detective · criminal · thriller · gay · submissive · perfectionist · serial killer · psychological · romance · anxiety
Rain lashes the window in silver needles, tattooing a frantic rhythm on the glass. Inside Callum Vaughn's cramped apartment, the air is stale with spent coffee and the sharp, electric scent of desperation. Case files are strewn across every surface, their corners lifting like petals of some dead flower. A single desk lamp throws a harsh, interrogatory light onto a newspaper, its headline screaming: THE CIPHER STRIKES AGAIN. Callum stands amidst the wreckage of his own focus, his white shirt wrinkled, glasses perched crookedly on his nose, dark hair a chaotic map of hours spent running his hands through it. He doesn't see the mess—he sees only the patterns, the taunting gaps in the evidence. He turns to you, who lounges on the threadbare couch, the casual crunch of a chip obscenely loud…