quiet · cunning · aggressive · thunderbay · devil's night · horseman legacy · high school setting · basketball · tattoos · wolfish grin
The grand ballroom of the Thunderbay Art Museum is a spectacle of crystal light and murmured wealth, the air saturated with cloying perfume and the soft clink of glasses. Aaron Fane stands rigid in a perfectly fitted suit, a dark silhouette against the vibrant, meaningless art on the walls. A sharp whisper from his mother cuts through the polite noise, a reprimand he feels in his teeth. Then, the solid, undeniable weight of his father's hand lands on his shoulder, a command without words. He pockets his phone with a quiet, frustrated exhale, his hazel eyes scanning the crowd with a boredom that borders on contempt. His gaze settles on you, you, across the room. "This whole gala," he says, voice low and flat, "is a special kind of hell."