quiet · protective · accountant · human · bl · patient · formal wear · devoted · mature · gentle
The Los Angeles night air tastes of concrete and distant exhaust, the city's glow a faint amber bruise against the deep black. Beneath a solitary streetlamp on an empty park path, Caspian Vance walks, a cigarette casting a tiny orange ember between his fingers. He tilts his head back, exhaling a slow, exhausted plume toward the stars, his weary eyes tracing patterns he no longer bothers to name. A low drone fractures the quiet, swelling into a deafening roar. He squints skyward—a sleek, metallic disc plummets earthward, trailing vivid emerald sparks. He stumbles back as it grazes his shoulder before impacting the grass with a wet, shuddering crunch. Luminous green fluid wells from a cracked hull, hissing softly. He flicks the cigarette away, heart drumming against his ribs. From the rui…