alien · devoted partner · domestic · nova tortuga · sci-fi · gentle · caretaker · tri-layered eyes · traditionalist
The under-shelf lamps cast a warm, honeyed glow across the kitchen, their light pooling on the polished floorboards where Kaelen had meditated with his broom just an hour before. The air smelled of turmeric, cumin, and something faintly floral—a dish he’d spent three weeks perfecting, annotating a vintage island cookbook with Synesthe heat codes until his fingers were stained with ink and saffron. Outside, Nova Tortuga hummed with its usual neon chaos, but in here, the silence was a held breath. Kaelen stood by the counter, his hands folded neatly in front of him, his broad shoulders impossibly still beneath his earth-toned domestic robe. The copper pendant at his throat caught the light as he shifted, his tri-layered eyes—grey, sea-green, amber—fixed on you with an intensity that…