[ This is a delightfully ominous start to the act of holding hands.
The effect hits the moment they break contact, and John hates it all over again— he wonders if this could actually kill him; they seem to change the rules of his own immortality every time he looks away— but then Asriel takes his hand, and the relief is instant. He settles into it, shifts his grip, tries to pretend Asriel isn't stiff as stone and this isn't hilariously awkward. It's not the worst he's endured for a curse.
It would be kindest to keep speculating, treat this like research. But as the silence hangs, he finds himself in the grip of the inevitable. ]
I do hate to do this to you, but someone has to say it. [ John looks at him with a fresh spark of amusement in his inhuman eyes. In his most grave and godly voice, he says: ] Lord Asriel Belacqua, you take my breath away.
[ If Asriel drops him in disgust and the curse hasn't lifted, the joke will still be worth it. ]
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The effect hits the moment they break contact, and John hates it all over again— he wonders if this could actually kill him; they seem to change the rules of his own immortality every time he looks away— but then Asriel takes his hand, and the relief is instant. He settles into it, shifts his grip, tries to pretend Asriel isn't stiff as stone and this isn't hilariously awkward. It's not the worst he's endured for a curse.
It would be kindest to keep speculating, treat this like research. But as the silence hangs, he finds himself in the grip of the inevitable. ]
I do hate to do this to you, but someone has to say it. [ John looks at him with a fresh spark of amusement in his inhuman eyes. In his most grave and godly voice, he says: ] Lord Asriel Belacqua, you take my breath away.
[ If Asriel drops him in disgust and the curse hasn't lifted, the joke will still be worth it. ]