[ It is so, so fucking good that he can't see her. That, in his excitement, he didn't piece together right away the fact that she was over him. It's also good Mace is here, because he would not have reacted in time. She'd have dropped on him and probably snapped his fucking neck or worse, except that Mace yanks him back on sheer fucking instinct it seems.
All the same, when he does spot her in the dim light, the way her body contorts, the way her limbs seem to go cracking and over in ways that the ligaments should not move like double-jointed splinters, it's--
Like looking into something empty. It's like looking into a void. It's like peering through darkness down a long hall with nothing in your peripherals and nothing behind you and nothing to look at but that. Rooted to the spot. Uncomprehending. Just flat out not fucking able to wrap his mind around the fact that she's reality.
And then Mace snaps him out of it, and his free hand skids on rock as they go stumbling over uneven path, as stone slides shut behind them and the ground dips firmly downward in sharp, curving grade. He misses a step and one of his knees buckles, nearly dragging them both down, down, down- but he hits level ground, there is no more falling, there is only the sound of muffled breathing in the dark. No transference. Utterly insulated.
Just the two of them, and their scuffing friction against rock.
Not even a fucking hint of light. Sheer absolute unpenetrated darkness.
He reels Mace in by the hand like some desperate creature, grabbing onto what he can feel in the darkness - shirt, shoulder, side, tugging him in until they're pressed together chest to chest and clinging on like somehow it'll defend either of them. ]
Sh-sh-
[ Not shushing noises, but the start of the word she that never rounds out. Almost more of a z sound, teeth bared too hard to hit the proper s. ]
Her face, her fucking face- she's not here, she's gone? Is she gone?
[ He doesn't fucking know. He's not glowing. There is no hissing, no clicking no movement but theirs.
no subject
All the same, when he does spot her in the dim light, the way her body contorts, the way her limbs seem to go cracking and over in ways that the ligaments should not move like double-jointed splinters, it's--
Like looking into something empty. It's like looking into a void. It's like peering through darkness down a long hall with nothing in your peripherals and nothing behind you and nothing to look at but that. Rooted to the spot. Uncomprehending. Just flat out not fucking able to wrap his mind around the fact that she's reality.
And then Mace snaps him out of it, and his free hand skids on rock as they go stumbling over uneven path, as stone slides shut behind them and the ground dips firmly downward in sharp, curving grade. He misses a step and one of his knees buckles, nearly dragging them both down, down, down- but he hits level ground, there is no more falling, there is only the sound of muffled breathing in the dark. No transference. Utterly insulated.
Just the two of them, and their scuffing friction against rock.
Not even a fucking hint of light. Sheer absolute unpenetrated darkness.
He reels Mace in by the hand like some desperate creature, grabbing onto what he can feel in the darkness - shirt, shoulder, side, tugging him in until they're pressed together chest to chest and clinging on like somehow it'll defend either of them. ]
Sh-sh-
[ Not shushing noises, but the start of the word she that never rounds out. Almost more of a z sound, teeth bared too hard to hit the proper s. ]
Her face, her fucking face- she's not here, she's gone? Is she gone?
[ He doesn't fucking know. He's not glowing. There is no hissing, no clicking no movement but theirs.
Silence. ]