The sun shines almost mockingly outside the window—a rarity under Snezhnaya’s sky. His family insists he remain in his room to let his injuries heal when really, they’re still on edge by his recent disappearance.

He unsettles them, he knows. He’s only half-apologetic about it.

Ajax takes your hand and places it over his chest. “I’m still me,” he tells you. “Aren’t I?”

His heart beats the same, and the warmth beneath his skin pulses as it always has, yet he knows he’s changed. Irrevocably. A grotesque beast that has crawled from the depths of the earth, fangs bared and talons sharp—that’s what the Abyss has turned him into. His own skin feels constricting, the chaos within him snarling to be released.

But… change isn’t inherently bad, is it? Now that he’s stronger, the both of you will have nothing to fear. Even as fragments of his former self erode, he’s still yours, isn’t he? Still your Ajax.

He can only hope you’ll soften your heart, like how strangers coo at a dog on the street. You’ve always understood him better than anyone else, so won’t you see him for what he is now, and love him despite it all?