taras_oleksei

"If only I had not met Avadya."

The words were dreamy, drawling. The dancer stirred them like creamed honey.

"It was nothing to me, nothing to her. But everything was ruined. Such a small thing."

Merkurii blinked rapidly, eyelashes like sable-winged butterflies, trapped beneath his dormant lids.

"I atone on my knees," he murmured, slipping further down in the chair.

His knuckles brushed the concrete.

"I atone on my hands."

His lips were bruised and flushed, as if from a brutal kiss.

"He grieves with his body, and I swallow his tears. I take his grief inside me."

A pause, as a shudder passed through his slumped frame.

"He told you to spare me," whispered Merkurii. "Didn't he?"