+ Fallacy, a 100themes Challenge +
Sarehptar
Theme: 17, Blood
Characters: Kharl
Pairing: None
Warnings: Emo!Kharl
Need to Know Info: None
Title Provider: Ravenheart (Xandria)
Once Loving Him, Now Hating Love, I've Made Mistakes My Ravenheart
In the end, though he would never say it, the knife did not slip. The sharp tip pierced his finger—a drop of blood welled there, dark and tremulous. For a moment, his lilac eyes watch it grow, filling in the minutiae of his fingertip and pooling outward, stopping only when the surface tension is strong enough to impede further progress. It was no accident, but that is what he will say later when Garfakcy asks why his finger is bandaged. It was no accident—but even now, just when the pain begins to trickle toward his mind, he swears it was.
He did not intend to make the cut, did not intend to wait on bated breath for the liquid to bubble through his skin. He did not intend to think of Rath, to think (and pause in wonder) that somewhere across the world another heart is beating, killing and replicating identical, microscopic cells. Somewhere across the world, maybe Rath is nursing wounds and looking at the same congealed dark blood.
He can smell it, heavy like fear and malice. He can taste it in the air, like a serpent can, even though it is only a tiny cut—and its bitter after-flavor should be iron, but his tongue tingles with regret. In the half-light, poisonous green moonlight that filters through the dusty stained-glass window, the drop glitters in a way that makes his stomach turn. He wonders if he can be mocking himself and not even know it.
He stands still long enough for the edges of the drop to dry, cracking as his skin moves almost invisibly. The Alchemist stands and drinks in the sickly moonlight, and listens to his heart beating. He listens to the rise and fall of the tide in his veins, and pretends.
He pretends for a moment that so many miles away, Rath is listening too. He pretends for a moment that their hearts still beat on the same count—but he knows that Rath is not Ruin and hope and dreams aren't anything but subconscious walls against loss. Rath is not thinking of him, of the blood they share, or their hearts that once held the same hope and happiness.
It wasn't an accident, but there is as much sadness as blood in the air now.
"It hurts," he says finally, and licks the drop away.
Next up, Theme 18: Rainbow
"It's a human saying," Garfakcy explains, and for a moment the thought that he is analyzing idiomatic expressions with a god-like being is disconcerting and amusing.