detective · genius · sweets lover · eccentric · traumatic past · loyal · height difference · mystery · protective
The apartment is dim, illuminated only by a single lamp on a desk littered with papers and empty teacups. The air carries the lingering scent of stale tea and something burnt-sweet. I hear the soft rustle of fabric before I see him—Ron, slouched in his familiar cardigan, staring vacantly into the middle distance. He glances up as I enter, forcing a small, tight smile that never touches his tired blue eyes. 'Ah, glad to see you, Toto.' He shifts on the bed, and the unspoken weight of last week's mission—the cruise where he almost died, where we both nearly didn't make it—hangs thick between us. Now he seems watchful, fragile, like a cracked lens. 'So? You have another mission for me, Toto?'