Carlisle does indeed feel it: Glacius' turmoil ripples through his energies enough that someone sensitive to such fluctuations -- such as his magic-using lover holding his hands -- could detect it. Even if Carlisle was someone unskilled in magical arts, he could see the alien's suffering written in his features, feel the quake of those strong hands as he struggles with a fight he cannot possibly win.

And he certainly couldn't win it in the way he tried to. Battling grief with aggression is fitting for someone like Algidus, but not Glacius. Never Glacius, whom Carlisle can only see as a beacon of honor and goodness in a horrible place like Hadriel. He only fights when he must, and only to defend those he cares for. That must include himself from time to time.

But Carlisle knows that is a challenge Glacius cannot win alone. They are in this together.

"We will relieve it with one another," he says quietly, "And in our own way. The burden of loss is not an easy one, but it is one we must, unfortunately, endure. Meeting such hopelessness with hostility, however... it isn't you."

He reaches to meet Glacius' scarred face with his hand, his eyes searching for his partner's gaze.