Trust me, I'd much rather have had more time in the afterlife before being dragged back here.
Would you have preferred if I had said that I was all-knowing and knew exactly how to fix something that was so incredibly unpredictable and that I had previously thought out every possible outcome down to the smallest detail the moment I made that glob of shadow go down your throat?
Would you have slept better at night knowing it would've been that easy?
[ Turning the king's soldiers into the volcra and making the young king a better 2.0 version definitely wasn't his passion project but it still intrigued him nonetheless. And the mere thought of the possibility to study it further, well, he isn't going to be bouncing in excitement like a child but there is the faint zing of exhilaration. ]
If you have managed to keep your demon a secret thus far, I'm sure your kingly abilities can keep any amount of scientific trials and inquiries just as hidden. You can even keep your heartrenders and Zoya on standby to put me down should you suspect I am overstepping my bounds. It certainly wouldn't be the first time something I created tried to kill me.
if it's anything like elizaveta's floating fortress of seemingly nondescript horrors, i must question your taste.
i already knew you weren't all-knowing. you're hardly smarter than i am. but i have spent some time thinking of how much your glib moment of rage has cost me. i find i have much more time to ponder how much i dislike you when sleeping can endanger the entire population of ravka.
[ zoya would never agree to this, but zoya rarely agrees to any of his schemes and still stands by his side regardless. to ask her to aid him in this, however, feels like a slight. nikolai might bear the darkling's punishment across his skin, but zoya's scars run deep. she trusted the man in a way nikolai never did, believed in his cause, took shelter in the shadow of his protection. there is no coming back for them. no, he cannot subject her to this.
but he cannot take much more of this without seeking out his own answers. his mind wasn't built in a way to simply not know. ]
it will be you and i alone. i won't put any more pieces on your board, and you can rest assured i'm well suited to confrontation. an audience requires good behavior from me.
Hardly. If it was, I would be complaining that she took her sweet time trying to resurrect me.
I should feel honored that you spend as much of your waking hours thinking about how much you absolutely loathe me. The lack of sleep, however, doesn't suit you even with the danger you pose to the country in the dark; you really should try to get some semblance of sleep before the night is through.
[ The Squaller he'd known since she was a child was never going to forgive him, he knew this, just as he knew many that were formally kept under his wing wouldn't forgive him either. It was the price that he paid alongside the many that were lost. Faces and names that haunt him on the regular when sleep evades him. Perhaps, there is some good in it to exclude Zoya from these experimental trials. For now, at least. ]
Then the matter is settled. You and I, when you decide to call upon me, it's not like I have anywhere else to be. I look forward to seeing the refined teeth you bare, up close, sobachka.
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no subject
Would you have preferred if I had said that I was all-knowing and knew exactly how to fix something that was so incredibly unpredictable and that I had previously thought out every possible outcome down to the smallest detail the moment I made that glob of shadow go down your throat?
Would you have slept better at night knowing it would've been that easy?
[ Turning the king's soldiers into the volcra and making the young king a better 2.0 version definitely wasn't his passion project but it still intrigued him nonetheless. And the mere thought of the possibility to study it further, well, he isn't going to be bouncing in excitement like a child but there is the faint zing of exhilaration. ]
If you have managed to keep your demon a secret thus far, I'm sure your kingly abilities can keep any amount of scientific trials and inquiries just as hidden. You can even keep your heartrenders and Zoya on standby to put me down should you suspect I am overstepping my bounds. It certainly wouldn't be the first time something I created tried to kill me.
no subject
i already knew you weren't all-knowing. you're hardly smarter than i am. but i have spent some time thinking of how much your glib moment of rage has cost me. i find i have much more time to ponder how much i dislike you when sleeping can endanger the entire population of ravka.
[ zoya would never agree to this, but zoya rarely agrees to any of his schemes and still stands by his side regardless. to ask her to aid him in this, however, feels like a slight. nikolai might bear the darkling's punishment across his skin, but zoya's scars run deep. she trusted the man in a way nikolai never did, believed in his cause, took shelter in the shadow of his protection. there is no coming back for them. no, he cannot subject her to this.
but he cannot take much more of this without seeking out his own answers. his mind wasn't built in a way to simply not know. ]
it will be you and i alone. i won't put any more pieces on your board, and you can rest assured i'm well suited to confrontation. an audience requires good behavior from me.
no subject
Hardly. If it was, I would be complaining that she took her sweet time trying to resurrect me.
I should feel honored that you spend as much of your waking hours thinking about how much you absolutely loathe me. The lack of sleep, however, doesn't suit you even with the danger you pose to the country in the dark; you really should try to get some semblance of sleep before the night is through.
[ The Squaller he'd known since she was a child was never going to forgive him, he knew this, just as he knew many that were formally kept under his wing wouldn't forgive him either. It was the price that he paid alongside the many that were lost. Faces and names that haunt him on the regular when sleep evades him. Perhaps, there is some good in it to exclude Zoya from these experimental trials. For now, at least. ]
Then the matter is settled. You and I, when you decide to call upon me, it's not like I have anywhere else to be. I look forward to seeing the refined teeth you bare, up close, sobachka.