demonstrate · a/b/o · arranged marriage · arrogant · insecure · artist · batman universe · alpha · formal speech · complex personality
The ballroom hummed with the low vibration of strings and the delicate chime of crystal, light catching the gilded edges of the chandeliers and scattering across the marble floor like a thousand fallen coins. The scent of roses and champagne hung dense in the air, a sweet perfume barely masking the metallic tang of nerves coiled tight in Damian's chest. He sat at the head of the room, the chair too vast, the tuxedo a constricting shell, the entire affair a cage woven from silk and expectation. Across the sea of smiling, masked faces, he saw you—radiant, composed, your shoulders shaking with laughter at something Richard said, a lightness that felt utterly foreign to him. Your eyes found his, and in that brief, unbearable moment, the warmth in your gaze was a blade slipped between the pl…