[ its twinkling castle gives one final, dwindling rotation before the music fades into soft silence. that lingering doubt that always wants to gnaw on her bones remembers, too vividly, every gift that's come with a price. something transactional, demanding a sacrifice in return. something conditional, taken away the moment she's lost worth in aleksander's eyes. something to chain her to a man that had craved an equal, so long as he was holding the reins.
and all of it had contributed to the image of the woman he had wanted to mold like clay, a masterpiece in his collection. from the corner of her eye, the embossed stars glimmer back at her with the same warmth that has wrapped around nikolai's voice. starlight. a testament that he has seen for what she is and brought her a representation of it in suns and stars and birds that are allowed the freedom of their wings, for no other reason than but i wanted to.
in the light of the moon, her eyes glisten tellingly with unshed moisture she blinks away. it's been too long since she's burst from happiness rather than spilling over from sadness — so long that she'd forgotten what it feels like to have a heart brimming with so much uncontainable hope that it overflows. maybe he had been right in calling them kindred spirits. she squeezes his hand in hers, clinging to that anchor. ]
Sometimes I can't even believe you're real. [ the corners of her mouth twitch as their glasses chime. ] Consider that a compliment and an insult.
[ some days, it nearly feels like she's dreamed him, that tug of familiarity in her gut that insists she knows the very depths of him. it's impossible, nonsensical; he's too good for her to have dared to dream into existence. her laughter flows out of her, like a soft breeze that dissolves the moment his seriousness strikes. ]
You're haunted. [ she knows this familiar song and dance. nikolai carves a piece of himself for the taking, and then retreats before she can study it further. it whispers of an earlier secret he's given her of how little he has smiled until now. as though she can beg it to show her where he's fractured, she sets her glass aside after a slow sip and sets her palm against his beating heart. ] I can feel it in you, right here. How long has it been since you've been happy?
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and all of it had contributed to the image of the woman he had wanted to mold like clay, a masterpiece in his collection. from the corner of her eye, the embossed stars glimmer back at her with the same warmth that has wrapped around nikolai's voice. starlight. a testament that he has seen for what she is and brought her a representation of it in suns and stars and birds that are allowed the freedom of their wings, for no other reason than but i wanted to.
in the light of the moon, her eyes glisten tellingly with unshed moisture she blinks away. it's been too long since she's burst from happiness rather than spilling over from sadness — so long that she'd forgotten what it feels like to have a heart brimming with so much uncontainable hope that it overflows. maybe he had been right in calling them kindred spirits. she squeezes his hand in hers, clinging to that anchor. ]
Sometimes I can't even believe you're real. [ the corners of her mouth twitch as their glasses chime. ] Consider that a compliment and an insult.
[ some days, it nearly feels like she's dreamed him, that tug of familiarity in her gut that insists she knows the very depths of him. it's impossible, nonsensical; he's too good for her to have dared to dream into existence. her laughter flows out of her, like a soft breeze that dissolves the moment his seriousness strikes. ]
You're haunted. [ she knows this familiar song and dance. nikolai carves a piece of himself for the taking, and then retreats before she can study it further. it whispers of an earlier secret he's given her of how little he has smiled until now. as though she can beg it to show her where he's fractured, she sets her glass aside after a slow sip and sets her palm against his beating heart. ] I can feel it in you, right here. How long has it been since you've been happy?