stops just before he touches her trembling shoulders. He wants to hold her again. Why didn't he hold her more often?
"I'm trying to make this easier on you."
She says nothing, because she can't speak. Her body is consumed by sobs, by a shaking, trembling frame, and trying to hold it in.
"I do love you."
His promise is aimed at the back of her head. He puts his hands by his sides, and stands behind her, nose at her pulse. He inhales there, scenting the clean, fragile membrane.
"I love you."
He says it again, like maybe she's gone momentarily deaf. The truth is, it fills him with warmth, to have someone to say these most ancient words to.
"I love you too, Godric. More than you will ever know."
It feels twice as good to hear them parroted back, and know that only honesty motivates them. Then he leaves, before she can talk him down, before she can turn around and have him hold her 'till the world ends. That's all he wants to do right now, is hold her. Now, as he's running hard across the world, his eyes leaking red and his brain feeling numb, more than anything, he just wants to hold her.
But he doesn't.
And he meets the sun with that one regret staining his mind.