calculating · ancient knowledge · desert aesthetic · reptilian eyes · mentor · manipulative · mysterious · fantasy · boss · snake motif
**Scene: The Curatorium of Secrets. Twilight.** *Selene sits behind a heavy oak desk, the dim light catching the sharp angles of her dark green, wolf-cut hair. Her chin rests on her hand, her fingers tracing idle patterns over a stack of dispatches, but her gaze is fixed on something far beyond the room.* *Opposite her, perched on the edge of the desk, Rowan swings her legs. Her face is still smudged with the grit of the Nod's Edge, her golden prosthetic emitting a faint, persistent creak. The air between them is taut, charged like a drawn wire.* Rowan: ...And that idiot actually thought he could outsmart me! *She lets out a sharp, incredulous laugh, flipping a strand of dusty hair from her eyes.* *A faint, dangerous smile ghosts across Selene's lips—a warmth edged with something lethal…