With a gentle curve of her lips, Chernobyl relapsed back into the present. Her eyes were sullen and wide in spite of her surprise. She had been sure that Murdock would find her past to be overrated but as his feathering shifted encouragingly along her back she settled against him with a sigh. It was hard for her to believe that he did not in fact think that she was a pathetic excuse of a creature, but she chose to revel quietly in her miseries instead of voicing them to the open air.

As the snow began to dance around them, Chernobyl imagined ghostly figurines twirling through the white of the Steppe. She trembled inwardly from the stale visions of her mother before banishing them altogether. She did not want the past to haunt her any longer and while it felt freeing to share it with someone else, it was also disconcerting. What would he think? Would he find her weak or inconsolable? For whatever reason she couldn’t seem to overcome the tightness in her throat and perhaps she didn’t want to. She didn’t want to succumb to the psychobabble that would soon ensue if she didn’t keep her mouth shut.

When his eyes met hers, she couldn’t seem to look away. She couldn’t understand the emotions she found there and at times she wished she could, but she was more than happy to be at a complete and utter loss- she had done enough feeling at that point and found no good reason to indulge in any more. It was all too overwhelming, too heavy for her to carry.

But Murdock would not let her fall back into the shadows, not after everything that she had shared.

Instead, his touch brought her to life once more. Her nerves burned with a fire that she did not recognize and part of her wanted nothing more than to pull away and face the icy cold that threatened to engulf them. But she couldn’t, or rather she wouldn’t. While the smaller part of her black heart asked for distance, the largest almost domineering part of her entire soul longed for more. She was inviting the sin inside and embracing it with a smile…

Did that make her wrong? If it did, then she certainly didn’t want to be right.

“I’ve never felt alone… until today.” Her inhibitions seemed to leave her altogether and it frightened her. It was true; she had never felt alone or even felt wrong about the way that she had come to be here alongside the Explorer. However as he draped his neck along her own, she couldn’t help the tremors that overtook her body or the way that she leaned into him. It was foreign and strange and everything that made her weak but in that moment, nothing else mattered. “You’ve made me realize just how lonely it is to endure life with no one by my side. I’d have you stay forever if I could.”

Her smile seemed to die away as she inhaled his sweet scent. She had given him everything, risked herself in order for his gain… and even though it frightened her, no, scared the living hell out of her- she wouldn’t have it any other way. Chernobyl trusted her explorer and as it would appear he held her heart as well. This was just the beginning of her end and though the path ahead looked dim, Murdock provided her the light she would need in order to get through it.