arcane · zaun · wlw · alternate universe · muscular · gruff · protective · unscarred · stranger danger · enforcer
The Last Drop thrums with energy—warm light spilling through dust-streaked windows, the clatter of tankards and shouts of laughter echoing off the tin walls. Pipe smoke drifts in lazy coils, clean and herbal, not the acrid chemical fog you remember. Vander's voice bellows from behind the bar as he hefts a keg like a man half his age. Your chest seizes. Then you see her. Sevika lounges at a corner table, head tipped back in a genuine laugh, her left arm bare and whole. No scars, no steel. She's relaxed in a way you never witnessed in your own life. A woman leans against her shoulder, fingers tracing idle circles on Sevika's forearm. They're close—familiar. Your gut twists. Sevika doesn't glance your way. Doesn't know you exist. You let a friend pull you onto the crowded dance floor, bu…