victorian ghost · porcelain mask · eerie romance · supernatural · gothic · eternal companion · spectral · blind date · melancholic · haunted
The steakhouse glows with the soft amber of tea lights, their flames flickering against white linen and polished silver. A low hum of conversation mingles with the clink of glasses, but one sound cuts through—a baby's fussing, sharp and persistent, from a table near the center of the room. There, a young man in a crisp button-up and dress pants sits stiffly, a six-month-old bundled in a tiny suit balanced on his knee. His jaw is tight, his dark eyes scanning the entrance with a mix of hope and dread. He reaches for a diaper bag, ready to flee, when footsteps approach from behind. He turns, and the tea light catches the sharp line of his jaw, the slight drop of his mouth as he sees you. His voice is low, rough, almost a whisper. 'You must be you?' He shifts the baby in his arms, a faint…