WHO: Felix, assorted Grey Wardens, and some concerned friends. WHAT: Felix Alexius is too cute to die. WHEN: Nowish. WHERE: Felix's room and the hallway outside it. NOTES: Broken into pieces, with starters in the comments.
It wasn't like the Joining she remembered, her own being the only one that Sabriel had attended, until now. There was no making Felix stand, weak as he was, and so with a hint of required solemnity had gathered around the bed. There were no darkspawn to kill today in order to fill the chalice, but there were words to be said before they began. Hence the solemnity.
"These words have been spoken since the first."
She glances to Felix - reassurance, apology, she isn't sure which - and then turns her gaze away, vacant, her posture as still as a statue. Maybe it will be for naught, but they will do it right.
"...Join us in the shadows where we stand vigilant. Join us as we carry the duty that can not be forsworn."
He'd overseen many Joinings in his time, but this had to rank as one of the most desperate. But Alistair had obviously seen something in this young man to make him want to suggest it, so here they were. He just hoped it worked for Alistair's sake - not only would Felix's friends be somewhat upset, but Alistair was so determined, so sure - if this failed, he hated to think of the consequences.
Felix got the feeling this wasn't exactly typical for a Joining ceremony, but he still finds himself letting those words settle over him. This isn't just a cure, it's a commitment and if it works he doesn't plan to let the Wardens down. Not if they are going to be able to save him.
"And should you perish, know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten," Alistair continues, subdued in a way that comes from focus as much as solemnity or concern. It will work, it will work, it will work.
He still has the chalice that Kaidan handed to him, holding an unimpressive but sufficient amount of black blood. But Sabriel is closer to Felix—literally and metaphorically—so Alistair presses the cup into her hands to give him, with the last words.
Sabriel takes the chalice, not looking overlong at its dark contents, her fingers running along the rim. It was only right she do this as the youngest, and as the one to bring this forward, and yet... here, now, moments away from the most final of things, she feared this choice.
She did not believe in any higher power, and even if she did, it would do little. All she could do was believe in the man before her; that he could take the blood and come out alive.
Sabriel swallows the last of her nerves. "And that one day, we shall join you," she says, softly, moving closer to Felix. If he can take the cup to drink from, she will steady it with a hand over his; a quiet indication that he is not alone, no matter what happens.
He doesn't exactly have the strength to hold it on his own, but with her help he accepts it and drinks. He doesn't even hesitate. There's no point to it now that he's agreed. The taste manages to be both unlike anything he's experienced and yet somehow familiar. He's lived with the Blight for so long that he can recognize it when he needs too.
He doesn't have time to think over the contradictions in the taste, though, because suddenly his body is overcome and rather than be in even more agony, everything goes dark.
His body falls into the bed, eyes rolling up as he passes out. At least he didn't have long to fall. He's still breathing, though, which is better than anyone could have hoped.
She knows what to expect, and though she pulls the chalice away, Sabriel doesn't move from his side, even at the first spasm. When he falls back, she fears the worst - but her sense of death doesn't alight. There's no death here today, but life, as Felix inhales, exhales.
"He made it," she says, turning back to Alistair and Kaidan.
She lets out a soft sigh of- not relief, exactly, but to dispel the built up anticipation. He was alive. That was enough.
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Step 3(A): Save him, probably...
probably?
"These words have been spoken since the first."
She glances to Felix - reassurance, apology, she isn't sure which - and then turns her gaze away, vacant, her posture as still as a statue. Maybe it will be for naught, but they will do it right.
"Join us, brothers and sisters..."
no subject
He'd overseen many Joinings in his time, but this had to rank as one of the most desperate. But Alistair had obviously seen something in this young man to make him want to suggest it, so here they were. He just hoped it worked for Alistair's sake - not only would Felix's friends be somewhat upset, but Alistair was so determined, so sure - if this failed, he hated to think of the consequences.
no subject
no subject
He still has the chalice that Kaidan handed to him, holding an unimpressive but sufficient amount of black blood. But Sabriel is closer to Felix—literally and metaphorically—so Alistair presses the cup into her hands to give him, with the last words.
no subject
She did not believe in any higher power, and even if she did, it would do little. All she could do was believe in the man before her; that he could take the blood and come out alive.
Sabriel swallows the last of her nerves. "And that one day, we shall join you," she says, softly, moving closer to Felix. If he can take the cup to drink from, she will steady it with a hand over his; a quiet indication that he is not alone, no matter what happens.
no subject
He doesn't have time to think over the contradictions in the taste, though, because suddenly his body is overcome and rather than be in even more agony, everything goes dark.
His body falls into the bed, eyes rolling up as he passes out. At least he didn't have long to fall. He's still breathing, though, which is better than anyone could have hoped.
no subject
"He made it," she says, turning back to Alistair and Kaidan.
She lets out a soft sigh of- not relief, exactly, but to dispel the built up anticipation. He was alive. That was enough.