Greatwater Lake trying to fit beneath the skin

the suspension that tenses scarab's muscles as he waits for maegi's response to the exposure of his darkest and deepest secret heightens the golden prince's anxiety until he feels like he might explode. he is statue still except for a twitch in his shoulder and the steady rise and fall of his flanks with each breath he takes. and then she speaks. and relief floods him like a tidal wave. the tension saps from him and he sags a bit with his relief. she didn't think any different of him. she didn't turn from him in disgust as he's feared she would.

though scarab would still keep his bout of cannibalism close to his chest ( expect apparently when he's burning with fever and wanted to use it to threaten someone ) it did not feel quite as heavy as it had before.

his lapis lazuli gaze remains focused upon her, startled for a moment as their gazes lock as she asks a question of her own; asking scarab if he would think different of her if she told him that she did horrible things out of fear or hatred. no, it doesn't. he tells her firmly. after all, she'd never done anything horrible to him and self-centered as scarab was that was all that mattered to him. how anyone treated him was how he felt about them ...what was done to anyone else wasn't really his business or concern, he feels.

nanowrimo: 241