Goodnight // AU

[theboogieman]

[clans of Life-Eaters are notoriously awful.

they build these hives underground because they are too hideous to travel among humans. some make their homes in existing sewer networks, but this particular clan had cobbled together a multi-story underground bunker running the length of a full city block underneath some otherwise perfectly normal apartment buildings. it's a dismal place. some cement, metal siding, creaking floorboards, old furniture. their sense of interior decorating makes Saoirse's look festive and colorful. an unfortunate mildew smell emanates from pretty much everything.

negotiations with Life-Eaters are always pretty simple. either they agree to help the Red Queen fight against Hel and the West Court's tyranny, or Zhas brings a squad in to destroy anything in those tunnels that moves. it was thrilling for the first six hours or so, when the hunt was on--but word of further negotiation drifted in from outside, and for whatever reason, they were told to cease the killing and stand their ground.

that was a few days ago. they are not allowed, nor are they able, to physically leave the perimeter. Saoirse herself is on her way, or so Veins has told them--and they are waiting out a bet that will win them the clan's full allegiance... if they can stick it out. Zhas imagined, after the first of the Kin-Eaters started cracking, that it was easier for Saoirse to agree to than it was for them to actually see through.

Day 4. tensions are running high...]

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[theboogieman]

[it will suffice. she looks back down at her other son, bleeding out on the ground, but has one more thing to say.]

In repentance, if I should fail to keep myself... I want you to kill me.

[dead serious, of course. she kneels in front of Zhas, waiting to hear whether or not Coil can handle the task.]

Do not wait. Do you swear to this?

[uncoiled]

[Coil might have remained standing there dumbly, stunned, if it weren't for the sheer amount of urgency and threat strung tight in the air. the disbelief can only shield him for a second. with Zhas' life dripping onto the floor, he can't afford to pretend that maybe his beloved, addled mother doesn't know what she's saying.

no... she's speaking plainly, and she's expecting an answer.

unfortunately, all he can do in his horror is to shake his head in a desperate no.]

[theboogieman]

Coil.

[it's a quiet berating, to be sure. funny, her posture and dead-eyed glance look very similar to Zhas', when he's about to give Coil his second and only other chance.

she doesn't seem to care that her beloved son is losing blood by the second. this one detail is more important.]

[uncoiled]

[he's more at a loss for words than even his usual handicap makes him, but he's luckily never really needed a more sophisticated form of communication when trying to relay his thoughts to his Queen.

and really, it wouldn't be hard for most people to understand the exact way he cringes inward and slinks toward her, silently begging her not to make him to agree to something like that. he understands exactly the situation that she is implying, and that instance would mean that he wouldn't be losing only one of the most important things in his world, but both of them.]

[theboogieman]

[of course, Saoirse might have lost her mind years ago, but she would never let a "son" die right in front of her. after a tense moment of stern, expectant waiting, she gives up on Coil with little more than a small, nearly inaudible huff.]

Very well.

[she turns to Zhas again, delicately pulling the boy's hand away from his neck. blood gushes up in the re-opened wound, but she leans forward and licks delicately at the skin around it. her cheeks split along an invisible seam. her tongue is long and serpentine. she is in control and barely gets close to him by vampire standards--but her pretty face now reflects a bit of the creature that shouldn't be allowed to have any human blood.]