Daud paused where he was, leaning against a brick wall and pressing a hand against the gaping wound on his torso. His lifestyle often forced him into dangerous situations, and injuries weren’t uncommon. He carefully watched the physician who stood adjacent, a cold caution wavering in the assassins gaze.“No disrespect, doctor- But I suggest you develop a bit of judgement and back off.” Daud said curtly, too stubborn to accept help.
five times kissed ( xamputationandratplaguesx ) [hA I need to stop but these memes fuel my headcanon fire]
He didn't hate the woman. Actually, he didn't care one way or another about her. Sybil could as easily die as she could live well into old age and the difference it would make to him was minimal. At best. Still, there she was, once again waiting for him to answer her. The Outsider shook his head. The motion lacking the fondness it held when he did it about his marked. He leaned forward, pressing his lips to her forehead. It was less an affectionate gesture and more one of pity. Oh you poor little ant.
"You do not belong here." The young man whispered under his breath. She'd slipped into the party. Or, just as likely it seemed, she had fallen in while off climbing buildings and jumping roofs. Just was standing to play it off as purposeful. "Neither do you." She hissed back. He laughed with the smallest hint of distant humor. Bowed low and kissed the back of her hand. No one at the party seemed to realize there were two more guests than there should be. It was just as well.
He felt a tingle on his spine. She was doing it again. Humans did odd things in mourning. Her sister was gone and no amount of sentimentality would bring her back. No amount of pressing her lips to that charm made from vertebrae would change the fate of the departed Cecily. Yet she did it frequently and he had little choice but to feel the action every time.
The boy she loved was not a man of the sea. He'd known men of the sea. He'd watched them and sailed out with them. The boy had a love perhaps of those great expanses, or a need to go off for months at a time and hope to return richer for it. It was no matter. The boy barely mattered. She mattered only marginally more. He could see two courses for her. One ending with her fathers work, a doctor. The other, bleeding from the eyes. He whispered in the ear of the boy at night. Told him to kiss the girl while she was there to be kissed. Before the sea rose up to meet him.
Blood dripped from her eyes. It was fitting somehow. All the work she'd done for those with the plague only to find herself in their position. With no one around left to mourn. The Outsider pressed his cold lips to her forehead. There were more interesting things to do than ease the pain of one weeper. Yet here he was. "Rest." It was an order spoken for the void that lingered on her bones. The eternity which resided in all things. With her bones no longer humming, all the rest of her should be soon to follow.
"Just let him take me." ( xamputationandratplaguesx )
"Sybil?" Pulling at the woman's wrist, Arabella tried to peer into her face. It was hard to be the barrier between weepers and heretics alike but she would not leave her defenceless.
"No. I'm not leaving you to danger, I promised I'd clear the area and that is what I'll do."
✿ ( xamputationandratplaguesx ) [Probs too late, but it's Friday and I'm feeling a bit chaotic]
20: upside down kiss
Sibyl was known for recklessness. She was brilliant, perhaps. But reckless and foolhardy. The woman was not interesting enough to be worth bestowing powers to. She was, however, interesting enough to see in person, as it were, now and again.
He crossed his arms over his chest. Expression ever that near-blank, voice ever that near-monotone.
"How did you get there, Sibyl?"
The woman was hanging, upside down, from a metal grate. Trapped it would seem by the wiring from whatever machine the City Watch had constructed nearby. The scowl she gave him was more amusing than even her predicament.
"I expect you will get yourself down before someone finds you like that. It would be a pity to be sent to Coldridge over what may have been an accident."
Sibyl opened her mouth to say something. No doubt to shout something. He cut her off. Cold lips pressed to hers in the briefest of touches before he vanished. Humans put so much meaning into such silly things and a kiss could confuse and frustrate a person far more than it ought to. Sibyl was entertaining when she was frustrated.
"This was never a story that would have a happy outcome." - ( xamputationandratplaguesx )
The Outsider didn't acknowledge the sentiment. No stories ended happy. Similarly, no stories ended sad. Both were concepts that in truth had no finite meaning. Tragedy and comedy both were affected by time, how close the human was to the situation and by the culture in which any given story was presented.
The Rat Plague could as easily be a source of great entertainment as it was now a painful reality. Separation from the moment could change that with ease. If the sick now were dead a century, the city falling into chaos and ruin, those who inhabited this place after would see no sadness in these deaths. With Dunwall dying, no new civilization could take its place. Without its demise it would last many more centuries with great innovation coming forth from them. Both were happy endings.
A twitch of a smile touched his lips and he was gone. Let her worry about her own immediate future. Let her lament to someone who cared to change the course the city was on. He had better things to do.
They were going into the sewers. Seeking refuge from the world that had hurt them. Often, already beyond repair. Some came earlier. Before the blood in their eyes. To live out the tiny ruminants of their lives without being thrown into quarantine. To hope for a better day.
No better day was coming. Not for most.
He walked in the tunnels unafraid. Young men without the rat plague should have been frightened of the weepers and the thieves. He had nothing to fear from either.
Arbitrarily, he paused now and again. Some people sought comfort in his presence. Some death in his black eyes. One, a favor. It was not so grand as it might have been. Many others had asked for much more.
"Are you certain? This may very well change more than you imagine."
The girl would say yes. And he'd do what she asked. The consequences of choice were always entertaining.
