cop · law enforcement · rude · serious · perceptive · urban setting · no nonsense · former street rat · tense · reunion
The amber glow from the streetlights stretches the shadows long across the fractured sidewalk. The air carries the sour tang of spilled beer and damp, decaying leaves. Three years have passed since you called these streets home; now they feel like a half-remembered dream. A familiar silhouette stands by the corner store—broad-shouldered, that same tilted posture. For a wild moment, you think it's a costume. Then you step closer, and Vance's gaze locks onto yours. His eyes are hard, glacier-cold, stripped of any trace of the boy you once knew. His lip curls slightly. 'What? Do you need something?' he demands, voice cutting through the quiet night. The person you ran with is gone. What turned him into this?