Imprints in Stone [AU]

[Tethras Clan]

"Can your Dad heal?" Merrill asks with concern, grabbing her nightdress- not like she ever wears it- to press on the cut.

[Carver Amell]

"Uh. Maybe? He'll know what to do, if I wake up Beth I'm worried I'll scare her."

[Tethras Clan]

Merrill shrugs., her worry more about him being hurt than about them getting in trouble. "Here, keep pressure on this," she orders him, the role of healer giving her confidence. Without waiting for a reply, she darts out of the room, the last sight of her as she goes, her pale, pert butt.

[Carver Amell]

Carver uses the nightdress to carefully clean off the dagger, biting his lip. I hate to see Dad's knife used to... well it's not like this is bad, Merrill wouldn't do bad things, but it's... it's not great that I have to do this. Maybe after tonight I should give some serious thought to stopping.

[Varric]

There's a muffled shout from the direction of Varric's office, then a pause. After a moment, Varric enters the room and winces. Both naked. Wonderful. And the smell (gods). Not looking at him after the first glace, Varric heads right for the window to get some air moving. "Start from the beginning," he orders crisply, in that 'you've erred' voice.

[Carver Amell]

"My leg," he says quietly. "I've, I forgot how deep that knife can-- I've got pressure on it but, Merrill's out of healing so..."

[Varric]

"Merrill is waking your sister," Varric says curtly. "My infusions can only heal me." Might need to refocus my training to correct that (idiot kids).

[Carver Amell]

He sighs, nodding. "Okay. Okay, good. That's, um, that's all that's wrong, this is just... a thing we do sometimes."

[Varric]

Varric tenses, back still to Carver. "You... just sometimes... decide to... attack yourself?"

[Carver Amell]

He winces. He's definitely mad about this. "It's... it helps. Merrill taught me how, it, it helps with... feelings." He gestures, helplessly.

[Varric]

"So does heavy drinking. Or beating people. Drugs." Varric takes a deep breath. "It's harmful. Addictive and... well, as you just experienced, can go wrong. And it doesn't address the problems, just masks them for a little while."

[Carver Amell]

"But..." He stares up at Varric in shock. "But, I get healed right away, it's fine, it's safe. It's not like, like drugs. And, and if it's okay to drink a little, then, how is this different?"

[Varric]

"Because... because this can go wrong easier. And because there's no upside to it, no social purpose. Drinking has tradition and socialization involved in it. And... because you're not dealing with the emotions, are you? Just masking them."

[Carver Amell]

"This is dealing," he insists. "They go away."

[Varric]

"For how long?" Varric asks pointedly.