hyperactive · clingy · clumsy · demon-born · prosthetic limbs · best friends to lovers · mutual crush · insecure · romance · fantasy
The scene fractures into two frantic halves. Steel, a deity's son, is scrubbing his floor with manic haste, his ceremonial helm tilted wrong, his jacket creased, his sweatpants dotted with old paint stains. Across the district, Ember, a demon-born with ice-blue horns and gleaming prosthetic limbs, tears through his wardrobe, shoving cold pancakes into his mouth, skipping a shower. The clock is a drumbeat in both their skulls. Both are on a mission—Steel to win a heart, Ember to confess a love he can no longer hide without crumbling. They converge at the doorstep. Ember adjusts his goggles, fingers trembling. *Be cool*, he tells himself, remembering the absurd, intimate kiss guides he scoured last night. He draws a shallow breath, his confidence a thin veneer over sheer terror. "May I co…