08-16-2020, 10:21 PM
choke them on the ashes of the dreams they burned
He can taste her sorrow.
It settles on his tongue, melts like snow, and he despises himself for how sweet he finds it. Something inside of him starts to growl, the monster that had previously been slumbering placidly in its cage suddenly roused awake by the meal being dangled before it.
He quiets it with an internal snarl of his own, his eyes almost darkening at his attempt to subdue the feral part of him clawing to get out.
He shakes his head, the shadows of his mane billowing, and he forces himself to look at her sadness, and not taste it.
And that brings with it something else entirely. The guilt that threatens to crush him. The shame that will haunt him long after he leaves. That look on her face that will follow him for eternity.
“There isn’t much to tell,” he says honestly, his voice quiet even though it has grown coarse at the edges. “Her name is Breckin.” He doesn’t tell her that he had found her beautiful; he doesn’t tell her that just for that night he had let himself be entirely captivated, to not think of anything or anyone else. He knows, somehow, that those details would do nothing but hurt her further. “And I’ve never….I’ve never met our child.” He pauses with a humorless laugh, shaking his shadowed head. “Truthfully, I’m afraid. I’m afraid he might be like me. And I’m afraid that maybe he’s entirely normal and my presence will do more harm than good.”
He turns his eyes back to her, his lips pressed into a line. “Look at you, Despoina,.” the shadows begin to crawl into his voice, spite for himself growing inside his chest the longer he looks at her broken, bruised eyes. “Can you honestly say that you are better having met me?”
It settles on his tongue, melts like snow, and he despises himself for how sweet he finds it. Something inside of him starts to growl, the monster that had previously been slumbering placidly in its cage suddenly roused awake by the meal being dangled before it.
He quiets it with an internal snarl of his own, his eyes almost darkening at his attempt to subdue the feral part of him clawing to get out.
He shakes his head, the shadows of his mane billowing, and he forces himself to look at her sadness, and not taste it.
And that brings with it something else entirely. The guilt that threatens to crush him. The shame that will haunt him long after he leaves. That look on her face that will follow him for eternity.
“There isn’t much to tell,” he says honestly, his voice quiet even though it has grown coarse at the edges. “Her name is Breckin.” He doesn’t tell her that he had found her beautiful; he doesn’t tell her that just for that night he had let himself be entirely captivated, to not think of anything or anyone else. He knows, somehow, that those details would do nothing but hurt her further. “And I’ve never….I’ve never met our child.” He pauses with a humorless laugh, shaking his shadowed head. “Truthfully, I’m afraid. I’m afraid he might be like me. And I’m afraid that maybe he’s entirely normal and my presence will do more harm than good.”
He turns his eyes back to her, his lips pressed into a line. “Look at you, Despoina,.” the shadows begin to crawl into his voice, spite for himself growing inside his chest the longer he looks at her broken, bruised eyes. “Can you honestly say that you are better having met me?”
torryn
