Charles Rowland and Edwin Payne (Despair AU)
Charles can't help himself. He steps forward, despite Edwin's protests, his glare, the fire that begins to spontaneously lick its way up Edwin's arms, and pulls Edwin into a hug. "God, mate," Charles says, burying his face in the crook between Edwin's shoulder and neck, feeling Edwin's tight posture and the iron-hard tension in his spine through his suit, wishing more than anything that he could bring relief to Edwin's soul, "I should have been here with you. You didn't have to save my soul like that."
"I didn't save your soul," Edwin says, and for the first time, his voice cracks. "I claimed it." Some shiver runs through Charles' soul at that, but it is not an afraid one. It almost feels like excitement, like relief, like love. "You are mine, I'm afraid, and I am deeply sorry for it-"
"Don't be," Charles says, all ferocity, because the hellfire should be burning him but all he has ever felt is warm in Edwin Payne’s arms. "I'm yours. I have been since the moment we left that attic. Hell, I probably was yours before that, from the moment you handed me that lantern."
-aletterinthenameofsanity, you go down just like holy mary on a cross
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