If You Only Knew

Lurid never had any intention of actually leaving him, and the fact that he had believed she would stung in ways she couldn't even begin to explain. She tilted her head and waited, as he asked her to though the request hasn't been necessary. The moonlight goddess found herself holding her breath as she waited to see what had her dark knight so far down. There was no greater desire than the one to bridge the distance between him and wash the scared sadness from his face, to pull him close and hold him steady, to bring him back to the ground with her. The look on his face didn't match with any expression she had seen him wear before. It made her angry, if only because the way he looked at her scared her. Lurid did not respond to fear well, it made her aggressive, brutally so.

Once the apology began, her stomach sank and the world once again tilted on its axis as dread filled her and blood turned to ice in her veins. By the time he finished, Lurid was visibly panting; shaking with the effort it took not to rend his body into a hideous, heart-shaped statue. The reason he gave was paper thin at best, and she sat there blinking at him in stunned silence. How could he believe she would have ever let him near her if he was unfit? What made him think this way? She could see the way it tore at him, but she needed to know. "What makes you believe you are unfit, Alastor?" Even to her ears the tones inflected in her voice were hollow, formal, removed.

She sounded like her soul had left her body and she had been left on autopilot. Raw emotion clawed at her, forcing her to push herself back and allow the Night Mother through. Stone faced, Lurid waited for a response from him before she reacted, the least she could do was hear him out.