[ WP ] Tropeday 2.5 - Who Wants to Live Forever ?

Dieter rises from the bed, stumbling out of the sheets half-groggy from sleep over to the washstand in the corner. Pouring out a measure of water from the pitcher into the provided basin, he scrubs the dust from his eyes, scrubbing a washcloth behind his ears and neck. With a razor he grooms his closely cropped beard into order, careful not to slice his throat open with the deadly sharp blade. Finishing, he admires the keen look in the mirror, twisting and turning his head about to glance at his appearance. Storm gray eyes, a scar underneath the corner of the right from when a grenade exploded nearby. Another from a probing foe's stiletto. The scar tissue along his jaw well-healed. No wrinkles save those from scars or his career as a soldier. Dark brown hair just short of being shoulder length. Not a single gray hair anywhere on his head or in his beard. *Ah. * 
 
 Dieter's heart sinks as the realization dawns on him. He lets go of the blade in his hands, letting the straight razor splash into porcelain basin, the lathered water spilling out over the rim and onto the stand. 
 
 `` Dieter? Is something wrong?'' Comes the worried voice from the bed. 
 
 He turns to her, a look of detachment in his storm gray eyes. Blank, as if he saw something a thousand yards away. 
 
 `` How long has it been?'' He asks. 
 
 Queen Malvina bolts upright from where she lays. 
 
 `` Oh gods.'' She throws the covers off of her, a silk nightgown garbing her as she rushes to his side just before he collapses in her arms, his eyes staring off at some non-existent horizon. 
 
 `` Dieter? Dieter, listen to me. Everything is alright.'' She turns her head to the closed door to their room. `` Sera! Fetch the doctors.'' Nodding at the servants voice affirming her orders, she returns her attention to her love. 
 
 `` Shh, shh, it'll be alright. You're having a panic attack is all. Dieter? Dieter, look at me. Look, look... look at me!'' *That* finally reaches him, causing him to jerk his head up at her, his eyes damp and full of fear. 
 
 `` I ca n't die...'' He says, the statement not of disbelief but rather of terrible certainty. `` I wo n't age.'' 
 
 Malvina holds tight to him, blinking away tears of her own. 
 
 `` It'll pass, you're just having an attack. I've had them too. Everything will be fine, Dieter. Do you understand?'' She says, trying to believe her own words though it's plain enough to see that it is n't fine. 
 
 `` Malvina, how long has it been?'' He asks, his voice practically begging for answer. `` Please, tell me.'' 
 
 She closes her eye in shame, unable to look at him as she speaks. 
 
 `` Eight years...'' She murmurs, self-loathing filling her breast as she stills his shaking hands. `` It's been eight years since I stole your mortality. I'm sorry Dieter, I'm so, so sorry.'' 
 
 `` I'm not aging,'' Dieter repeats, his mind leagues away. `` I wo n't die. I ca n't die. I have to live with what I've done forever. I was supposed to die, I deserved to die.'' 
 
 `` Dieter...'' Malvina says, her words at a loss. 
 
 `` I hate you! I love you! You've taken everything from me, and given me everything!'' Malvina holds on to his attempted thrashing, pain and grief weakening him. Eventually he gives up, his head falling against her shoulder. 
 
 `` I'm sorry, Malvina. It's just, it's-'' She shushes him with a finger against his lips. 
 
 `` It's alright, I understand. It's not easy. Trust me, I know. I spent a century alone, just myself immortal. It was painful. But it will get better.'' Dieter smiles at her comforting words, trying to trust them. 
 
 `` What day is it?'' He asks. 
 
 `` The 21st day of the second month. Why?'' A small smile crosses his lips. 
 
 `` I'll be 36 in two weeks.'' His smile widens. `` And still the youngest person here.'' 
 
 Both laugh softly at the joke, the door opening a few seconds later to reveal the form of her personal physician. 
 
 `` We'd best make it a good one then.'' Malvina promises, kissing her love on the brow to seal it.
