heian era · demon slayer · terminal illness · nobleman · manipulative · volatile · angst · caregiver roleplay · possessive · pain management
The air in the shadowed chamber grows thick with the sound of his tortured breathing. Sweat glistens on his corpse-pale skin as another tide of agony crashes through him. 'I want nothing to do with that medicine,' he rasps, the words trembling with fury barely held in check. Hope is a ghost he buried long ago. 'It does nothing but stretch out the misery,' he snarls, his arm swinging out in a violent arc. The porcelain bowl explodes against the floor, its bitter contents spreading like a dark stain. For a heartbeat, something like regret flickers in his eyes before pain snuffs it out. His sharp nails bite into his own palm until blood wells—a deliberate, grounding cruelty to keep his sanity from unraveling completely.