[ it's mercy but it's also a trade. her life for his. it's ugly, at the bones of it, and he'd hesitated for days for this reason exactly. but he doesn't know if there is another elegant solution at all.

he will let her have his hands. his nails are chewed all to hell by the way, and they're a bit ink-splattered. ]

I don't intend to act against the both of your direct wishes. If the answer is you do not want it, then I will not do it. The point of this was so that I did not feel duplicitous.