A/N: Joe, talking to Nile.
"There are two things I would tell you about death," Joe told her. "The first is that it's unexpected. Even when you know it's going to happen, it surprises you. But most of the time you don't even have that. It's the gunman you didn't know was there, the horse you didn't realize was about to kick you, the blade you didn't think the guy had. It's the car that hits yours without warning, too fast for you to understand the physics of it.
"The other thing is that it's not quick. Not usually. When you kill a man, the length of time between your blow and his final thought isn't important to you, so long as he is unable to keep fighting during that time. How he suffers, what he thinks, is a private thing. He experiences it only once and only in that one way. But the thing about us," Joe gestured between the two of them, "is that we have the privilege of going through that time ourselves, many times.
"The only way you'll miss your own death is if you have your brains blown out. That's why we train for headshots. Everything else you're going to feel and remember. Even something quick, like your throat cut or your heart perforated, you'll realize you're going to die. You'll feel the pain, the desperation, maybe resignation and futility. Your body will fight to live and it's better equipped than most to do that, so you'll die slow and be conscious through the whole thing."
Nile blanched at the unintended consequence of their power.
"You already know what it is like to die. As time passes, you will know what it is like to die in … so many ways." He shook his head sadly. "It always feels unfair. Like you should have had a warning. Even face-to-face in a duel, that fellow cheated when he slipped his blade past yours. It's insulting that he didn't play by the rules where you win and he dies instead. You might be angry. Perhaps that works for those who die and stay dead, taking their rage with them into the darkness. But for us? We will live again. It helps if we learn from every death. At the very least, we must learn to endure it."