hypersleep. astrid+hades.

It was the prototype.

Beautiful, illuminated in the shadows. Something that peaked your curiosity so much that you wanted to reach out and touch it, but the fear of what lurked beneath stopped your fingertips in mid-air. Black and red, a chemical heart beating at its core. There was more to it scribbled on your notebooks and whiteboard but when you'd looked at it in the evening light, watched it hover and twist and bounce you'd held up your hand and halted the technician at your side.

"No more," you were still getting used to giving commands - but this was the first you'd felt absolutely sure of.

Your hand had moved toward it, a red-grey glow cast over the tattoos crawling up your bones, and brushed it ever so gently.

A tiny gasp, a gentle shock in your fingertips. Static and serotonin.

"It's perfect."

You had based it on the most frightening thing you could think of: him. And now it sat in its glass jar in your arms, shuffling past colleagues leaving for the day, your own Seelie dancing around your head. Blue as your hair the day this role fell into your lap, it served as a legacy and a reminder of who you were when this all began.

Dozens had begged for their own at the conclusion of the 87th, even offered exuberant amounts. A pink one was happily delivered to Petelia Quartz's desk, a few more customised for exceptional work on projects - but this you had been saving for someone in particular. A solid idea, one that only felt right at the time, but the closer you crept towards Hades Lochlan's office the tighter your throat closed.

White knuckles gripped at the gift in your arms as you approached the door - tall and ominous, it was as if the air crushed your chest from within with every breath you took. Would he know it was the first? That you had thought of nothing but him as you sketched and tested and stayed up well into the night? Would he take one look at you and eat your thoughts raw?

Would you mind if he did?

Your own Seelie's light dimmed slightly, twitching nervously at your shoulder. It was as if you were introducing yourself to the world for the first time again and again and again, proving that you were far more than what your name said on paper. Most doubts in this building you had vanquished, but none had you wanted to conquer more than the approval of Hades Lochlan. 

The worst part was you couldn't tell yourself why. He was terrifying. Curiously so. Never had you found yourself so fixated on one's affections before his - most people were passers-by in your life, easily bored or swayed by the next. Perhaps that was why you found him so puzzling. He seemed to feel entirely indifferent by you.

A deep breath in, ice in your chest, you knocked and stepped forward on the exhale. Tucking your tiny self around the door, you closed it behind you with one hand and kept the prototype balanced in the other.

"A thank you," you say curtly, walking forward and placing the glass box on his desk. There were never any need for introductions between people like yourselves. 

You stay, even though you shouldn't, hazel eyes lingering on the Seelie hovering calmly inside its glass cage. You worry your nerves might shatter it at a mere touch, taking a step back for good measure.

"For your work in the 87th."

where's your mind wondering'?
never stay, never leave
justify that i always want
the wrong thing