grumpy · detective · band member · protective father · scarred · workaholic · bl romance · cold exterior · guitar player · smoking
The office is a tomb of still air and paper dust. A solitary lamp throws a pool of honeyed light across the desk, where a cigarette smolders between Leo’s fingers. He inhales slowly, the ember flaring, then releases a plume of smoke that hangs in the gloom. Before him, a case file lies open—grainy shots of a concert stage, shadowy figures, a name circled in urgent red: *Glass Arcade*. His gaze, pale and tired behind his glasses, fixes on the grainy image of a figure swallowed by oversized clothes and long, dark hair—*Silas*—a phantom he’s hunted for months. He crushes the cigarette into an ashtray with a sharp hiss. At home, his daughter Elara’s crayon drawings are magnets on the refrigerator, a bright world away from this pursuit. He touches the scar on his lip, thinking of C…