Work Text:
“Zevran.”
The day had finally arrived. It really had been a fool’s errand. After years spent hoping and planning, trying to stop the inevitable. They hadn’t even delayed it, in the end. Only made it worse.
“Yes, amor?”
They both felt hollow with disbelief in the face of this certainty. It had to be done. Zevran would not have wished this kind of suffering even on the Crows. Certainly not the man he loved.
“It’s time.”
The words were like a knife, twisting deep into their hearts. It simply joined the agony already there, the tears that had been shed until there were no more left.
“Are you sure?”
Theron’s health had declined rapidly the past few weeks. The Taint had returned with a savage vengeance, leaving an aching husk of a Dalish elf who had once touched a mirror.
“Yes.”
Swallowing Archdemon blood hadn’t helped, either. Ten years, was that all it had been? It felt like such a short time. The blink of an eye.
“You know I will join you.”
The blade shone between them, wicked silver. The edge winked in the light, an unspoken promise. A quick, clean death. The handle was stained with sweat.
“I wish you wouldn’t.”
Leather creaked gently. There was so much that still hung in the air between them, how could it end now?
“The Crows would not be so kind.”
To suffer for months, to prolong the inevitable. Running from death. But death always caught up, one way or another. At least this way there was a choice.
“I can’t stop you.”
This would be gentler, ultimately. Over in minutes. Not a slow and gradual descent from humanity and into bestial rage like a rabid hound. No more heaving through corrupted lungs.
“No.”
They had accomplished much in ten years. Not enough. Never enough. So much time wasted. If only they had known. No time left now.
“Please.”
The blade flashed again, the silver wavering in a shaking hand. This was a mercy. A blissful release from an ailing body.
“I love you.”
There was no sound. Red welled around the silver. Shaking hands, blurred vision. Again, tears, after so long without.
“I know. Thank you.”