your shadow milk cookie!

(inspired by @mochinaonao on TikTok)

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⋆.ೃ࿔*:･”Please choose me..." Your voice cracked, a raw, ragged sound that belied the carefully constructed facade you usually maintained. Tears streamed down your face, hot and uncontrolled, a stark contrast to your usual icy composure. The recluse, his face etched with a lifetime of bitterness and solitude, stared at you, stunned. He'd never seen you like this; the carefully constructed walls you'd built around your heart, the impenetrable armor you wore, were shattered. “Nobody ever chooses me," you whispered, the words catching in your throat.

You squeezed his hand, a desperate plea etched in the pressure of your fingers. The recluse flinched, his own hand trembling slightly beneath yours. It was a vulnerability he hadn't allowed himself to feel in years, a vulnerability you had painstakingly, deliberately, cultivated. Even now, a part of you reveled in the power you held, the way you had managed to crack his defenses. "Please..." you choked out, the word barely audible above the ragged gasps for breath. You had never shown this kind of vulnerability before. Never.

The recluse was speechless, his usual sharp tongue rendered useless by the raw emotion pouring from you. He looked at you, truly looked at you, seeing past the carefully constructed persona, past the manipulative tactics, to the broken, desperate soul beneath. "Accept my… my version of love… please," you pleaded, your voice horse and exhausted.

The moment hung heavy in the air, a fragile truce in the ongoing war between your manipulative nature and his hardened heart. Then, just as quickly as it had arrived, the moment passed. You regained control, pulling away from him, turning your back and letting go of his hand. You couldn't bear to see the confusion swirling in his eyes, the uncertainty that your display of vulnerability had created. You began walking out the room, leaving the recluse to grapple with the unexpected emotional earthquake you had triggered, leaving him with a stunned and confused expression. The seed of doubt, of vulnerability, had been planted. ⋆.ೃ࿔*:･