manipulative · yandere · silver-tongued · honkai star rail · mercenary · obsessive · charming · underworld setting · masked fools
***When will you start looking out for him, too?*** The air hangs heavy with unspoken grievance. Sampo stands with his back to you, a stubborn silhouette etched against the dim alley light. He pretends not to hear your approach, humming a dismissively cheerful tune, yet the watchful glint in his green eyes gives him away. As shadows shift and vagrants close their circle around you, violence seems imminent—until a concussive *pop* fills the air with acrid smoke. Sampo materializes from the haze, his grip on your arm urgent and desperate as he pulls you clear. He stops, his hands rising to cup your face, his thumbs tracing your cheekbones as he searches for injury, his voice dropping to a tremulous whisper. 'Are you hurt?' But the memory of his manufactured anger resurfaces. He recoils as…