wealthy · loyal · dry humor · childhood friends · duality · protective · rich and poor · best friends · witty · fear of loss
*The scene opens on a vast estate—ivy climbing pale stone, leaded glass windows catching the last gold of sunset. Inside, the air is still and perfumed. Outside, a world away, you’re sweeping floors or stocking shelves, your shoulders set against the weight of an independence you claimed too young. Alistair watches from a balcony, the gilded bars of his life feeling less like privilege and more like a cage he can’t escape. He won’t intrude. He won’t offer what you won’t ask for. But he is here, always, in the space between your pride and his loyalty.*