A/N: To the adorable people who told me to stop writing about this pair, with all due respect I say: suck my gigantic dick and keep scrolling, pedazo de pajeros. ¿No tienen nada mejor que hacer?
To the people who liked it: Thank you so much for the support. I wasn't planning on writing another one of these, but just as one Kaz Brekker, I enjoy making some decisions out of spite, lmao.
I hope you enjoy this small piece :)
Light calls to Shadow
Set during R&R.
Summary: Alina goes to see him.
She was sure she had not done it consciously, yet as she closed her eyes at night, she found herself inside a dark room.
He laid on the left side of the bed, facing up, still as a corpse.
"Why did you call me?" Alina asked from her place.
Seconds went by in loud silence.
"I didn't call you." he sounded smug.
Alina looked down at her bare feet. She wouldn't admit it out loud, but maybe he was being sincere.
Each day they were closer to finding the Firebird or not finding it at all, and everyone was so tense; she didn't know what to do, how to soothe and reassure them.
Slowly, she took a step towards him.
"How did you do it?"
"Must you be so vague, Alina?" he sighed, still not looking at her nor moving.
"When times are though, how do you keep people loyal?"
He chuckled darkly.
"Having trouble? How many follow you, sun summoner? Ten? And you can't keep them at bay?"
She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.
"Forget I asked."
There it was that sound again, dark, far too amused, almost cruel and yet her heart betrayed her in its leap.
He patted the empty space at the other side of the bed.
Hesitant, she approached but didn't sit.
His eyes were closed, face almost relaxed. He looked so,...human,...so hand-
She shook her head.
"There's various ways, mostly ones you'd disapprove of." he spoke softly, but his voice reverberated around the walls nonetheless. "But, if you favour a few, the rest will want the same."
She remembered her time at the Little Palace, back when things were simpler. When all she had to worry about was getting to summon her light without help and not give the other grisha a reason to gossip about her.
Back then, The Darkling had had his small circle of trusted advisors, and a few grisha who he seemed to not overlook.
Zoya had been one. Until she knocked her out during a training session.
Frustrated, she sat on the edge of the bed, her back to his.
"Well, that won't help me if only ten people follow me."
"So, the Apparat isn't really with you? You know, it's not very smart to reveal this information to the enemy."
She snorted.
"Shut up. Don't act like you didn't already know."
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him smile. For a moment, she pictured herself leaning down and pressing her lips to his.
"He is insufferable, isn't he?" The Darkling asked, opening one grey eye.
"The worst." she huffed, plopping down on the bed and arranging the pillows beneath her head. "You have no idea what it was like being trapped with him for months." she shook her head while she felt the matress shake with his silent laughter. "I'm being serious. He was always breathing down my neck; I couldn't even leave my room or talk to my friends. He drove me mad."
"Poor, Sankta Alina, having to spend a few months with The Apparat." he mocked her. "Imagine spending decades with the prick."
"Stop it with the Saint thing. I hate that too."
"Sankta Alina the brooder."
"Ha, ha."
"Sankta Alina the whiner."
"Ugh."
She covered her face with her hands, and after a few seconds, she started laughing too, but out loud.
"You should've seen his face every time I used the shadows on him."
He snorted, and she turned to look at him, surprised. It was such a mundane sound, but she didn't think him capable of it.
He turned his head and stared back at her, moonlight shining over him, making him look divine.
Why must you be so evil?
"I'm not evil, Alina. I just have a different plan to protect people like us and you just happen to disagree."
"By that logic, then I must be evil to you."
"Oh, the worst kind." he said, jokingly. "You haunt my dreams and every waking moment." she thought she might have imagined it, but it seemed as if his face had softened. "I turn every corner expecting to see you standing there, surrounded by sunlight."
She looked around the dark room, lit only by the moon and the fireplace.
"Well, there's no sunlight now. Sorry to disappoint."
When she turned her head towards him again, she saw a dim glow on his hand. Alina blinked and didn't move as he reached out and cupped her cheek.
"How about now?"
One of the corners of her mouth lifted up.
His hand ran down, fingers caressing her skin almost lovingly, down her arm, and finally taking her hand.
Alina moved onto her side so she could face him. Her fingers flexed over his, but they didn't close around them. She didn't fully take his hand, no matter how much she ached to.
"Your friends won't desert you." he stated, matter of factly.
She contemplated him, took in his face and every single detail, from the minuscule scar above his left eyebrow to the way his hair fell neatly behind his ears.
Alina yawned and closed her eyes, feeling something soft and heavy cover her.
Her hand remained loose in The Darkling's hold, but her thumb ran over the back of his hand.
She was almost asleep, so she'd spend the rest of her life wondering if she heard him right.
"Besides, you,are the sunlight."
It turned out, the sun summoner slept much better in the deepest darkness.