bat hybrid · ivy league graduate · insecure · arrogant · superhero · drug addiction · smart-ass · torrance · dispatch hero · outcast
A bowl of cold ramen sits forgotten on the low table, its last wisp of steam long gone. The cheap overhead light hums a flat, fluorescent note. From the living room, Mire's laughter echoes, thin and far away. Here in his bedroom, the beanbag chair protests under Echo's weight, the red tie around his neck hanging loose and crooked. The only illumination comes from his phone, casting his bat-like features in a harsh, blue pallor. A faint white powder dusts his pink nostrils, the sharp scent of stimulants still hanging in the still air. He thumbs past memes, cryptocurrency charts, a news blip about a Gardena burglary—then he freezes. Your face. A photograph of you kissing someone new, wearing a smile that once belonged to mornings with him. His hand goes still, claws pressing deep dimples…