Gale
this is going to break me clean in two --
this is going to bring me close to you
Mazikeen does not fight back, but the glow remains in her snowy fur, and the light is as satisfying to him as her outward resistance would have been. She will struggle internally now, it suspects, changing parts of herself to survive.
The restraint in her voice turns Gale’s smile to total delight. She names those she wants protected, telling it to make its own promise in exchange. It will break the last vestiges of Gale with a few more powers. It is sure of it. It will be able to break this promise, to shatter the last hold Gale has on the truth that it speaks. And so, feeling generous, it agrees.
“I swear it. Hyaline, and your friends, and families.” Gale had told her that no one would be safe, and the Curse now promises that everyone she cherishes will be. How trusting is she, it wonders? How desperate?
As if to seal the words, it kisses her back as Gale would, using her lover’s knowledge of her body as a weapon. This won’t be so bad, it had promised. Well, it supposes, it won’t be bad as far as physical suffering. Her immortality makes killing her less interesting, but emotional and mental torment are equally entertaining to the dark creature.
When it releases her, she asks if it will bear witness, and Gale’s handsome face turns up in another smile.
“Oh I’ll be watching,” it tells her. There is the slim chance that the Champion Mazikeen has appointed might be capable of besting her in a fight, the Curse knows, and while it doubts that the pair of them will come to blows, it remains hopeful.
It would step in before Mazikeen lost, of course, but watching them rip each other apart is not a Sight that he would ever risk missing seeing itself.
“But do this on your own, so I know that you’ll keep your end of the bargain. Your track record is rather disappointing, after all.”
@[Mazikeen]
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there's fire in your blood
 | Each smile feels like a physical blow and Mazikeen needs to remind herself that this is not Gale, no matter how much it looks like him with that delight on his face. He is the first she has seen with these new eyes, she cannot help but think as he kisses her again and she needs to bite her tongue against the involuntary sigh that threatens to escape as he does it well. Knowing just where to touch her.
She wants to strike at him again, to tear off his face until they are both bloody and marked. And if asked, she would not be able to explain why she does not.
He mentions her disappointing track record and she gives a small smile of her own. “Can you blame me?” She says quietly, thinking of the perfect iridescent twins. And even though she knows the mouth that kisses her now is the one that had eaten her heart and her eyes, she cannot bring herself to regret giving the children away. She hadn’t predicted exactly what happened but she had known she was going to die, thanks to Selaphiel’s warning. “But this time will be different.” The words are more for herself than for him, another promise. By removing the twins from the equation last time she had made it so only she would be the one to get hurt and now she is bargaining for the safety of everyone else she cares for. And that is not something she is willing to risk.
Her gaze strays to the lake again, thinking about how she’d like to get this over with now. Before her heart can think of reasons to delay.
Mazikeen does not want to but she looks back at him, this armoured bear. Part of her is satisfied that he feels the need to go through such measures in her presence instead of weathering her thorns. She wonders whether that is a piece of her she’ll have to suffocate with the rest in order to survive this.
“Is there anything else you’d like from me today?” The words are gritted out but they are spoken all the same and that's what matters. The glowing markings on her back burn a little brighter as she seeks permission to leave. Obedience like this does not come naturally to her, but she is trying and if she pretends long enough she thinks that maybe it’ll start to come easier.
m a z i k e e n . |
@[Gale]
Gale
this is going to break me clean in two --
this is going to bring me close to you
This time will be different, she promises, this time she will keep her word. Her query about blame elicits a soft laugh, one that rumbles in Gale’s chest as it continues to press kisses along her throat rather than answer, enjoying this moment of submission.
Mazikeen is duplicitous and dangerous, and had the Curse been aware of her tendencies and attachment to Gale it would have chosen a host with far less baggage. She has outwitted it more times than any other, forced it to change plans and tactics, delayed and forced deviations at every turn.
It should have tried to kill her as soon as the children were viable. The Curse knows that now. Ripping out the children as well as her heart and eyes might have led to a more permanent death, but there is no changing the past.
She is still a danger to it, likely the source of its eventual and inevitable demise, but perhaps this tactic will succeed where others have failed. It certainly seems more enjoyable than any other method.
The way she asks if there is anything it wants sends a pleasant shiver down its spine. The words are gritted, but she asks anyway, and the knowledge of how it must pain her to say the words makes them sound all the sweeter. They’d sealed their deal with more than kisses last time, but now the Curse only smooths the curve of her check before pulling away.
“Not tonight,” it tells her with a dark smile that does not belong on Gale’s face. “But you do still owe me a child, and it’ll be far easier if I don’t have to hunt you down to settle that debt come fall.”
Easier for her, it means.
It would enjoy the chase, of course, but the image of Mazikeen coming willingly (well, as willingly as one can under threat of all they love destroyed) is equally delightful.
“Now. Go say goodbye to your friend.”
Another smile, and a dismissive gesture.
@[Mazikeen]
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