heya Onyx you're gay
could I get me some Casphardt with the “Hold my hand, okay? It’s gonna be over soon.” prompt? Caspar and Linny deserve everything, especially when together (aka 99% of the time)
whuff
metty you know how to treat a guy
word count: 675 warnings: gore, death
"LINHARDT!"
He was pulled from his heal spell by the shriek, piercing through even the shrill clash of metal and explosions from Meteor. He looked around until he spotted Bernadetta, a few hundred feet away and looking around wildly. She wasn't on her horse, but was instead crouched over someone, holding them up.
Linhardt stood, activating Physic and directing the tendrils to the figure in her arms. He tried for a pulse, swallowing thickly when he realized just how irregularly the figure's heart was beating, and just how similar the current underneath it was to Caspar's.
He broke into a run as he felt the pulse falter, even with Physic activated. Bernadetta screamed for him again, but everything felt as though it was underwater when he realized who was collapsed in Bernadetta's arms, fighting valiantly through the pain.
Linhardt collapsed next to them, switching to heal immediately and pressing his hands to the wound in the center of Caspars stomach. Based on the pool of blood beneath them, a lance had left a rather nasty wound.
"Bernadetta," Linhardt said, and only then did he realize just how shaky his voice was, "go get Hanneman."
"But–"
"Go."
She eased Caspar to the ground before mounting her horse yet again, and Linhardt turned his full attention to Caspar, whose eyes were closed but pulse was getting steadier (or was he just telling himself that to make him feel better?).
There was so much blood on his hands, he realized as he pressed harder, urged more magic into the wound, tried to heal the ruptured stomach and perforated intestines. But Heal was not a strong enough spell, and nor was Physic, even if you were as accomplished as he was. Hanneman knew Recover, but how far away was he, why hadn't Linhardt learned Recover–
"Lin?"
Linhardt gasped at the weak voice, concentration wavering as he looked at Caspar's face. "Don't–don't move, Caspar, you're not–"
"It's okay, Lin," Caspar said, and he laughed until the pain cut him off abruptly.
"It's not," Linhardt said, and dully he realized that he was crying, tears streaming down his face as he stared his childhood friend–his lover–in the eye. "It's–you're–"
"Hold my hand, okay?" Caspar said, and no, no, his voice was getting weaker, his voice couldn't be getting weaker. Linhardt did what Caspar asked, because of course he did, he could never say no to him, but he redoubled his efforts and poured every ounce of healing magic he could through his other hand. "It's gonna be over soon."
"No, it's not," Linhardt said forcefully, roughly. "You aren't going to die on me, Caspar, you can't die on me."
He didn't have to look up to know that Caspar was smiling.
"You're... you're too late, Lin," Caspar said, and no, no, no, he was losing him. His pulse was wavering again, and his voice was so much weaker, and Goddes, all he could see was deep, awful red and the beautiful bright blue of Caspar's eyes and hair.
"No, I'm not, I can't be," Linhardt said, desperation leaking through as a sob tore its way out of his chest. "You can't die on me, Caspar, you can't–"
"I love you, Linhardt," Caspar said, and Linhardt sobbed harder. "I don't think I said it enough."
"So live, dammit!" Linhardt yelled, starting the spell anew. "Live, so you can tell me until I get sick of it! Caspar!"
But Linhardt was too late. And he knew he was too late, as he watched Caspar's eyes slip closed and felt his pulse slip away, even as Linhardt poured more and more magic into his body.
By the time Hanneman arrived, aided by Manuela's Warp, Caspar was gone, Linhardt curled over his body, sobbing harder than anyone had ever seen.
"He taught me to heal," he'd whisper to Dorothea later on, when the blood was cleaned from his hands and his robes and he was sat in a chair with a cup of tea thrust into his hands. "And I... I couldn't pay him back."