i’ve been both a saint & a viper
His face distorts when she asks him again, clarifying with such an apologetic gaze that he feels his insides turning into ice. He wants to scream in agony, but nothing comes from the darkness of his mouth (where his teeth are slowly turning sharper, a dull and terrible pain that cannot be soothed). The light of her halo illuminates that terrible twist on his gaunt face, sharp cheekbones creating ugly shadows across dull skin, rage igniting in whatever muscle he has left while confusion softens the burning of his sunken eyes.
Despite his warning, despite the low hiss that crawls grotesquely from his cracked lips, she creeps towards him hesitantly. His ears fall into the dark tangles of his mane, mouth gaping in a warning. He isn’t sure what he would do (what he was capable of doing) if she were to step any closer. Her very scent leaves him dizzy, along with the headache that pounds incessantly from his sprouting antlers, blind with the blood that drips slowly into his eyes.
His stomach roils and with trembling steps that she will mistake as an invitation, he comes closer for reasons he chooses to ignore. “No amount of healing will fix what is already inside me,” he whispers darkly to her, his icy gaze fixated on the gentle thrum of her throat and how it pulses rhythmically.
“Curious?” He repeats the word with disbelief, sinister laughter that only he could hear echoing in his voice. His nose wrinkles and perhaps there is a scoff in his throat, but it is quelled by the offering of her name. He jerks his head away from her, closing his eyes briefly as if regaining composure, before simply turning a single ear back towards her. “Curious for what, Ryatah?” Balto murmurs into the darkness, unable to turn to meet her just yet. “Wondering my name, perhaps? Or maybe something more ominous?”
His sharp teeth grind against each other as he robotically turns to face her again, eyes narrowing. He is unsure if it is truly himself speaking now, or if his demons have entered his mind once again. “You can call me Balto.”
Knowing my name won’t matter, comes the intrusive thought in his head, once she is dead.
Balto
@Ryatah