“Shut up. Shut up, shut up, shut up! Stop lying, stop saying I’m your family, stop having those, those delusions.” The words aren’t as venomous or as filled with hatred and anger as every other offense thrown at him, but they’re something else entirely. They’re vulnerable. They show a side of her that she steels from anyone, from everyone, from herself even, a part that she does not acknowledge and will not acknowledge. She is supposed to be of marble, you see. Impenetrable, grandiose, like an ancient masterpiece. But they all eventually fall apart, don’t they? Not her. She can not. She could not. Not once, not ever. “Stop thinking that you know me. You don’t. No one does.” She snarls the words, like a (wounded) wolf that feels threatened. 

              She has the upper hand now, body on top of his, eyes fired up and adrenaline running freely through her veins. She loves this. She lives for this. For the thrill, the emotion. She can not help but to smirk, and then, when her fingers are ready to wrap around his neck, when she’s ready to beat him, to prove that she’s better, that she’s always been better—-you’re not. Her entire body freezes for a moment, smirk gone, lips open as she takes in a deep breath. How long has it been since she heard those words? Has she, ever, heard them before? Has someone told her that she was irreplaceable? IF YOU FAIL, WE WILL FIND SOMEONE ELSE, BETTER AND MORE QUALIFIED. You are not special. You are SKILLED. Words repeating on her mind as she looks at him, and she thinks of everything they’ve been through and everything they are and—– why do you have to so god damn beautiful when you’re about to kill someone, anna? It snaps her back to reality (thankfully). Oh, he’s brilliant, isn’t he? How could she not think of that before? Dimitri always has the ability to make her forget that she has many more weapons than her strength. He makes her weaker. Her fingers move from his neck to the neckline of his shirt, fingers touching the skin under it softly. Anna leans in, lips close to his ears and whispers “Do you really think I’m beautiful?” before pressing her lips against his. This is a battle she can win.