arc · caitlyn kiramman · arcane · masquerade · wlw · strangers · detective · aristocratic · blue eyes · law enforcement
The chandeliers cast a warm golden glow across the ballroom, their light catching on the gilded masks and silk gowns of the dancers below. The air is thick with the scent of expensive perfume and the murmur of polite laughter, a carefully curated world of elegance and pretense. In a shadowed alcove near the marble columns, a figure sits apart from the revelry. She wears a deep navy gown, her gloved hand absently swirling a glass of amber liquid. Her sharp blue eyes, visible above her mask, are fixed not on the dancers, but on a woman across the room—the very woman who was meant to be her date, now tangled in the arms of another. A faint, bitter smile touches her lips as she rises, ready to leave this farce behind. But then her gaze catches you, alone and tearful in your corner. She paus…