Thank Merlin for that. William really hadn't been looking forward to a flashback experience, and he was especially wary of doing this with Gabe there watching and listening, because who the hell knew what would happen once William drank. He wasn't even completely clear on what had happened the first time, just that everything had been bright and vivid and certain, and he'd come out of it never wanting to feel that out-of-control again. The idea of 'probably being able to stay aware' left him chilled.
He'd been hoping Gabe just wanted some of his blood for comparison, that because he'd taken the Curse it was still in his bloodstream and that was what Gabe needed, but it didn't look like that was the case. He wondered how many times they were going to have to do this, and how much less...intense...the stuff in the vial really was.
He needed to stop thinking and just do it. Taking a careful seat on the rug, he pulled the stopper from the vial and - after the barest hesitation - tipped the contents down his throat. Then he set the vial aside, laid down flat on his back with his hands folded over his stomach, and took a few deep breaths. It was sort of like Divination exercises. In, out. Relax. Let go of your consciousness. In...