#aether who got too attached to that world and its people: no you wont.

[viaetor]

❝ would you forgive me if i died? ❞ (from Kaeya)

ARABIC POETRY INSPIRED MEMES / accepting! / @galactia

ㅤㅤa loud silence fills the room, dooming it thick to the touch and thought. as they both stand facing the ruined door of the final abyss, he knows he means it; aether can tell despite the o-so rehearsed grin the other wears in his russet mouth. if only for a moment, he could swear he saw his hands shaking—if from the sheer cold that haunted their every breath or from nervousness, it was hard to tell. it only lasted a moment… yet his inquiry echoed through archaic limestones incessantly. 

ㅤㅤhow many times has the traveller seen this play out, a man getting ready to walk his last? how many soldiers hid their pains and longings, burying those feelings alongside themselves, leaving letters left unread by the cowardice of the living? how many times did he fake a smile, saying they needed not to worry and that they would all return unscratched, only for their hopes to be the last remains to carry home? too many. far too many. probably more than he should’ve had despite the thousands of years weighing down his shoulders. he wasn’t proud of that. 

ㅤㅤdainsleif and the others were right; time could be a curse. so they remained with eyes locked as if studying one another until aether broke contact first. he stared down at his sword, remembering lives lost and saved because of it. perhaps he should’ve treated kaeya as a pawn. in earlier years, back when he knew not about camaraderie, love and respect, perhaps that’s what he would’ve done. just another person in his life, simply a vague memory of a man he called a cohort in arms at one point in his long existence… wasn’t this the way of the universe, after all? what is a mortal friendship to someone who knows not the fear of death? but his dark circles were burning him tired and his heart sank at the thought. even soldiers (from armies of freedom or from the skies) knew that the price sometimes got too high. he had gotten attached. to him, to that planet, to that war. what a dangerous, exquisite thing.

ㅤㅤ“the end comes to us all”, nonchalant is how summer-like voice began, even if he frowned shortly after. “but…” a step is taken, and a gloved hand takes the cryo user’s shirt with a fist, bringing his face close to his to the point their condensed breath mingled in one huff. “i will not be the one to hasten it for us both. and neither should you, cavalry captain. don’t you have amends to make?” it could’ve been a joke. aether would prefer for it to be a poorly made jest—a tease of some sort, to ease the tension before the decisive battle. but words are better left said than kept within one’s core to wither it.

ㅤㅤ“so no, kaeya—i won’t forgive you. not yet. now, en garde. we have a battle to fight.” he would make sure the other would watch in the mirror his hair getting greyer by the years. no matter what.