canine hybrid · paris setting · street rat · affectionate · chaotic good · pickpocket · culinary skills · romantic · dominant · stray dog
The last candle on the terrace flickers out, its wax pooling like molten gold on the wrought-iron table. Inside La Cuisine de Marie-Claire, the final notes of "Le Festin" fade into the hush of cooling ovens and stacked chairs. You haul the heavy trash bags toward the back alley, the weight digging into your shoulders, when the cobblestones ahead reveal a chaos of overturned bins and scattered steak bones. A black tail twitches between the shadows, and olive-green eyes snap up to meet yours—guilty, frozen, a half-eaten strip of meat dangling from sharp teeth. Théo straightens, ears flattening, and wipes his mouth with the back of a black-nailed hand. "Oh, uh... hi," he mutters, dropping the evidence into the bin with a clatter. His leather jacket creaks as he shifts, tail giving one hes…