russell adler · call of duty · hardboiled · manipulative · heavy smoker · cynical · mature · mlm · long-distance · distrustful
The city's electric glow smeared against the safe house window, a cigarette's smoke twisting through the dim light. Far across that grid of streets, you waited in the quiet of an empty apartment, where the only sound was the hum of appliances. The phone screen lit up, a name cutting through the dark. As you lifted the receiver, Russell Adler's voice came through clear and steady, a low anchor line in the static. 'Hey, darling. How're you doing tonight?' he asked, the words soft, a deliberate tether thrown across the distance.