Blood from Stone [AU]

[Bethany]

"Don! Your hands." Beth scowls down at her mate. "Idiot boys... I swear. Miki, could you get my kit?"

[GamesMaster]

Miki pops up, heading to fetch the kit.

"It's alright," breathes Don. "For you, it's alright."

[Bethany]

"That's very romantic and all but please don't bleed, thanks."

[NPCs]

Cadmus laughs softly. "Is... If you would not mind, I could tend him perhaps? And... Miki. Think you are ready to lead a prayer?"

[Carver Amell]

Carver shifts. "If you can.. if you could add a prayer for luck for my tuiste?" He asks. "I need to fill Dad in, but I am worried about them and my sister. They'll need luck."

[Bethany]

"Check on Merrill and Kevan too? "  I'm glad she's made a friend and all but he is new.and she is totally capable of pushing herself too far physically. Glim is pretty good at stopping her but I think she's still playing messenger.

[Carver Amell]

"Of course." He plants a kiss on her cheek and moves for the door. "Stay safe."

[Varric]

Seventy-three. Seventy-four. Seventy-five. Without looking, Varric reaches over and nudges a beaker a few inches, moving it from over a six point five centimeter flame to over a six point three centimeter tall flame. That done, he smoothly moves back to stirring a small pot of amber fluid. Seventy-nine. Eighty-naught. Eighty-one. Eighty-two. No thoughts, just a steady counting, just step after step as he juggles brewing an alchemical painkiller and two herbal remedies at the same time. Eighty-three. Eighty-four. Grind up shark teeth now. Eighty-seven. Eighty-eight.

When Carver enters the stillroom shortly after checking on Merrill and Kevin in the kitchen, busy cooking up far to much food for whatever reason the elf must have, he doesn't spot his dad at first. He has to enter fully, coming around a corner, before he sees Varric. The dwarf is kneeling on the ground, using his knee and teeth to tie a bandage around his hand. Next to him is a dark green marble cup, a mound of half crushed teeth of some kind and a matching marble stick, cracked in half.

[Carver Amell]

Carver rushes forward to take the ends of the bandage, finishing wrapping it neatly. "Dad, what did you do?" he asks, frowning. "Are you alright?"

[Varric]

Varric tenses at the start of the rush, the limb under his cloak rises part way as of to point at the noise. When he sees Carver, he freezes, which allows the younger male to take over the bandaging. "...pestle broke. Flaw in stone." His eyes flicker down to the green marble rod, the bottle third of which has split on a diagonal. This close, Carver can see a smear of blood on the edge of it.

[Carver Amell]

"Vangal's breath," he mumbles, finishing the bandaging and scooping up the broken mortar. "Are you alright?" What does this remind me of? he wonders, as he heads for the trash.

He stumbles just as he reaches it, the image coming back to him: a crack in a glass, whiskey leaking out onto Varric's right hand. 'Not perfect'.

"Are you alright?" he asks again, softer, more worried. 

[Varric]

Varric glances up at him, expression flat. "Dandy."

[Carver Amell]

Carver sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. "It's okay, you know," he says quietly. "It's okay to not be alright. But.. sometimes you have to let the poison out one way or it'll come out another. You know? And it's, it's easier to talk about it. It doesn't seem easier, but that's just if you're counting the damage to yourself, not the damage to your family."

[Varric]

Varric stares a moment, then snorts. "Fool taught all that? Taught you." He takes a slow breath. Words are... easier, somewhat, but the order he's created is fragile and he knows it full well.

[Carver Amell]

He chuckles, thinking back. "What was it you said?" he asks, rubbing the back of his head. "It's alright to lean on me. Everyone needs someone to hold them together sometimes. I know you usually lean on Helene, but they're not here right now, and of everyone who is, I'm doing the best. So, it's alright. Just talk to me. Tell me what's going on in your head. Bleed the poison out."