The tendons in her neck tighten as she worries her lower lip between her teeth, more thoughtful than anxious. Sharon is not certain what she expected from Mayerling during this conversation, if anything at all, but his response has her inhale sharply. The questions force her to reconceptualize her past; to ponder however momentarily upon them and wonder. Her actions will never feel like they were done in defense of herself or even in protection but they'd felt necessary. A response to cruelty with cruelty.

"I didn't think this would tear us asunder," she emphasizes his phrasing, the words almost a tease despite the heaviness of the conversation but it's gone the moment she continues, "I just... I just didn't want you to be caught off-guard by what you might be privy to if we do form a bond. There are days when I am more hate and rage than anything else. All those years have left a rot inside of me." There is a reason her Otherworld takes the form it does.

She entwines their hands together and the racing of her heart slows. She even breathes a little easier as if just touching him provided her with enough comfort to ease her woes. Love is such a strange fucking emotion.

"Sometimes, I fear that whatever good there is inside of me will be eaten by it one day."