They tense at the sight of the ball of ectoplasm, memories of being encased in it, smothered in it, flashing through their mind. Before he even realises what he's doing, he's stepped back several paces.
He takes in a sharp, deep breath. Then another. Then another.
Hold it fucking together, Swift.
"You better not," he says hoarsely. "Not ever. Because if it does, there is nothing we wouldn't do to get rid of you. You might not be the only to one to blame - and I am damn well giving Devil plenty of fucking blame - but you were still a part of it. You might not have pulled the trigger, but you set up the scenario where people were doomed to a cycle of death. And like all the rest of the Arcana, you let it go on. And I might not be able to do anything to stop this game of yours, but I could do something about stopping you. So I am damn well going to hold you to that."
They weren't going to offer to help. That was, all things considered, more than Matthew was willing to give. It did mean something that Death was actually able to admit that he was wrong, that he was able to feel regret. But even so, at this point the best Death could hope for from Matthew was a lack of active opposition.
"But here's the thing I don't get. You're Death And yes, I bloody well know, 'Tarot' Death and not Kicking-the-Bucket Death - but you're still the one that's meant to be all about finality and endings and transitions. How the hell do you, of all of them, not get that there might be psychological effects? How do you not realise that just because you come back from death, it doesn't mean that everything's okay? You realise, don't you, that there are some Travellers who think that death doesn't matter, just because it's not permanent? But it matters. Even when you come back, and the scars are all gone. It's still fucking matters."
no subject
He takes in a sharp, deep breath. Then another. Then another.
Hold it fucking together, Swift.
"You better not," he says hoarsely. "Not ever. Because if it does, there is nothing we wouldn't do to get rid of you. You might not be the only to one to blame - and I am damn well giving Devil plenty of fucking blame - but you were still a part of it. You might not have pulled the trigger, but you set up the scenario where people were doomed to a cycle of death. And like all the rest of the Arcana, you let it go on. And I might not be able to do anything to stop this game of yours, but I could do something about stopping you. So I am damn well going to hold you to that."
They weren't going to offer to help. That was, all things considered, more than Matthew was willing to give. It did mean something that Death was actually able to admit that he was wrong, that he was able to feel regret. But even so, at this point the best Death could hope for from Matthew was a lack of active opposition.
"But here's the thing I don't get. You're Death And yes, I bloody well know, 'Tarot' Death and not Kicking-the-Bucket Death - but you're still the one that's meant to be all about finality and endings and transitions. How the hell do you, of all of them, not get that there might be psychological effects? How do you not realise that just because you come back from death, it doesn't mean that everything's okay? You realise, don't you, that there are some Travellers who think that death doesn't matter, just because it's not permanent? But it matters. Even when you come back, and the scars are all gone. It's still fucking matters."