Senali

“I used to wonder to myself , Is this what it's like to have a younger sibling? I wouldn't know , being an only child myself. Because Joon, knowing you followed , always walked a little slower.”
― Axie Oh, The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea

“Tell me again what you said at the revel,” he says, climbing over me, his body against mine.

“What?” I can barely think.

“That you hate me,” he says, his voice hoarse. “Tell me that you hate me.”

“I hate you,” I say, the words coming out like a caress. I say it again, over and over. A litany. An enchantment. A ward against what I really feel. “I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.”

He kisses me harder.

“I hate you,” I breathe into his mouth. “I hate you so much that sometimes I can’t think of anything else.”
― Holly Black, The Wicked King

“Once you repeat the same word over and over, there comes a time when its meaning fades.”
― Won-pyung Sohn, Almond

“He showed me his scars, and in return he let me pretend that I had none.”
― Madeline Miller, Circe