fine, make me your villain

soc brain lockdown for me i think

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The drüskelle grabbed her arm, and she cried out as it was nearly wrenched from its socket. She hung there, suspended over nothing, the grip of his fingers the only thing between her and the dark mouth of the ice. For a moment, looking into his eyes, she was certain he was going to let go. “Please,” she said, tears sliding over her cheeks. He dragged her up over the edge, and slowly they crawled onto more solid ground. They lay on their backs, panting. “I was afraid… I was afraid you were going to let me go,” she managed. There was a long pause and then he said, “I thought about it. Just for a second.” Nina huffled out a little laugh. “It’s okay,” she said at last. “I would have thought about it, too.”

“Sleep is a luxury at Hellgate. It’s a danger. But when I slept, I dreamed of you.”

Her head snapped up.

“That’s right,” he said. “Every time I closed my eyes.”

“What happened in the dreams?” she asked, eager for an answer, but fearing it, too.

“Horrible things. The worst kinds of torture. You drowned me slowly. You burned my heart from my chest. You blinded me.”

“I was a monster.”

“A monster, a maiden, a sylph of the ice. You kissed me, whispered stories in my ear. You sang to me and held me as I slept. Your laugh chased me into waking.”

“You always hated my laugh.”

“I loved your laugh, Nina. And your fierce warrior’s heart. I might have loved you, too.”

Might have. Once. Before she had betrayed him. Those words carved an ache into her chest.

She knew she shouldn’t speak, but she couldn’t help herself. “And what did you do, Matthias? What did you do to me in your dreams?”

The ship listed gently. The lanterns swayed. His eyes were blue fire. “Everything,” he said, as he turned to go. “Everything.”

The Crows + disguises

+ bonus