Don't fall down.

[gotbackupagain]

Characters: Anna [gotbackupagain ], Horst [ahandsomedevil ], and Castiel [wingsandwill ]
When: Around 10 pm, July 3
Where: Greek House 5; Anna's.
Rating: PG - Will change if it goes up.
Summary: Even Angels get scared. Sometimes company is a wonderful thing to have.

Comments

[ahandsomedevil]

Horst had seen that dim shine, like covering a torch with your fist. Though he had no knowledge of Grace or even of Angels really, he knew the look of someone dying. It hadn't been so long ago that he had been like Anna, sitting and waiting for it to happen.

He sat on the floor beside her and offered her a glass of juice.

"How is it today?"

[gotbackupagain]

Funnily enough, she still wanted to eat, drink. The latter more than the former, but it wasn't like she ate for the nutrients. It was more for the taste- and damnit to hell if she wasn't going to indulge in her last hours. So she took the glass with a tired smile, shifting a little more upright.

"Worse than yesterday." And a sip. ".. I don't think there's much left to bleed out." The past few days she'd actually started feeling cold; hence the blanket.

[ahandsomedevil]

Horst nodded and put his arm around her, sharing--well he didn't have any body heat. Neither did she, really, or at least none that he had ever seen her react to.

"It won't be as bad as you think. I promise," he murmured. "You close your eyes...you breathe out. And it's over. No more fear. It doesn't hurt anymore."

[gotbackupagain]

The sensation was more than welcome, to be honest. So she leaned against him just a bit, glancing off to where Castiel was hovering nearby. She had a feeling this death would be different than either of his.

"We don't die the same way humans do." A breath. "Our light goes out." And from any time she'd seen one of her brothers or sisters killed, even way back when in the battle against Lucifer and his followers.. It had always been such a horrific thing to watch. Grace burned right out in a blinding display... Her eyes shut, head dropping light against Horst's shoulder with a sigh. No. It was very different.

[ahandsomedevil]

Some things were the same, Horst knew. The fear of being alone. Perhaps that was because Anna was more human than Angel at this point. He couldn't picture Castiel accepting his company the way Anna had, no matter how slow the death.

He kissed the top of her head and just held her closer.

[wingsandwill]

Castiel had busied himself modifying and redrawing some of the warding sigils on the house, fixing them so that they'd be his instead of Anna's. It would do no good if they affected him when he needed to get in and out, or let their siblings in and out, while Anna was

[gotbackupagain]

She and Horst weren't all that close, but Horst was.. A little on the touchy-feely side. And Anna really didn't mind. She liked it; the human contact that so very rarely came from her Celestial family. Their form of affection was so much different. So she doesn't mind when the vampire kisses her head- is even more grateful when she feels Cas' fingers against her shoulder. No.. She was beyond glad that she wasn't alone. Glad that she'd patched things up with Cas as well- having family there meant a lot, even if that was just the human side of her talking.

Shivers came first, chilling down her spine, rising goosebumps down her arms and rising hairs at the back of her neck. Cold shivers, even if everything felt like it was heating up from the focal point of her injury. Horst might be the first to notice the glowing veins creeping up her neck, or maybe the faint light dimming up from her eyes. It hurt- everything hurt. Muscles tensed and relaxed, limbs shifting as she had some sort stomach pain-- but it was more than that.

[ahandsomedevil]

There was no point in telling her it would be all right. Even if it was true in the long run, dying hurt. It was terrifying.

He just rocked her gently, whispering softly, sometimes in English but mostly in German.

[wingsandwill]

Castiel could feel the shift in her grace; the way it began to move and what it meant. He didn't move, staying there next to the two, some emotions he couldn't identify and some he could beginning to rise up and mix together as he just watched, unable to do anything more.

But then he regained his senses a bit, lowering to the carpet on his knees next to Anna and turning his attention briefly toward Horst. "When I tell you to, you must let go of her, back away, and close your eyes." He had to be certain Anna's friend wasn't hurt by the explosion of grace, as loathe as he was to take away this source of comfort to his sister.

[gotbackupagain]

Her blood felt like it was burning cold, the sharp almost-pain that came when cold extremities stepped into hot water. The feeling of wanting out of the boiler. Except it was pulsing through her veins, crawling up and lighting behind her eyes, up her throat to bleed between her clenched teeth. From her chest, wrists, shoulders; anywhere the skin was thin enough to see it shone through. Pulsed strong and died down again, leaving her shaking and breathless in Horst's grip

[ahandsomedevil]

Sunlight was the only proven way to kill Horst. Grace was...excruciating already. He could feel his palms and cheek and neck burning where he was touching her, but he didn't let go. Not until Castiel would tell him.

[wingsandwill]

It was clear that it was almost over, even if he couldn't have seen the light of her grace beginning to shine through. When it died down and began to build up again, he reached out to gently begin to pull Anna toward him from Horst's arms. "Horst, now." He wasn't sure if this wave would fade or if it would be the last, but it would all end very soon, and even if the grace couldn't kill or even seriously harm Horst, it might blind him.

Castiel, however, would be completely immune and so he'd stay there with her for the last moments, witnessing until the end as he always did every time he lost a sibling.

[gotbackupagain]

It wasn't hard to move her; she didn't struggle beyond the tensing of her muscles, leaning bodily against her brother as she did. Everything burned, hotter and hotter, colder and colder until she was shouting. Just a few seconds of screams, eyes opening wide, hands splaying as the light pulsed brighter. Castiel was right, it wasn't dying down again. Grace shot out like a bang, filling the room with the blinding light for all of two seconds, smashing the few windows left to pieces.

And that was it. The brunt of the force might have shoved her out of Cas' grip, or at least partially, the still smoking visage of two massive wings burned into the ground behind her, having knocked anything out of their way in the process. Up the side of the wall, down across the ground like a splayed bird. No light left, no heat, no cold. Just nothing.

[ahandsomedevil]

Horst wanted desperately to stay, but he already had blistering burns from holding her. As the light intensified, he jumped up and ran for another room. Fortunately he was fast enough to tuck himself away, and he slumped against the wall in the bedroom and buried his face in his hands.

[wingsandwill]

Castiel's gaze flickered only briefly at Horst when he vacated the room, otherwise tracking him with his senses until he was sure he was indeed out of risk before ignoring him completely. He murmured words both physically and mentally toward Anna, mostly inconsequential and partially nonsensical things, just meant to help in whatever way possible. When her grace finally burst out, illuminating the room and no doubt part of the surrounding area, he was indeed pushed back slightly from the force, far enough for her wings to imprint without his presence blocking them.

He just stayed there where he was for a few moments, his emotional and mental responses completely askew at that point, until he gathered himself enough to return to Anna's side again. Carefully he brushed a few strands of hair from her face and then ceased moving, just looking down at her and doing nothing consciously more.

Unconsciously, he was still murmuring softly, and didn't stop.