It is no longer just a want.
It's a need.
Communication is so vital here, in this outspoken world. It would be much simpler if he had been born female so that he could cradle his body into the embraces of others and press words into their skin. It would have been a more intimate thing, but Sinder is a male and refuses to attach himself so strongly to anyone.
Except Noori.
(Yes, except Noori)
He had made himself vulnerable by allowing her to twist vines through his blackened heart but they have since shriveled and rotted. There are others in her life, other fathers and other lovers and other children. It would never - could never - just be them.
Love does not exist.
The statement rings in the deep corridors of his mind, reminding him of his mistakes. Had she enraptured him so much that it blinded him from what he was raised to believe? Mother, father, sister. They are all gone because they fell prey to the perils of adoration and love; it was their demise and their weak link. Sinder refuses to be them. The downward spiral began but has since ended when Noori found him in the Tundra with another stallion in tow. That instant shattered everything and burned any hope he may have once had. It was then that he understood.
But she's still in his mind, rooted and indestructible.
Lately, his thoughts have slipped to brief memories but they seem to come to life when her voice reaches him and drowns his musings. Sinder turns slowly, hesitating, before curiosity draws him from the familiar oasis to Noori.
She's back.
(She'll fuck you over again)
She might.
(Don't be weak)
Love does not exist.
The hardened shell that Noori had cracked has since been rebuilt. A returned darkness shadows his face as he slowly approaches and drinks in the sight of her. It has been years. They may have had a child (or it could have been the other man's) but he has never seen him or her. They are back to where they began, the mute boy and fiery girl. With hollowed eyes, Sinder stares in unbroken silence.
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