dead by daylight | {woodsmen leisure}

[dars]

[presto][/presto]

The truth was, Silas had no way of knowing what came next. He had no way of controlling what came their way and what did not. He may have been lucky, faced with nothing, able to lay back and listen to the sound of cannon fire, wait for the anthem to see if he recognized any of the faces that lit up the sky.

If he was going to be dead by daylight, he decided to make the night worth it. He forced Fiend to walk next to him, helping him keep as much weight off of his bad knee as possible.

"Imagine," he said, turning his head up to the sky. It was growing slowly and surely more difficult to see the stars as they put distance between themselves and the desert-like landscape behind them and trees became more plentiful. "How much more interesting this would be if we were high right now."

He rustled the other boy's hair absentmindedly, pushed his lips against Beck's forehead. He liked Fiend, but for different reasons than he liked Martyr. One was a good reminder of how to be a good human, and the other was a good reminder of how much fun it was to feel numb. Being around Beck was almost, but not quite, as good as being on drugs. It was like a high by proxy, as good as any contact. Just enough to make Silas want more.

He knelt down and picked up a clump of dirt, shushing Fiend and flashing him a wink before tossing it into Princess's hair. He knelt down again and picked up several more, dumped half into Beck's hand.

"Let's see how long it takes before she realizes," he whispered.

[ᴥ]

[presto][/presto]

Beck was electric, static and shaking like he was coming off of a bitter high. The best worst part of sobriety was how much everything felt. His injured hand rest against his ribs, throbbing, the other braced Silas' waist as he helped the boy walk. He could feel him running fever hot, even through his shirt. Imagine. Silas said and Beck did. He closed his eyes and let his head fall back against his shoulders. He dreamed, just a bit, trying to remember how good it was to feel nothing at all. Everything was better that way; Beck even thought he might have been happy when he was nothing more than a mindless shell.

But he wasn't numb, he couldn't be. Instead Silas' lips burned and his head fell forward, unconsciously chasing the sensation.

There wasn't a point in wasting time wondering whether Silas and Sophie would be here with him if it weren't for their own selfish desperation to survive. Beck just thought it would be rather nice to watch the sun sink below the horizon together, knowing for sure that they would be there when it rose again. They were likely to spend the rest of their lives together, he figured he could afford some sentimentality.

Or maybe this calloused heart had grown weak without its armor.

He bit back laughter when Silas shushed him, making the best of their lagging pace by dusting Sophie in dirt. The brown clumps were stark against her hair, resting peacefully in the tangle brought about by the day's battle. Sophie was still ethereally, effortlessly beautiful... just a little less so than usual. He had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from blowing their cover right then.

Silas dumped some dirt in his hand, an obvious invitation. "Let's see how long it takes before she realizes,"

Beck offered a smirk in response, his careful toss meeting its mark as he tried his best to make it look as effortless as possible. "That depends how good your aim is, I'd imagine."

[d7f amber bosch 🌿 tris]

[presto][/presto]

filler.

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