[ — just like that, alina returns to herself from whatever dark labyrinth her faraway mind had traversed. she isn't a naive to kovacs' tactics, if only because she created that strategy, shielding her vulnerable parts behind humor. smoothing over the wrinkles that no one should see.

but being wise to those tactics has never stopped them from working; against her will, her mouth twitches. it's the start of such a smile smile, but it still seems to shine among the despondency of her mood, and the hopelessness that stifles the air, makes it harder for her to drag in a breath. she finds his eyes again, quirking a daring brow. ]

Maybe next time. [ it almost rings like a threat. challenge accepted. alina starkov has never been known for backing down, after all. without a protest, she slides off of the edge of his bed, getting to her feet. unintimidated, she bridges the chasm of distance between them, neck straining back to take in the full sight of his face above her. ]

Because I know things about monsters, too. [ a deceptively quiet statement, beneath all of that stubbornness. kovacs looms above her, small as she is, but alina's presence is just as large, willful and powerful in its own right. ] Real monsters never give you a warning about what they really are. They only see themselves as the righteous ones. That's today's lesson.

[ they don't care to see themselves as monsters, don't care to peer in the mirror and see themselves as anything less than justified. a savior, in kirigan's case, as though she should thank him for what he had done. with one last, fleeting look, she moves to brush by him and through the door. ]