Zavien
I'm going to change the world,
Suffering wasn't a competitive game Zavien liked to play. He was better at it than he cared to admit when he'd much rather focus on the positives. But he appreciated Tal's validation of his experience, and he let the recognition of his struggles settle like a hug against the memory, soft and gentle.
It made it all the easier to support his friend, his attentions fixated on the story that was spun. He couldn't turn away, could barely breathe as he heard of the cruelties Tal had experienced, the dark stain on his heart that had bloomed from something so sinister. His stomach felt sour, a burning acidity coiling tight, born only of his horror for the situation. Zavien held no blame or disgust for the courier's actions, unable to cast stones when the situation had been unavoidable - when he'd been protecting his home to the best of his knowledge - but he saw the way it weighed on his friend, heavy and suffocating in its intensity.
"Tal..." The name was soft as sunlight on an overcast day, a brush of warmth that promised that nothing had changed despite the clouds that obscured their light. He reached out a hand, gentle and stabilizing in the emotions that must be threatening to sweep his friend far away from him. "You couldn't have known, and I don't think -" he paused, the truth sticking in his throat. Zavien swallowed the discomfort as he looked to Tal, knowing he needed to hear it. "I doubt the monster would have let her live regardless."
Squeezing his hand to brace the man, he added quietly, "As hard as it is to imagine... you probably saved her from a far worse fate." If Tal hadn't killed her, she might have been alive when the monster went to eat her eyes. The creature might have chosen to drag and torture the poor girl for days, prolonging her suffering until her body mercifully gave out. He hated that his friend had to be the one to bear the weight of her death, but he hoped the man might find a reason to forgive himself, to justify what he'd had to do.
It made it all the easier to support his friend, his attentions fixated on the story that was spun. He couldn't turn away, could barely breathe as he heard of the cruelties Tal had experienced, the dark stain on his heart that had bloomed from something so sinister. His stomach felt sour, a burning acidity coiling tight, born only of his horror for the situation. Zavien held no blame or disgust for the courier's actions, unable to cast stones when the situation had been unavoidable - when he'd been protecting his home to the best of his knowledge - but he saw the way it weighed on his friend, heavy and suffocating in its intensity.
"Tal..." The name was soft as sunlight on an overcast day, a brush of warmth that promised that nothing had changed despite the clouds that obscured their light. He reached out a hand, gentle and stabilizing in the emotions that must be threatening to sweep his friend far away from him. "You couldn't have known, and I don't think -" he paused, the truth sticking in his throat. Zavien swallowed the discomfort as he looked to Tal, knowing he needed to hear it. "I doubt the monster would have let her live regardless."
Squeezing his hand to brace the man, he added quietly, "As hard as it is to imagine... you probably saved her from a far worse fate." If Tal hadn't killed her, she might have been alive when the monster went to eat her eyes. The creature might have chosen to drag and torture the poor girl for days, prolonging her suffering until her body mercifully gave out. He hated that his friend had to be the one to bear the weight of her death, but he hoped the man might find a reason to forgive himself, to justify what he'd had to do.
but today I'll just be a mermaid.
