#adryan

Nikolai was sure, if he wanted to, the man who held him prisoner could hear his heart beating from the other side of the sprawling manor. It was the sense of a small prey animal desperately willing its pulse to slow to a halt in the face of hiding from a predator. Adryan had dozens of other, better methods to monitor him. The cats never turned their unblinking gazes away, following him room to room with the same eerie eyes as their master. The servants, even unwilling, were no less likely to pass along their observations. And, of course, the man himself seemed to possess some form of mild omniscience.

So there was no logical reason for his smug insistence in invading Nikolai's space in such a way, pressing his ear against the scientist's chest just to hear the rabbiting of his pulse.

"Whatever is the matter, dear Nikolai?" Speaking so close, the dulcet purr of his voice resonated in the scientist's chest. He could feel, rather than see, the self satisfied grin on the monster's face.

"You." He tried to keep his tone flat. It was slightly muddled, however, by the weight pressing down on his lungs, putting a strain on his otherwise neutral tone. Of course, that was the only reason. Of course he wasn't scared by the leering, possessive weight of the man's presence.

Adryan barked out a laugh, pulling away enough for Nikolai to see the hellish glimmer in his eyes, the angelic smile that caught him off guard each and every time. He was sure he would never get used to the perfection staring back at him before he died. "You're going to have a heart attack young if you don't relax, darling. You seem stressed." His voice was honey, sweet and cloying. "You seem to have no problem doing the same with the cats."

The cats didn't look at him with the body and face of a Greek sculpture. He shoved the thought down, glaring to hide the rising tint of his cheeks. It only seemed to amuse the bastard more. "The cats will not eat me without your word. Unless you plan on killing me via heart attack, please get off--" A yelp cut off his words. Claws that weren't there before dragged across his collarbone, shredding yet another shirt to free the space just over his heart.

"I could kill you another way if you like, Nikolai." His voice dipped, still playful, but with that dangerous hush that always warned he was nearing the limit of his 'generosity.' Those claws sank below the surface of his skin, dragging a pained whine out. Nikolai froze under the predator's glare as he watched, preening in the instantaneous submission of his pet scientist. "Well?"

"That...will not be necessary." As if he had any other choice.

Uhhhhhhhhh I will offer any advice I have!

Also ajdhahhd thank you 🥺

Remember to change paragraphs whenever your 'camera' moves, whenever you switch to a different person or subject, and whenever dialogue starts

I work with the 'white room' analogy. Essentially, if you read what you've written and it could take place in a white room without anything missing really, you've gotta explain some things about the scenery.

Some writers say that said is your worst enemy, I say otherwise. You just gotta switch it up every once in awhile, you don't have to use overly descriptive words unless you want to

If you find that something in the story isn't working out, try changing the setting or the weather, I've found that that can sometimes help me write