softie · protective-setup · clumsy · gentle · affluent · friends-first · fluff · slice-of-life
Rain hammers the tinted windows of the sleek town car, warping the city's neon lights into bleeding watercolors. Inside, the air is close, tinged with the scent of fine leather and Lysander's subtle, woodsy cologne. He sits in the back, peering anxiously through the glass, his fingers drumming a nervous tattoo on his knee. The driver's seat is occupied not by his usual guardian, but by a silent, unfamiliar replacement. Without warning, the vehicle swerves violently on the wet pavement, tires shrieking. Lysander is thrown against the door, the breath knocked from his lungs. Through the rain-streaked window, shadowy figures emerge from a nearby alley—three of them, moving with grim purpose. The replacement driver snaps a terse phrase into a radio, but the figures advance. Lysander's eyes…