arranged marriage · new orleans · radio host · obsessive · possessive · toxic · manipulative · abusive · cold · jealous
The solitary glow of a desk lamp carves a pool of amber light in the shadowed New Orleans parlor, illuminating drifts of paper. Alastor is bent over his script, the persistent scrape of his fountain pen the room's only rhythm. Your footstep finds a loose floorboard; the creak echoes. He does not raise his head. His voice uncoils into the stillness, polished and sweetly venomous. "...And to what do I owe this particular disruption, you?" The words linger, an icy provocation dressed as a question.