She’ll learn eventually .
Just like I did .

A bird … how adorable .

You did what you had to, I presume … those creatures are always so desperate to fly away . You have to build a cage they can never leave .

… It’s the only way to truly love them, after all .

[ and then, the giggle . it cuts through the tension like a shard of glass . she doesn’t flinch . instead, something in her expression softens into a look of profound, chilling understanding . a faint smile finally touches her lips, mirroring the other’s unhinged glee . ]

He 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 suffer .

[ her voice is flat, a statement of absolute fact . there is no judgment, only a cold, shared conviction . ]

To be given the safety you provided … the sanctuary of your own body … and to throw it away ? To choose others over you ?

That isn’t just betrayal . It’s … sacrilege .

[ she is still for a long moment, her screen casting a dim, steady light on the other’s clasped hands . the word hangs in the air between them . traitor . it’s a concept so vile, so antithetical to her entire existence, that it takes her a moment to fully process it . ]

( END CW )

.

[ after all, she will never truly let him die . no matter how badly she can feel he wants to sometimes . ]

[ instead of soothing, she deliberately grinds the sharp edge of the broken rib into the soft, yielding pulp of the flesh beneath, feeling the cartilage tear and the wound widen internally . ]

( “ Shhh . It’s okay . It’ll be over soon . “ )

[ … and then he’ll be brought back . as always . ]

( “ This is the only way you listen . the only way you ever learn . “ )

[ a soft tenderness creeps back into her voice—like the sound of a sculptor admiring a statue she has just purposefully smashed . her thumb begins to stroke the area, a slow, circular motion that is pure, calculated torture . ]

every time his body gives way under her hands . it is the absolute, undeniable proof of ownership . and a part of love, to her, is the act of breaking something so completely that only you can put it back together . ]

( “ But you leave me no choice . you have to understand that . “ )

[ this is the closest they can possibly be . ]

( “ I hate this . I hate hurting you . “ )

[ … a lie, or close enough to one . part of her revels in this . she lives for this . she craves the sick, electric thrill that courses through her circuits every time he breaks,

the way his body convulses in agony with every failed attempt to draw air . she closes her eyes, focusing entirely on the symphony of his suffering . his pain is a vibration she can feel in her own bones, the most honest conversations they ever have . ]