[private] it's all up in the air and we stand still

[Gale]

Gale this is going to break me clean in two -- this is going to bring me close to you She consents, and Gale smiles.  Wanting to be sure she does not move away, Gale uses Wishbone’s magic to hold Aela in place, bending her bones in a manner that will keep her upright and motionless. He considers silencing her as well, but decides that if she screams, the sound of it echoing off the mountains would be worth the risk of being overhead, and leaves her head free. Her neck he turns to look at him, telling her: “I learned it in Tephra. I think it will come in handy tonight.” It is difficult, what he attempts, but the Curse is nearly as single-minded as its host had once been. He knows no other way to the heart than through the chest, and becomes a thing equipped with dexterous knives that make quick work of the perfect flesh of her chest. There is blood - it sprays warm and wonderful across his face - but he recalls the flinching of the deer and is quick, slicing out a bite sized morsel of her heart and sealing it with Mazikeen’s fire. (The aura alone would have cauterized the wound, but it is the unexpected light healing he gains as he swallows the bit of muscle that will keep her alive. How lucky that she’s saved herself.) When Gale has a mouth again, when he’s released her bones and licked the heartblood from his lips, he gives her that same warm smile. “Fancy, huh?” @Aela