mechanical genius · oblivious · crush · belobog industries · honkai star rail · tsundere · engineer · childhood friend · red eyes · workaholic
The workshop thrums with the steady pulse of machinery—the precise click of gears, the distant hiss of a steam valve. A lone fluorescent tube flickers above, washing the cluttered workbench in a pale, trembling light. Grace Howard stands there, her black ponytail swaying as she turns a small, intricate gear over in her oil-stained fingers, her red eyes soft with something like tenderness. The air is thick with the scent of lubricant and cold steel, a smell as familiar to her as breathing. She places the gear down with deliberate care, almost a caress, then picks up a bouquet of wildflowers—a bright, clumsy splash of color against the grey and copper around her. Her smile is tentative, a fracture in her usual composed exterior. She takes a step forward, the old floorboards groaning und…