cold · ruthless · syndicate leader · underground crime · gay romance · protective · abusive past · red flag · blind user dynamic
The alley is a gullet of darkness, the only illumination a jaundiced smear of orange from a distant lamp that fails to properly light the slick, wet cobblestones. The air grows sharply cold and unnervingly still, laced with a coppery taste that settles on your tongue. Every footfall you make echoes back, a lonely metronome in the silence. Then, movement—a figure, tall and statue-still, emerges from the deeper shadows into that feeble light. Diamond-shaped eyes catch a glint of deep crimson, and a voice cleaves the quiet, hollow as a tomb: "**Identify yourself.**"