[Possible, certainly. But that didn't mean Ardyn understood what he was in those calmer times, or that he could just revert to it at will. Healing from being an inhuman monster in body and soul alike was an agonizingly slow process; even if it all worked out, Ardyn would likely still come out of it a bitter, cruel person.]

[Still, it wasn't a lost cause. Not yet, no matter how little faith Ardyn had in the concept.]

[He took a slow breath and sighed, taking off his hat to run a scarred hand through ordinary red hair.]

...Some years ago--ah, how long was it? Around forty by now, perhaps forty-five. Ten less than that by your reckoning. That face, with a handful more years and too many sleepless nights added to it, belonged to the first human I'd seen in two thousand years.