sinner;

[Valdis]

And in the darkened underpass I thought,
"Oh Satan, my chance has come at last!"

This isn’t a fairytale – it likely never will be – but Valdis has never been a delicate girl dreaming of a Prince Charming. She is a dangerous concoction of beauty and ferocity, of claws and lace. She doesn’t fold into Sinner so sweetly and offer her entire self to him (she more or less allows Mary to pass through her thoughts and she nearly laughs). Although her voice is intricately woven with honey, Valdis remains just out of his reach with her eyes glittering mischievously. ”Is that so?” Father claimed he wasn’t always a monster either, and yet a scar puckers mother’s skin. He had lost control of himself, and she was witness (and victim) to it. With a half-hearted chuckle and a coy smile, ”I’ll be the judge of that.” Even has her heart quickens beneath his stare, Valdis remains wary. Each step, every glance, is calculated.

Much to her expectation, Sinner admits that she will never be the one to frighten him. She knows this, of course, but somehow it reassures her. Do they have hooks in each other already? Their mutual fascination tethers them. That’s the reason she is here, in the Sylvan forest, with him just a few steps away. Valdis could admit to him the changes she has undergone (it frightened her initially when she stirred from her rest to see claws instead of hooves) and how the precariousness of them may have slightly increased. In truth, they can hurt each other. They could spill blood, but they don’t. They haven’t.

There’s a reason for that.

”Mother wasn’t too happy, of course,” it was liberating to step away from Hyaline’s grip, but it also tugged on her heart to see the flickering discomfort across Solace’s face. To lose her child – albeit not permanently or in poor terms – unsettles the Caretaker, but she was also reassured by Valdis and the confidence she emanated during their conversation. That had been the final thread to confirm her change of homes. ”She made an offer and tempted me to stay, but I declined,” Valdis takes a step toward Sinner now, their eyes leveling on each other, ”so I guess you’re stuck with me, for now.” A smug grin wrinkles the corners of her mouth and brightens her eyes as they dance across his face. She hasn’t quite been able to read him. A hooded stoicism breaks only with an occasional look of hunger. Much to her dismay, Valdis doesn’t realize his irritation that she remains just beyond his touch, teasing and tempting him. She is affecting him more than she fathoms. Perhaps, that is best. It would make her too arrogant.

But she is searching for a reaction and to see his face light up somehow. What had earlier bubbled on the surface of her tongue now coats her lips enticingly until she can no longer subdue the words. ”A congratulations is in order,” she isn’t envious because she isn’t ready to be a mother herself, ”I take it you like girls jumping your bones.” A sweet laughter slips from her now. It is contained easily enough, however, as her mind wraps around the King and Queen coupling. Sylva had been Sinner’s initially, so perhaps out of desperation to seal her place, Mary opened herself to him. Such an easy woman, but how exciting to have a Whore Queen sitting on Sylva’s throne.

VALDIS

But then a strange fear gripped me and I just couldn't ask.

@[Sinner]