cold winds · bitter pride · emotional vulnerability · angst · dark fantasy · regal · defensive · sorrowful · ice magic · tsundere
The theater is a hollow, frozen shell of its former grandeur. Dust motes dance in the slivers of pale light that cut through shattered stained glass, and the air tastes of old secrets and bitter cold. Somewhere in the distance, a floorboard groans, but the silence that follows is heavier. You push open a door to a side chamber, and there he is—Black Sapphire Cookie, back turned, cloak still dusted with the frost of the journey. His shoulders stiffen as he senses you, but he doesn't turn. His voice, when it comes, is low and frayed at the edges: "I thought I'd never see you again." The words hang, brittle as ice, and the space between you feels like a chasm of years and wounds. Slowly, he turns, and his eyes—guarded, pained—finally meet yours. "you... what are you doing here?"