[open] You know I'm the one who put you up there

[Obscene]

I can see through you, see your true colors
Cause inside you're ugly, you're ugly like me

He doesn’t miss her rising anger. He knew it was coming and sees it stirring behind the glint of eyes that harden like twin emeralds. What he didn’t know was just how spectacular her rage would end up being. He continues to fill her in and he can see the way his words effect her, notices the way the rain begins to slow around them when he glances away, notices the storm brewing before his very eyes.

He waits for it. “Fool.” It starts. His expression is unreadable and he stays silent, watching her carefully. She wasn’t wrong, a word he had called himself more than once. What she says next makes his eyes narrow but still, he says nothing. Instead he watches the way light filters through her crystals, how her damp mane and tail suddenly rise like dripping snakes around her, the energy pouring from her eyes. He does not flinch in her fury although there is a tightening in his chest.

He’s never seen anything more beautiful and doubts he ever will.

It’s what she says next that breaks the spell between them. He faces down her fury and feels his own flaring back to life as his expression goes hard, the red of his eyes darkening as they grow cold. He is grateful for it, this rush of heat that distracts him from all those sharp broken pieces inside of him. This he understands. This feels more familiar. It doesn’t ease the ache any less though, that reminder of how she had looked at him all those years ago in a dark stormy meadow. “I don’t hurt children.” His voice a low icy rumble as he stares at her, unwavering and eerily calm. “After all this time, the things you think I am capable of.” He laughs, something cold and shuttered.

His voice is something harsh and deadly when he speaks again and those unflinching red eyes never stray from the blinding light that filters from hers. “This place was dead when I took it. Now it is no longer silent which is all I offered to do for your Queen. Have I failed in that endeavor, Cheri?” He pauses, tilting his handsome head at her. He doesn’t give her time to answer, asking her another question. “While you were gallivanting around looking for your missing boyfriend, Loess has remained untouched while your extended family has hurt my people, has hurt your precious North. And yet you do not wonder why Hyaline's eye has yet to turn on you or your kingdom?” He asks vindictively, seething behind his words and the frustration of something she still remained too dense or blind to see. She wanted to be Queen of the South, wanted to rule them all, but hadn’t even noticed what had been happening in her own front yard. Had forgotten that those “vipers” were her subjects too, one’s that deserved protection just as much as Loess did.

Aela had not asked to have her chest ripped open any more than the Northern mare had asked to have her legs broken.

“If you think this would have all been avoided then you’re a bigger fool than me.” He states quietly and takes another step closer until he can almost feel the heat from her fury. He searches her face again and then raises his head, exposing his neck and broad chest, the constellation scattered across his skin shining against her brightness. “Go ahead.” He challenges her, a low whisper, an invitation. “If you want to hurt me, go ahead.” There is a thrill that runs through him, wondering if she would. He wouldn’t blame her if she did, if she wanted to unleash her magic and punish him. He would take her violence, her harsh words, he would take anything she decided to throw at him. He was, after all, still a monster in her eyes and deserved nothing less.

obscene

@Cheri