An accurate assessment. Alistair's holding on to a smile of his own, but only just. If Cullen's all right, and Kieran isn't awake to witness him fall apart, that removes a lot of the motivation to keep it together.

He's still trying, though. He brings Cullen's hand up so he can kiss his knuckles; lingers there, eyes closed, once he's done.

(The light in the tower isn't all moonlight. The Breach is bright enough to cast a sickly green shimmer here and there, glimpsed from the corner of his eye, like the illusion of the past half-a-year has finally begun to crumble.)