Veli shrugged, and there was a knock at the door. Hard, one of the 'Hey, pay attention to me!' sort of knocks. Nice. He scampered away to open the door.

And Noah closed his laptop without saving any of his work. Oh, God. Tears started to fall silently, and he bit his skin to bleeding.

"I'm sorry for being late."

"Really, you came sooner than expected..."

Veli lead a woman into the house, talking quietly. She looked to be about the same age as Taavi. At least she looked friendly enough. Not as visibly hating as the past merfolk they'd delt with.

"So, where're you planning on doing this?"

"Um..."

"..." The woman looked at him and snorted, holding a large bag. "We can do it either outside, which isn't recommended in such an urban area, or inside, if you have like a tile floor. No carpets."

...no carpets? Noah didn't like the sound of that. He emerged from the bedroom, hugging himself.

"Everything's carpet or unfinished wood," he explained, "But we have a huge bath tub."

Awww, Poor man. "Okay, I'll have to look at it." Veli nodded, starting for the bathroom.

"Thank you." She said, following him. She sat her bag down inside the bathroom and looked in. "Yeah... Should be big enough. This'll be an interesting first, though. Don't think I've heard of it being performed in a bathtub." She leaned down, taking various odds and ends out of the bag.

Huh. She seemed friendly. New, but friendly.

Noah followed, his previously silent tears now joined by heavy breathing and little sniffles. Oh, God, it was really happening.

Veli bit his lip, moving to hug Noah. Awwww...

"So, you want an explanation of what we're gonna do, or just do it?" The woman asked, screwing together various things, getting out candles... It looked to be kinda hippieish, actually.

"Just do it," Noah said, picking Veli up and carrying him up the few steps, placing him in the bathtub gently.

"I don't want to change my mind."

"All right. It'll probably be best if you stay sitting." The woman said, carefully moving around Veli and spreading a circle of sand around him. She lit the candles and what appeared the be inscence and handed him a little bottle of a clear, greenish tinted liquid. He drank it and waited, looking worried. The woman kept humming, setting things up.

"....Aaahn-!" Veli's eyes went wide, his hands scrabbled at the bathtub floor.

"The pain's normal. It won't last too long." The woman stood, shutting the door and looping a necklace with a shell attached to it around Noah's neck.

Noah looked horrified. He held his arms out and grabbed Veli's shoulders, not sure just how much contact they should be making.

"You can touch him, just don't break the sand."

The woman watched, carefully adjusting the burning sticks and the instruments, looking serious and, thankfully, not malevolent.

Veli just kept clawing at the floor, mouth open wide in a silent scream, tears pouring down his face. Oh, God, it hurt so bad...!

The tears started to mist off of his face, being drawn towards the shell on Noah's neck.

And Noah knelt outside of the circle, pulling Veli's upper half to him, squeezing and touching their foreheads together. Noah cried hard, only, loudly. Not only was he halving his lover's life, it was hurting him to do as such.

And Veli kept crying, trying not to reach out and grab him and possibly break things. Oh God, it hurt, it hurt so bad-!

The woman was watching carefully, and when the tears stopped misting she reached out and grabbed the necklace back, snapping the flimsy chain easily and smashing the shell on the ground, at the same time breaking the sand circle.

And it stopped hurting. Veli made a little confused noise, blinking. Hnnn?

Noah, however, refused to move. His face was twisted in mortal agony. He was terrified, he was hysterical, he was devastated...and he was grinning.

"S'it...?"

"It's done. You did well." The woman smiled. "Now, you're going to feel a bit weak for a while, shouldn't last more than a few days at most. Just take it easy and you'll be fine."

Yay, not messing up!

Noah just picked Veli up, still sobbing and keeping his eye on the man at all times. He stepped from the tub, began down the steps, passed the woman, and headed for the bedroom, where he laid Veli upon the sheets. Oh, God...

And poor Veli was about boneless. The pain was gone. He felt kind of... Numb. Not in a bad way. Just numb. It took a few tries, but he managed to make his hand move and caress Noah's arm.

"You okay, No'?" He asked softly.

Noah collapsed beside his love with a muffled 'unf'.

"I will be."

Ah, Veli felt proud and oddly stated. He'd done it! Made it so his Noah wouldn't have to leave. Take that, human mortality!

"Sorry." He said again, giving a little smile at his Nono. Veli looked tired.

Noah just shook his head.

"Rest, suga'. You'll need it. I'll take care'a you." But who would take care of him?

Veli carefully caressed him, eyes closed. "Mmm..." He sighed, smiling sleepily. D'aaw.

Noah heaved a sigh.

"Alright. Night."

"It'll be okay, Noah." Veli murmured, almost asleep. "Don't worry. I love you."

Noah said absolutely nothing. What was there to say?

"It'll.. Be okay... I'll be here..." Veli tried hard to stay up, but, hey. He'd been damn near ripped in half. Bam, he was asleep.