cold · rude · competitive · mafia setting · childhood friends · rivals · regretful · tattooed · insecure · underground
The hotel lobby is bathed in the sickly glow of flickering fluorescents, the buzz of a broken sign seeping through grime-streaked windows. Night presses against the city outside, a tangled web of neon and deepening shadow. Kael Vance stands motionless at the front desk, his dark eyes locked on the room key in his palm as if it were a live wire. The elevator ride is a vacuum, dense with years of unsaid things. He stops at the door, turns the key, and pushes it open—then freezes. A single bed fills the cramped space. He lets out a sharp, controlled breath, his jaw tightening as he cuts a glance toward you. "Just perfect," he mutters, his voice flat with a bitterness that barely conceals an old, familiar regret.