@ilesule sent, for sadaari & winter:
" do you think you'd be happier if we went our separate ways then? " shirt pulled on over head, careful to not snag the fabric on any horn lest he rip a hole and get a scolding from tataru. it wasn't his style to care about things or people, about causes or lives, because in the end all of it will burn and he'll pick a fight to simply pick one and it ends. " it might be better that way i believe. "
❝ is that what you wish? ❞ her hands still, pausing the motion of redoing the fastenings on her shirt. pale gaze drifts to catch sight of him, and there’s a pang in her chest that she’s all too familiar with — she’s too familiar to being left alone by those she’s let in. she thanks the twelve that sadaari hasn’t truly had the chance to sink his claws into her heart; if he leaves now, if they never have another moment together, it will not break her ( then, why does the thought hurt? why does it make bile rise to her throat? ). winter swallows down each misplaced thought, and when she finishes dressing, hands smooth over the fabric. posture straightens, and when she turns to face him, any lingering trace of panic, doubt, leaves her.
picture - perfect, mask of neutrality back in place. a delicate shrug.
❝ it doesn’t matter to me what we do, or what we don’t do. my happiness doesn’t hinge on if we’re together or apart. ❞ this feels like a lie, and winter dorne has never been a liar. ❝ i enjoy your company. i enjoy our nights together. but none of that has to matter, not if you don’t wish it to. i don’t know if it would be better or not. i hardly see how it matters, or how either of our lives would improve. but... if you wish to leave, then i won’t stop you. i won’t chase you. ❞
she’s spent far too long chasing. how desperately she wants to be pursued for once. ❝ so if you want to go... then go. ❞
