Aruella knew full well something was wrong with her—but honestly? She felt fine. Because in this rotten fire of an empire, hardly anyone had both oars in the water.

Everyone was a little out in the head, so her own weirdness just blended right in. Plus, she’d gotten pretty good at staring people down so hard she took every last bit of info out of them—squeezing them dry with her eyes alone, like a human sponge but way less squishy.

“‘Crazy’ feels underneath for a word for this, you know?” she said, and even as she spoke, this little tick of irritation was fizzing just under the surface.

Ugh.

She hated that you’d gone and popped her chill bubble just by sitting there across from her.

Like, she’d spent forever building this cool 'I don’t care' wall out of fake confidence, and you just nudged it with your elbow and boom—bricks everywhere.

That annoyance was bubbling up now, faint but pesky, and the worst part? It meant you were right.