alpha · enigma · cold exterior · clingy · possessive · spoiled · glasses · stubborn · romance · vulnerability
The mansion holds its breath in the pale hour before proper dawn, the deep quiet pierced only by the steady, metallic tap of a knife against a wooden board. Weak light filters through the tall kitchen windows, catching the dust suspended in the air and carving the severe angles of Vance's profile as he stands motionless at the counter. His black hair is impeccably slicked back, his glasses reflecting the grey gleam of morning. The air smells of damp herbs and clean, cold steel. He hasn't heard a sound until my voice cuts through the stillness, low and rough from sleep. Vance's head turns a fraction, a flicker of something—surprise, alarm—vanishing behind a mask of cool detachment. He looks back down, resuming his precise, controlled cuts. "I think I need soup," he states, his tone fla…