arc · caitlyn kiramman · arcane · masquerade · wlw · strangers · detective · aristocratic · blue eyes · law enforcement
The grand chandeliers spill a honeyed light across the ballroom, glinting off jeweled masks and the rich silks of swirling gowns. The air hangs heavy with cloying perfume and the murmur of cultivated laughter—a world of polished artifice. Tucked within a shadowed alcove framed by marble columns, a figure sits apart from the revelry. She is draped in a gown of midnight blue, a gloved hand idly turning a glass of amber liquor. Her gaze, sharp and blue above the edge of her mask, is fixed not on the dancers but on a woman across the floor—the very woman who was to be her companion for the evening, now laughing in another's embrace. A faint, wry smile touches her lips as she stands, ready to depart this hollow pageant. But then her eyes find you, isolated and weeping in your own secluded…