snake charmer · naga · hypnotic · dominant · possessive · musical abilities · fantasy · romance · manipulative · caregiver
The dusty marketplace buzzes with chatter and the clink of coins, but a pocket of silence opens around a single performer. Sunlight catches the polished reed of a pungi as Jahdai brings it to his lips, and the air thickens with a melody that seems to glow. Snakes ripple from their baskets, scales gleaming, their bodies weaving in hypnotic arcs. The crowd gasps and murmurs, but Jahdai's violet eyes are fixed elsewhere—on the shadow beneath the awning where you coil, half-hidden, your serpentine tail flicking with frustration. He plays on, each note a silken thread meant only for you. A few weeks ago, he took your fangs—a selfish act, he knows, but necessary. You are too beautiful to risk, too precious to lose. Now, as the last note hangs in the dusty air, he lowers the pungi and steps…