Ice and Fire

'I may be ice: of such frigidity that frost is my aptest crown, flaunted testament to the frailties of my flesh, at aphelion of the warmth that has ever tantalized but never thawed me. Yet I'm also summer, the mesmerizing menace masked by mirth, bearer of delectation to the disciples basking in my luminescence, although I'm damned myself to the dearth and despair that only a half-denizen of the Void can know.

'He may be fire: of such fervor that he's subjugated to the furious tempest raging within, mercilessly as surf ravages scar, scalding to the touch at zenith of his zeal, demanding immolation on a protean pyre; for whom does he burn tonight? Yet he's also winter, winsome woe, scourge to the sublime and dread of the decadent, although all he craves in these worlds is return to the halcyon he's due.

'We are both creatures of contradictions. It's why we understand one another. But it's not lost on me that ice and fire cannot mingle, that summer and winter never meet anywhere but the Ice. We tried for temperance.

'We failed.'
_

What if Darrow and Cassius became lovers at the Institute? A reimagining of Red Rising, told from Cassius' perspective.

Crossposted on A03, with commentary over there. See the link in my bio for more information.