ᅠᅠ𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐙𝐄𝐃 𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐑.

ー answering when I call out... and then I wake... and nothing's changed. You're killing him. You're killing him... I've done nothing to deserve this!"

ー hate me so?" He cried out. A tear of blood rolled down his visible cheek.

"I do not dream anymore."

The claw dug deeper.
It's not like he was able to do lasting damage to him, anyhow.

"I retreat to rest as I always do, but then I find myself in pitch-black darkness. There's none ー

ー fingers and dripped down in occasional droplets. Much like him, his star had changed.

A sudden surge of emotion burned in his chest. Aleator grit his teeth and closed his hand, sinking these sharpened claws into Nanook's wound like he'd torn into his neck.

"Why do you ー

ー drastic changes he'd gone through... both physically and mentally, there wasn't much left of the person he used to be.

Ignoring his own open wound that Nanook had left behind on his throat, the Ravager watched as the golden liquid seeped through his ー

He offered no resistance as that clawed hand of his was pressed against a wound so searing it would've ended anyone else.

Not him, though.

Aleator was a shadow of his former self and couldn't even be called human anymore what with the ー

ー armor as it melted.

"See? You can deny it all you want, but that won't change a thing. I'll always be able to get under your skin. I'll always be here to remind you of what you're trying to suppress."

ー close to a moan.

The Ravager tipped his head back some as a clawed hand moved to the back of the Aeon's head, gripping a rough fistful of hair while the air around them sizzled, reeking of the metal of his ー

ー ichor that burnt all it came into contact with, but close to the sole thing that remained. The last link that connected his past and present.

So it wasn't an agonizing scream or a hiss that Nanook earned for his sudden assault but a delirious noise that came awfully ー

Aleator had long grown numb to the sensation of painー it was his constant companion and sole comfort when he was far away from... here.

He refused to call it home, but it was the closest thing to it regardless. Not this swirling vortex of rocks and searing-hot ー

ー as his head was yanked back, but he held his gaze, searching and longing.

"Oh, that's simple. I want everything."

ー civilization with his die, he made sure to leave survivors. When he heard them scream as they tried to outrun their fate, he was reminded of the time he'd been the one running.

When he looked at what was left of his light, his star, he convinced himself he hadn't lost him.

Aleator hissed ー

ー everything as a game of chess and took his timeー something the Aventurine from olden times could've sympathized with.

Aleator, however, embraced a different aspect that had fueled him time and time again throughout his mortal life...

Self-destructive behavior.

Whenever he doomed a ー

Nanook was slow to realize it.

All of his Ravagers had a different view on what Destruction wasーZephyro used brute force and delighted in violence in its purest form while Celenova was a strategist at heart that derived the most pleasure from outnumbering her targets.

█████ regarded ー

ー crave your touch if it weren't so."

ー readily available, one that had been a lot more intimate on top of everything else, he'd chosen to preserve his (mental) strength.

"Maybe I'm still waiting for you to admit that the both of you are more conjoined than you care to admit. I've blurred those lines long ago... I wouldn't ー

Indeed, his touch was a pleasant warmth at bestー a welcome distraction from the inherent torment that an existence as an Emanator of Destruction brought with it.

Aleator would've endured a thousand hours in the Warforge had it been necessary, but with an alternative ー

ー this.

"Must I rely on myー do you even hear yourself? It's like telling you to stop destroying things. It's stupidー I would've preferred a 'well done', you know. I'm efficient at what I do."

If anything, that small reciprocation only served to spur him on further.

Aleator's feet left the ground as he shifted, getting comfortable in the Aeon's familiar presence and all but forcing him to support his weight with that arm.

He'd be a fool not to make the most of ー

ー I had my eye on. Two of them, anyway. The third got lucky."

"And you were trapped in an artificial body and nearly destroyed several times," Aleator replied in a monotonous voice. "Your point?"

Despite the subtle animosity between them, he closed the distance between them to fling both arms around Nanook's waist.

"I've destroyed those sister planets ー

"Audience?"

An unbelieving sigh could be heard behind the mask.

"Didn't I tell you to stop calling it that? It makes me feel like a peasant begging for crumbs."

"Nanooooook~ I'm home~" ♫

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