Whumptober 2025 Day 1: Beg for forgiveness

[rosanicus]

NO 1: "Please don't cry" 
Lamb to slaughter | Ceremony | Beg for forgiveness

I don't know if this quite works, but I was struggling mightily to get anything written so I'm just grateful this appeared. 

"I don't suppose you've come here to beg for forgiveness," said Algy, with a cynical twist to his lips. He inhaled deeply from his cigarette, held it for a moment, and then blew a ring of smoke into the cool evening air.

Von Stalhein shrugged, a gesture which sent a thrill of irritation down Algy's spine. "I don't wish to waste both of our time," he replied. Then he took out his own cigarette case, a gift which Algy had watched Biggles dither over for several weeks, and lit one for himself.

"Oh, settling in, are we?" Algy muttered. A heavy fog of exhaustion lay over him. "I thought the day couldn't get any better."

But he did feel better, for the company. It was an unsettling thought.

Von Stalhein didn't reply. There was a familiar distant look in his eye; Algy had seen it in the mirror, when he washed Biggles' blood from his hands in the cramped hospital toilet.

The hospital wall was rough against his back. It had rained during the day, and now the path beneath their feet was slick. Flickering street lamps reflected their light back on themselves. It could have been poetic, if he was in the mood.

He glanced sidelong at Von Stalhein, his usual eyeglass absent, his suit rumpled and stained.

Empathy had long been Algy's undoing. He pushed away from the wall in one abrupt motion.

"It's bloody cold out here," he observed.

"Oh, you've noticed that, have you?" said Von Stalhein. Algy bit his tongue, hard, on the oath he could feel surging up his throat.

"I don't know why I bother," he snapped. Inside the hospital, Biggles was under the surgeon's knife. Algy scrubbed his hands against his shirt, feeling blood beneath his fingernails.

It wasn't Von Stalhein's fault, that was what Biggles would insist, but Algy felt like blaming him anyway. It was much easier to be angry with him. It left little time for self-reflection, or recrimination, when he could lay his ire at the feet of a man who - for many years - had utterly deserved it.

Comments

[philomytha]

I love how this unfolds. The worst two people at comforting each other, especially over an injured Biggles. Both of them torn to shreds inside and not giving an inch, but also both of them a little bit comforted anyway - this is perfect <333

[tweague]

Loved thisssss. I love how they're both absolutely wracked with worry and grief and guilt, and they're both quite aware that the other feels as wretched as they do, and the way they're going to deal with that is by making themselves as objectionable to each other as they can <3 <3 snide remarks and constant needling as a way of making sure they neither of them fall apart is delicious.

[sholio]

Awwww, ALGY. I especially love "Empathy had long been Algy's undoing" - that's so true of him. And I really like the two of them offering each other a kind of abrasive comfort, in their own way.