𝕲𝙤͟𝙡͟𝙙͟𝙚͟𝙣͟ 𝖂𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 ˎˊ˗

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤthe s͟e͟c͟o͟n͟d͟ i lay eyes on 𝔂𝓸𝓾, @ISOLATlNG,
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤall my 𝙬𝙞𝙩 and 𝐩𝐨𝐞𝐭'𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 are g͟o͟n͟e͟.

[𝕲𝙤͟𝙡͟𝙙͟𝙚͟𝙣͟ 𝖂𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 ˎˊ˗ @goIdndear]

https://t.co/k0M1hxA87m

[𝕲𝙤͟𝙡͟𝙙͟𝙚͟𝙣͟ 𝖂𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 ˎˊ˗ @goIdndear]

@ISOLATlNG / i had to

[𝕲𝙤͟𝙡͟𝙙͟𝙚͟𝙣͟ 𝖂𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 ˎˊ˗ @goIdndear]

There’s a soft sigh, his voice quiet, fragile. “Please.”

[𝕲𝙤͟𝙡͟𝙙͟𝙚͟𝙣͟ 𝖂𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 ˎˊ˗ @goIdndear]

managed to give to Dimitri before, that for a split second had been extinguished in himself.

“Guess who stopped by to visit today? More of your old friends from the blue lions. They took their time to get here, but you could tell they’d rushed as fast as they could as long as

[𝕲𝙤͟𝙡͟𝙙͟𝙚͟𝙣͟ 𝖂𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 ˎˊ˗ @goIdndear]

they’d gotten word.”

His thumb is idly drawing circles against Dimitri’s hand, the action so common now it’s done as thoughtlessly as breathing.

“They’re all waiting on baited breath for you to wake up, we all are. And I know, any minute now, you will.”

[𝕲𝙤͟𝙡͟𝙙͟𝙚͟𝙣͟ 𝖂𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 ˎˊ˗ @goIdndear]

waiting for him to wake up.”

Claude nods his head, fingers squeezing tighter around Dimitri’s hand. “He’ll wake up. He will.”

And that is how Claude remained now, in vigil, days later hoping for Dimitri to stir. When he speaks now it’s quieter, filled with the very hope he’d

[𝕲𝙤͟𝙡͟𝙙͟𝙚͟𝙣͟ 𝖂𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 ˎˊ˗ @goIdndear]

“He’s not awake?”

He manages to rasp out. He needs water, but he has no will in him to grab it right now.

“No.” Comes the sullen, apologetic, reply. If Claude were in sounder of mind, he’d probably tell her she didn’t need to be, but no words are conjured up.

“We’re….

[𝕲𝙤͟𝙡͟𝙙͟𝙚͟𝙣͟ 𝖂𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 ˎˊ˗ @goIdndear]

A cruel trick of the mind that would be, but after the second, the third, he couldn’t help but need to confirm.

A hand rests against the other man’s chest, feels the shallow rise and the limb begins to shake, tremble. The footsteps behind him go unnoticed once more as he focuses

[𝕲𝙤͟𝙡͟𝙙͟𝙚͟𝙣͟ 𝖂𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 ˎˊ˗ @goIdndear]

on the steady rise and fall, he can feel against his palm.

“H-He’s okay….” Comes the timid voice from behind him. Somewhere his mind supplies it’s familiar, Marianne. The external confirmation has tears welling up once more in his eyes, body sagging now it's safe.

[𝕲𝙤͟𝙡͟𝙙͟𝙚͟𝙣͟ 𝖂𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 ˎˊ˗ @goIdndear]

his rush, to its bedside.

The hand that’s promptly taken into his own doesn’t feel as cold as he remembers. A corpse is meant to hold the ice of death and yet. He rubs at his eyes, thinking they’re playing a trick on him the first time he spots a shift in the beast’s chest.

[𝕲𝙤͟𝙡͟𝙙͟𝙚͟𝙣͟ 𝖂𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 ˎˊ˗ @goIdndear]

find the hidden pocket where a dagger is usually stored, just in case.

As he stumbles into standing, he catches sight of a blonde head of hair, laid in a bed adjacent to him. The panic subsides only slightly, his path altered accordingly as he stumbles with uncoordinated feet in

[𝕲𝙤͟𝙡͟𝙙͟𝙚͟𝙣͟ 𝖂𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 ˎˊ˗ @goIdndear]

from the battlefield he’d just vividly felt himself in.

There are sheets pooled in his chest, his eyes felt dry and raw, and his throat similarly. His head turns frantically for the immediate exit points, assessing the safety of the room while a hand pats at his calf to try and

[𝕲𝙤͟𝙡͟𝙙͟𝙚͟𝙣͟ 𝖂𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 ˎˊ˗ @goIdndear]

With the last of his strength, he reaches out an unsteady, blood soaked, hand. His fingers grasp at nothing but the air, as hollow as he feels. His hand falls limp, and when he expects for his hand to simply fall, it hits something unexpectedly soft.

[𝕲𝙤͟𝙡͟𝙙͟𝙚͟𝙣͟ 𝖂𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 ˎˊ˗ @goIdndear]

His eyes blink opens in a start, surprised. His other fist lifts, clutching his head as it swims in the rush of the movement that leaves stars in his eyes. The room starts to shift into motion and there’s an uncomfortable churning in his stomach as it’s so jarringly different

[𝕲𝙤͟𝙡͟𝙙͟𝙚͟𝙣͟ 𝖂𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 ˎˊ˗ @goIdndear]

more fatigued, as the adrenaline surge crashes.

The last thing he remembers as the vision in his eyes grows dark and his body grows limp is the figure of the only man he’s ever loved splayed out on the wet, blood soaked, dirt.

[𝕲𝙤͟𝙡͟𝙙͟𝙚͟𝙣͟ 𝖂𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 ˎˊ˗ @goIdndear]

It all happened so fast. The rush of emotions and adrenaline a tidal wave that had crashed and engulfed Claude whole.

Trembling hands had gripped a form as cold and still as a Fhirdiad river. It was a corpse, devoid of life or breath or spirit, that laid within the golden deer’s

[‎ ‎ ‎ ‎𝖊𝖝𝖎𝖑𝖊𝖉. @ISOLATlNG]

Death, his father has described before his own untimely end, was nothing more than a sleep one would never awaken from. It is to be a peaceful rest of the soul, with funerals meant to acknowledge the departed's life by the living. When Lambert had died, did he too, have regrets?

[𝕲𝙤͟𝙡͟𝙙͟𝙚͟𝙣͟ 𝖂𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 ˎˊ˗ @goIdndear]

even as the light in his vision swims. His body is exhausted, even if his mind is reeling in a far more illogical and frantic way than he usually preferred to conduct himself. He’s tiring himself further as he tries to escape Raphael’s hold, though Claude’s actions grow sloppier,

[𝕲𝙤͟𝙡͟𝙙͟𝙚͟𝙣͟ 𝖂𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 ˎˊ˗ @goIdndear]

wishes. Hunched over the body, knuckles white in the firmness of his grasp, it takes only Raphael an arm to pull Claude back enough that Marianne can move in his place and perform her healing with assured safety and proper space.

Claude’s hands pull at the firm grasp in protest,

[𝕲𝙤͟𝙡͟𝙙͟𝙚͟𝙣͟ 𝖂𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 ˎˊ˗ @goIdndear]

a side of Claude that no one had ever seen, nor one he would carelessly show the world. All except for one, at least.

The brunette is uncooperative. Deaf to their attempts to placate him as the only thing he can focus on is remaining by Dimitri’s side, in honor of his last

[𝕲𝙤͟𝙡͟𝙙͟𝙚͟𝙣͟ 𝖂𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 ˎˊ˗ @goIdndear]

with a sense of urgency that seldom anyone has seen from the golden deer leader. “𝘏𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺.” The phrases continue to utter from his lips as more of the golden deer reinforcements arrive.

It’s a sorrowful site to the members of the alliance;

[𝕲𝙤͟𝙡͟𝙙͟𝙚͟𝙣͟ 𝖂𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 ˎˊ˗ @goIdndear]

inhibition. His sense of awareness, his universe, tunnel visioned so drastically that uncharacteristically lashes out. A gentle, yet hesitant, hand on his shoulder has him hugging the corpse closer to his chest while an arm swings out.

“I need to stay.” It’s mumbled, hoarse and

[𝕲𝙤͟𝙡͟𝙙͟𝙚͟𝙣͟ 𝖂𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 ˎˊ˗ @goIdndear]

Each word grew hoarser as his hold grew more panicked. A hand slapping at the beast’s face, once, twice – a third then a fourth. It’s all a fallacious attempt to try and rouse the body now left empty.

His vision is swimming, details unclear as they shed once again without