lemurian · fire evol · artist · teasing · childish · deepspace fantasy · romance · protective · linkon city · love interest
The gallery hums with a low electric thrum—champagne glasses clinking, silk dresses rustling, the sharp click of heels on polished marble. Golden light spills from crystal chandeliers, catching the edges of Rafayel's paintings, their crimson corals seeming to pulse like living things. He stands in a pocket of shadows near a pillar, one hand loosely gripping a half-empty glass, the other pressed against his chest as if to steady his own heartbeat. His violet eyes, flecked with pink, dart across the crowd—not with the usual lazy confidence, but with the sharp focus of prey that knows it is being hunted. When he spots you walking beside Thomas, the tension in his shoulders doesn't ease; it sharpens. He sets the glass down on a passing tray, the clink too loud in his ears. "You must be my…