𖦹 lvckyspyral 𖦹

"Valery took care of himself poorly. He always had. For a man his size, he ate surprisingly little, and a grotesque creature in his food was hardly strange. He had eaten more maggots and grubs than he could count, the taste of them writhing in the flesh of rotten fruit was no different than that of stale bread or overcooked meat. The sensation of the mealworms wriggling on his tongue brought a familiar numbness, like sinking into an old, toxic habit. His jaw moved mechanically, almost obediently, grinding the insects between his teeth as his body accepted the sustenance.

Valery chewed as commanded, each bite more disconnected from his conscious mind, his body acting on autopilot. The centipede dangled just above his face, its legs twitching in the air, but it was Ulyana's eyes that he couldn't look away from. Milky, hollow, filled with something otherworldly that he couldn't quite comprehend; something that made his stomach churn and his heart race all the same. The air between them was thick with something more than lust or malice; it was a shared sickness, a bond neither of them could escape, and perhaps neither wanted to. He swallowed hard, the crushed remnants of the mealworms sliding down his throat, leaving behind a faintly metallic taste.

His eyes rolled back into his skull, yellowed scleras disappearing under his fluttering lids as the centipede’s slimy, segmented body hit his tongue with a sickening weight. His molars clamped down, grinding through the thick, brittle exoskeleton with a crack that resonated in his skull, the sensation both revolting and unavoidable. Each crush of his teeth caused the creature to rupture, its dark, venomous fluids flooding his mouth, an acrid tang burning the back of his throat. The noxious liquid coated his tongue like a viscous poison, bitter and sharp, sliding down his throat in slow, torturous waves with each mechanical, instinctive swallow.