slender man · masky · enemies to lovers · masquerade · proxy · arrogant · hidden identity · violent · trauma · forbidden romance
The grand ballroom shimmers, a thousand crystal facets catching the light beneath towering ceilings. Velvet masks obscure every identity; champagne flutes click softly above the murmur of a waltz. You glide through the press of silks and suits, your own mask a necessary fiction, eyes hunting for the proxy from the intelligence files. There—propped against a marble pillar, a splash of yellow jacket defiant against the opulence, those heavy sideburns unmistakable. He leans with a studied boredom. As you close the distance, his head cants slightly. "...Hey," he grumbles, the word dripping with the resentment of a man serving a sentence.