Since reading that ask about Chloe where you linked Sara Z videos, I wanted to ask, if you'd be willing to share, what you plan for Chloé in your rewrite of the show. I'm not asking if you "think she should be redeemed" bc that is a child in a cartoon lol-but I mean to ask how you'd write, well, whatever happens in her story. Growth or not or a roller coaster of ups and downs.
Overall I really enjoyed your changes to the world and characters and I think about that version of Miraculous often. The scenes where Adrien tries to talk to Chloé about her behavior really stood out to me. I'm just curious to pick your brain a little lol.
(Post in question)
I am a total sucker for a good redemption arc. I like seeing people change for the better! However, just because I like a redemption arc doesn't mean that I'm going to throw one in for no reason. This is especially true for Chloé since redeeming Chloé is not something that you can do with ease. It eats up a lot of screen time because Chloé is not an easy character to redeem. She needs a lot of active attention. That's a problem because this isn't her story. It's Adrien and Marinette's, meaning that the only reason to redeem Chloé is if you want to tie her into one or both of their character arcs.*
That's why I don't blame anyone for ignoring Chloé or only hinting at redemption. Unless you're making her the main character or giving her a big role in the lead characters' story*, you really shouldn't redeem her. The show actively shows why! Felix, Sabrina, Nathalie, and Gabriel's "redemptions" all fall incredibly flat because those stories lacked substance. They needed a lot more screen time to work and a formula show is never going to be able to pull that off.
Now that I've given those disclaimers, let's talk about why I would absolutely take the time to redeem Chloé if the format allowed for that kind of story. The answer is quite simple: Adrien needs an arc focused around setting boundaries and learning that you can't live your life focused on making others happy. An arc where he learns how to decide when he wants to give someone a second chance and when he wants to give up on them. He also needs to learn that giving up on them is okay. That you can't set yourself on fire to keep others warm.
This arc cannot be about him and his father. Adrien is too young for that. The power balance is too stacked against him. He can't cut his father off at fifteen and the arc can't happen after the terrorist reveal makes cutting Gabriel off a possibility in spite of Adrien's youth. That's way too much way too fast. You need a less serious relationship to give this arc to so that it can take its time to be messy and complex. When you embrace the hinted at childhood friendship between Chloé and Adrien, she becomes the perfect fit for this kind of arc. A person who Adrien has equal power to and who he can muddle his way through things with, letting them both learn and grow into better people, setting the stage for Adrien to avoid completely falling apart when he learns the truth about his father. That's why Adrien so desperately needs an arc like this. His naive little sunshine self simply isn't ready to face the Gabriel reveal until he's done some major growing up.
Obviously you could use this setup to give Chloé a damnation arc, but as I said above, I'm a sucker for a good redemption. I want Chloé to be a better person and find happiness! There's also the fact that a damnation arc doesn't work as well as a redemption in this context. It's important for Adrien to be able to make the choice to give Chloé another chance and to have that choice be a struggle. Something he really has to work through. If he abandons Chloé and never looks back or welcomes her back without a second thought, then you're not setting him up to deal with the fallout of what's coming with his father. Chloé needs to feed like a proper proto Gabriel. You want her and Adrien's story to end in a way that makes you feel like he really is as ready as he could ever be to face his father.
It's also worth noting that, if Chloé really was Adrien's childhood friend, then she should have some sort of relationship with Gabriel and/or Emilie. She should know the Agreste's family dynamics way better than any of his new friends, which is another reason why I like redeeming her. I want Adrien to have someone who really gets it.
*If Miraculous was the kind of show where side characters consistently took center stage for a while, then Chloé being redeemed without a clear tie to the leads could work. It's a nice way to pad out the run time and is what I originally thought the show was doing with her. But Miraculous has no interest in giving anyone a proper story, not even the leads, so I'm still baffled by the choices the writers made with Chloé. I will never fully get what was going on there.
Ooohhhhh 👀 Loving this guard dog energy from Telford.
YESSS GUARD DOG ENERGY LET'S FUCKING GO!! 🥳
This post gets it. It's incredibly difficult to get under Telford's armour, but when you've managed it then you're there for life (whether you like it or not). You're his now 🥵
You've got more planned for Yielding???? 👀
Also gimmie Revan x Reader I love me some old republic 👌
Sadly no, that's just the original doc for Yielding XD I'm sorry!! But you know I've got more Crosshair lurking in the wings
YESSSS BABE I'LL GET YOU SOME REVAN GOODNESS
The bridge was dark, empty of crew, which was odd considering the ship was currently being boarded by the enemy.
You wouldn’t have seen it with your eyes, the light too dim and sporadic, but you sensed the presence, as old and familiar as a much-beloved blanket, though this one had grown strangling around your neck.
The dark robed figure waited, motionless, in front of the massive viewport. He’d been… expecting you? A small, hopeful voice tried to make itself heard, but you crushed it down before it could speak. You gathered your focus and calmed your emotions. There were too many to name, vying to be at the top, but there was only one that ruled the others.
Rage.
You unclipped your lightsaber from your belt.
“Hello, Master.”
You ignited the blade.
The hood of the figure slightly turned, its wearer moving his head in your direction, and words filtered through a mask, twisting the once familiar voice into something alien and cruel.
“Not the greeting I expected.”
You shifted on your feet, one sliding back as the other moved forward. Readying your position.
“But it is the one you deserve.”
He paused, another tilt of his head.
“Perhaps.”
You crept closer, blue lightsaber raised in a defensive position, watching for the snake to strike.
“By order of the Galactic Republic and the Jedi High Council, you will surrender yourself into my custody.”
“For what crimes?” he asked, amusement flitting at the edges.
“Treason,” you spit out, unable to keep your own tone anywhere near civil, rage bleeding into the words. “Sedition. Conspiracy to kidnap high-ranking officials, assassination of high-ranking senators, and war crimes against the galaxy.”
“That’s quite the list.”
You wanted to bare your teeth, but that would carry you forward to the action of biting.
“I’m not done. You will also be charged with the near complete genocide of the people of Telos IV.”
Finally, some emotion other than amusement.
“I did not order that bombardment.”
The slope of his shoulders were stiff against the constellations and battle outside, bursts of orange and yellow where lasers and torpedoes hit their targets.
“And yet, it was carried out in your name,” you said, voice low, the words simmering around the hum of your lightsaber as if the blade agreed. “For your glory. Don’t turn away from it now, Lord of the Sith.”
He still wouldn’t turn to look at you, as if unconcerned there was a lightsaber at his back, and his lofty words confirmed it.
“Where are the rest of my jailors?”
You bristled.
“They’re coming.”
In the distance was an explosion somewhere on the ship, and your old master tilted his head once again.
“Yes. I’m sure they’ll be here any moment.”
You leapt at him before you realized what you were doing and swung your lightsaber down.
A crimson lightsaber ignited and arched over his head, blade parallel to the ground, and he blocked your attack without even bothering to turn around.
You pulled back your blade and swung again, but he ducked under it, moving behind you as you spun. He brought his crimson weapon down and hit your blade so hard you were forced back against the cold transparisteel of the viewport.
The severe mask stared down at you from inches away, reflecting the blue and red dance of the locked lightsabers. Even after all your training since he left, Revan was still stronger than you. Faster. More experienced.
But he hadn’t been hurt the way you had. He didn’t have your pain.
The rage of his betrayal, the agony of his abandonment, the loss of your old mentor, you poured it all into your limbs, your strength, and with a scream in your throat, you shoved him back.
🍄 Are there any fandoms you've never written for but want to try?
Uhh, not me rolling in days later to answer a couple more of these. Um. Everything went a bit hectic there for a couple of days.
I have a couple of little Baldur's Gate scribbles in a notebook; if nothing else, I'd like to write them up as drabbles. I'm still in Mass Effect Mode, but I imagine I'll eventually get to Veilguard, and may have something to write there, too.
I'm also in the process of starting a new novel, so I guess I'm inventing a new fandom of one (1) (for the moment).
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Or under the cut:
The sun was a comfort on her skin as Teyla lay back in her chair, relaxing for the first time in what felt like ages, soaking in the warmth.
Weeks of rain and fog had shrouded Atlantis, her team's dour mood not helped by an overlong mission to P3S-403 where the town they visited was still held in the depths of winter. Returning to a break in the weather and warmer temperatures was most appreciated. Many of the city's residents had journeyed to the nearest section of the mainland to make the most of it.
Teyla shifted on the towel she'd spread over the chair John called a "deck chair" and let the balmy breeze carry the distant sounds of her teammates and fellow citizens of Atlantis past her. Ronon and John were having some sort of debate about surfing in between their actual surfing. Rodney was discussing, somewhat stridently, with Carson the potential venomous properties of a creature he'd found. Farther down the beach, Doctors Cole and Zelenka were talking and fishing, along with Major Lorne and Lieutenant Rivers. Teyla, Amelia, and Marie had been swimming earlier- Teyla amused by the Earth tradition of swimming while clothed in a bikini- and had now taken over a trio of the deck chairs that had been set out, relaxing after their exertion. Teyla was comfortable, by her hand was a drink Amelia called a tequila sunrise, and she was warm and drowsy.
The warmth shining down on her suddenly went cold and dark. Teyla cracked open an eye with a frown.
Todd was looming over her, scowling.
"You are blocking the sun," she informed him.
His scowl deepened. "If you do not control your expedition leader, I may be forced to take drastic action."
Teyla blinked. She was slightly intrigued, but not enough to actually get up from her comfortable seat. "That is not a good reason to block my sunlight," she retorted.
Todd grumbled under his breath but shifted to the side. Amelia made a sound of wordless protest, as he was now blocking the sun from reaching her. Teyla lowered her sunglasses to raise an eyebrow at Todd.
He snarled, softly, and dropped into a crouch beside her. He looked around, as if feeling hunted.
Teyla found herself now curious in spite of herself. "What is the problem with Mister Woolsey?"
"He is insisting that I accept a garland of foul-smelling leaves in recognition of the accord between our peoples."
Teyla had the garland of leaves and flowers that Woolsey had given her currently wound around her head. "Such as this?" she asked, touching her crown.
Todd narrowed his eyes and inhaled. "Yes," he admitted. "Though yours does not smell quite so terrible." The sensory pits near his nose fluttered. "The scent is actually not unpleasant when combined with your own."
Teyla smirked. "So complimentary. He must have you quite unsettled."
Todd scowled at her grumpily, and ducked down further behind her chair as Mister Woolsey walked past them and down to an area where several people were grilling and cooking.
Teyla rolled her eyes. "There is a very simple way to get him to stop," she observed.
"And what is that?" Todd asked haughtily.
"To accept the garland from him of course. Perhaps then he would leave you alone."
Todd made a desperate, wounded sound deep in his throat.
Teyla sat up, no longer able to relax. "You wouldn't have to keep it if it smells so terrible," she observed.
Todd sighed. He was sitting on the ground behind her chair now, as deep in shadow as he could get. His eyes were narrowed as he peered up at her. "I could not accept such a token and then discard it." He looked away, uneasy, as if the confession revealed more than he wished.
Teyla softened. “Come then.” She stood from her chair and knotted the towel around her waist, its thin material wafting around her legs like a skirt. She took her drink in her hand and walked past the chairs, making her way along the rocky ridge where they had been soaking in the sun and up to a path that led under the cover of nearby trees.
Todd followed her eagerly, and when her bare feet stepping on broken branches and seed pods from the trees made her hiss and stumble, he offered his left hand to help her balance.
She didn’t thank him, but said, “The trail opens up again further ahead.” And even as she spoke the rocky trail they followed became covered with loose sand. The trees to their right were only small specimens now, their roots twisting through the sand as the ground in that direction sloped away down to the water in a long smooth line. Teyla's feet sank into the sand; it was hot on the top, where the sun hit, but cooler and moist underneath when she dug her feet in.
The trail continued along the high rocky ridge, but below them the sandy slope led to a small cove, and Teyla made her way down the side of the dune to where the sand was level on the water's shoreline. The sand here, and the rolling in of the waves, was undisturbed by any others, and only the distant sight of surfers and swimmers, and the occasional shouts from her friends and coworkers, prevented the cove from being entirely private.
Teyla arranged her towel-skirt beneath her and sat down, sipping her drink. "I hope you did not get too much sand in your boots descending the dune," she said with more amusement than sympathy to Todd.
He hummed thoughtfully, pulling off one boot and tipping it upside down to pour out what was definitely a large amount of sand. "Your plea appears to have been ignored," he observed.
Teyla laughed. "You are not exactly dressed to enjoy a day at the beach. Why did you come?"
His eyes rested on her. "Because you invited me." He cocked his head. "Why did you invite me?"
"To see if you would come," she admitted. "And here you are." She looked at him levelly, her sunglasses sliding down her nose so that she could look at him over the top of their dark lenses.
"Well, my queen commanded my presence." He smirked. "How could I do anything other than attend her whim?"
Teyla snorted.
Todd's smirk spread, and he sat down beside her in the sand.
"That will not help prevent you from getting sand in your boots," Teyla warned him.
"It seems an attempt to separate the sand from my person is doomed," Todd replied. He gazed back at her, amused despite any discomfort.
"I don't suppose Wraith have beach clothes," Teyla observed.
Todd huffed and said wryly, "That would be accurate." He rubbed rough grains of sand between the pads of his fingers sadly. "Though it is unfortunate as well. Our normal attire does not do well in such an environment."
Teyla leaned back on one arm, braced behind her against the sand, and held her drink in her other hand, rolling the ice inside so that it clicked against the sides of the glass. "You could adopt a popular tradition and wear nothing at all," she suggested.
Todd drew himself up as if offended at the suggestion, but his smile grew sly and he leaned back on his left hand, mirroring Teyla's posture. "Would that please you?"
"Me?" Teyla held her drink against her cheek, her skin feeling quite warm against the glass's icy surface. "We were discussing your comfort."
"I am quite comfortable," he replied, grinning at her.
"Oh? Well, if we’ve exhausted that topic and there’s nothing else to discuss, maybe it's time for a swim." She raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you planning on swimming?"
"I'll have you know Wraith are excellent swimmers."
"I am certain," Teyla replied with false sincerity. "Though I feel that that your normal aura of threat would be difficult for you to maintain with your apparel sopping wet and squeaking with every step."
Todd threw back his head and laughed. "What is it you say, touché? I will concede your point. As you've won, I suppose I must divest myself of an article of clothing?"
I believe you are thinking of poker," Teyla observed.
"Am I?" Todd affected surprise. "Hmm. So, then you agree I don't owe you a forfeit?"
"I didn't say that." Teyla's eyes shone. "Perhaps you should double the forfeit, as you confused the stakes."
Todd laid a hand to his chest as if wounded by her remark. "I? Confused? I am quite certain that it was you who mentioned the wrong game."
Teyla blinked in surprise. "Are you suggesting I should be the one to take off my clothes?"
"If that is what you wish, my queen," Todd agreed eagerly.
Stymied, Teyla set her drink on the ground. She stood up, her skirt clutched around her. Then she released the material and it fluttered to the ground. "I am going swimming," she stated.
"As you say, my queen." Todd cocked his head. "Though, surely it is dangerous to swim alone."
It's dangerous to swim with Wraith," she retorted. "Especially one who will not admit when they have lost."
Very well." Todd pulled off his other boot, wiggling his toes in the sand while making a face. He stood, undoing his coat as he moved to let it fall from his arms. He had a sleeveless shirt of a thin material that he wore under it; Teyla was certainly not watching the way it clung to his muscles. He continued, pulling the shirt over his head and pulling his long legs free of his long, tight leather pants, under which he wore nothing at all.
"Am I now properly attired for swimming?" he asked her innocently, then affected a deep concern. "Though I heard one of the others mention sunburn and I wondered if I should be concerned. I have not bared so much skin in a long time."
Teyla took off her sunglasses, tossing them down on her towel, and then looked him up and down. Mostly down. She met his eyes. "It's not that much," she assured him. "I wouldn't worry."
Todd laughed easily again. He moved past her and into the water first, moving like a creature entirely comfortable with that environment.
Teyla huffed a small sigh of annoyance to hide her smile and focused on swimming. The water was warmer near the beach where it was only as shallow as her ankles, but quickly became cold when it was deep enough to swim in. She swam out to the mouth of the cove, about 200 yards, to where she could see the surfers quite well beyond the outcropping that set apart this cove. She paused there and her feet, treading under the water, struck sand. She set both feet down and found herself standing on a sandbar, the water only coming up to her collarbone.
She'd seen no sign of Todd since entering the water, but, once she stopped, he surfaced near her. The droplets of water on his skin caught the sunlight, shining like jewels. He turned toward her grinning.
"Are you enjoying your swim?" he purred, the sound warming her in a way that should not have been possible.
"The view was excellent, until recently," she replied.
He caught the amusement in her expression and his grin widened in response. He lifted his hands out of the water to display a fistful of shells of a familiar bivalve in his left hand. "I have heard these are quite tasty."
Teyla reached out to take them from him, examining the shells.
Todd stood up on the sand bar, looming over her as he stepped close. His eyes flashed, without any aid from the sunlight. "It is said they are prized for their amorous properties." He grinned.
Teyla handed the shells back to him. His smile faded, though he did not let any true disappointment show.
"Take them back to the beach," Teyla said. "We can eat them there." She met his eyes, then looked away as if indifferent. "I would like to enjoy them while finishing my drink."
He grinned again. "Yes, my queen." The words were teasing, but his manner was eager. He dove back into the water and swam a circle around her before vanishing into the darkness of the ocean.
When he couldn't see, Teyla smirked. She dove back into the water as well, headed for the beach.
Now that I have some context of the SGU characters lol-
Venessa James + Chole Armstrong (I like a little dash of contempt in my ships what can I say)
Nicholas Rush vs Everette Young (you might have talked about this match up in the past but I certainly didn't understand and I'm so curious now who you think would win in whatever you think a all-bets off fight would look like)
Tamara Johansen + Varro (Curious to know what you thought of this ship that hit the ground running)
Thank you for the ask @annwayne ❤️️
I'll be honest, I think James and Chloe are the last two characters I'd put together romantically 😂 Maybe on Eden after Chloe's married Scott and James has got together with Varro, some of the residual resentment between them would fade and allow them to become friends? They'd certainly be forced to interact in such a small stationary community, where I hope the old-fashioned style of 'It takes a village' with everyone raising everyone else's kids would become commonplace, but what situation do I think they'd have to be put in for them to become sexually and/or romantically involved…?
Perhaps they're still on Destiny, Scott dies, and so they start spending time together and bond over their shared grief? Compatibility wise though? I really think they'd struggle lmao. There are 0 fics for them on AO3 that I can find, but if you were to give writing them a go I would 100% read! ❤️️
As for TJ and Varro, hell yes they make a super cute couple! It'd be good for TJ to move on from Young and be with someone who actually… I was going to say 'respects' but I don't think that's entirely fair to Young. He does respect her - he just also has a lot of baked-in misogyny to work through. Varro - having come from a completely different society - hopefully doesn't.
Having said that, I've spoken in the past about how interesting I find it that Varro instantly gravitates first towards the highest ranking military woman in TJ, and then on Eden when Young "gets there first" he instantly turns his attention to the second highest ranking military woman in James. Now, this could have an entirely innocent reason: the Lucian Alliance are a people born of war, and therefore that would affect what traits they find attractive in prospective partners. As we see from Kiva's treatment of Rush and Dannic's treatment of Ginn, the scientific caste are low down on the pecking order, and it's the physically dominant soldiers who are on top. So military = strength = attractive.
The other possibility leads on from military = strength but goes in a slightly different direction with the headcanon that due to all the infighting amongst the Lucian houses, defeated houses are often absorbed into their conqueror's. When that happens, it would be very important for the newcomers to put themselves in the strongest position possible. That could be done by presenting invaluable skills (Ginn with her understanding of Ancient tech and Tasia with her tracking and hunting), but there also exists the possibility of securing yourself a safe position through 'networking'. In this instance, Varro would be identifying the women who are highest in the Tau'ri hierarchy and ingratiating himself to them in the hopes of gaining their protection.
I want to be clear that while this would obviously be dishonest, I'm not blaming him for wanting to, ya know, survive, and neither am I saying this means he's obviously faking his feelings or operating purely on a manipulative level. He seems like a decent guy, and I wish we'd got more screen time for the other Alliance members and their absorption into Destiny's closed societal structure. I want parts of Lucian life to survive the transition, where they could teach the other crewmembers valuable survival skills: hunting, fishing, basket weaving, patching the Tau'ri clothes with leather. It was a crime that they were all used as red-shirts during The Hunt. I'm a sucker for sociology and we could have got so much good stuff out of them by tracking their integration! 😔
Rush vs. Young you say? 👀 Love me some sweaty bloody men rolling around in the dirt trying to kill each other! 👍 Unfortunately, as far as the winner of that contest goes, I feel like the answer's a pretty straightforward Young. There's only so far Rush can get with his scrappy grew-up-on-the-streets-of-Glasgow fighting style before Young's military training and greater physical strength would win out. If you matched them against each other a 100 times there'd of course be a few flukes, but whenever the fic I'm reading has Rush beating Young fair and square I have to suspend my illusion of disbelief a little haha
That being said, I do think the military training would beat out Young's body's superior strength. A wonderful SGU fic series I can't recommend enough is Stepping Stones by @galadhir and @seekingidlewild The stones malfunction and Rush and Young end up in each other's bodies with just as many delightful results as you're probably imagining, including a fight where Young adapts to piloting Rush's slighter frame and, in Rush's words, 'takes on a fighting style similar to James'.
Thanks for the tag, @annwayne! 😄 My words are capture, sky, abandon, and sound.
Tagging: @fortunatetragedy @wolgerrswraith @sentfromwolves @etoilesombre @the-golden-comet to find the words option, confine, drain, and attack in your WIPs!
Capture - i am a prisoner just like you 2x04 Pathogen (SGU - Vampire AU)
He backed off quickly. Too quickly as it turned out, his weakened state making him dizzy enough to overbalance, glad for a moment there wasn't actually anyone else here to see him fall on his ass.
There was a chittering from the assembled aliens, but it didn't sound as if they were laughing at him. In fact, one of them stepped forwards and crouched, just like Scott had done to offer the one they'd captured food. Telford couldn't tell if the alien in front of him was the same one - they all looked the same to him.
It reached out a hand, feather-floating slow, long spindly fingers extending forwards, though it stopped short of touching him. Feeling as if he was in E.T. - or possibly some fancy religious painting - Telford mirrored the movement. His first impression was that the alien's skin was quite brittle - easy to snap, his mind supplied. His second was an image of himself overlaid in his vision, looking weak and shaky and out of it and he snatched his hand back, berating himself viciously. He'd already decided they communicated telepathically. What the hell was he doing letting one of them touch him?!
Sky - Aliens made them do it (SGU)
A blue sky coalesced in his vision, blurry and too bright by far, causing his eyes to immediately begin to water. In contrast his throat was so dry it hurt to breathe. It took far too much effort to turn his head to the side, a dull pounding permeating his skull as the unconscious form of Colonel Young swam into view. Rush had seen the man in some pretty terrible states - bruised and bloody, exhausted and driven half insane by Destiny's simulations - but he'd never been this pale before, his lips cracked to the point of bleeding from a lack of moisture.
"Colonel?" His voice was barely audible, scratchy and cardboard stiff.
Abandon - Skirting The Vague Outline Of A Boundary (SGA)
Sheppard allowed his head to fall backwards until it was cushioned on the edge of the bed, wondering how close he was to losing his sanity for good.
"So..." Rodney prodded. "Cuddling?"
Pretty damn close, as it turned out.
"Why?" he asked, resisting the urge to pull the pillow he was using as an armrest in front of his body to use as a makeshift shield.
"Ummm... Why cuddle? Well..." Rodney scratched his chin in the same manner as he did when slaving over the ZPMs. "Warm. Big plus. Nice. If it's with the right person. Comfortable, relaxing, again only if it's with the right person. You can't just start cuddling with random people and expect it to go well, you know? Imagine if one day I just walked into the lab and hugged Zelenka."
Sheppard snorted. "He'd think you'd finally lost it."
"Or that I was dying... He always thinks I'm dying if I'm nice to him."
"That's because you usually are," Sheppard teased. The further they moved away from the Kissing Incident the less panicked he became. Maybe they could just ignore it and pretend it had never happened, like Rodney had said. Sheppard was very good at pretending.
"I think he's got some issues in that regard," Rodney announced snippily. "Abandonment maybe. Touch starved."
Sound - Your Own Worst Enemy (SGU)
"Do you ever think about what they did to me?" David asks suddenly.
Young is so caught off guard that he answers even though the correct social response is silence, "Yes. All the time."
David nods, a single jerk of his head. The man's never brought this subject up before, even though Young knows he must have been grilled about it by the shrinks back home. He wonders if he should have asked - about the Alliance, about being undercover for so long, about why David had been caught, what had happened after - but it's an unwritten military rule that you don't mention those sorts of things - torture, injuries, loss of fellows in battle - unless the person to have suffered through it brings it up first.
"I think…" David says slowly, as if the words don't come easy, "It would have been better to kill me."
Young inhales sharply. "Don't say that." He means for the words to sound sure and convincing. What he gets instead is pleading, trying to dress itself up as insistence.
"It would have been kinder. Instead you left me like this." David sounds very far away. "And now it's happening again."
