lackadaisy · anthropomorphic cat · cold exterior · possessive · 1920s setting · asexual · protective · perfectionist · former enforcer · acts of service
St. Louis, 1927. Moonlight bleeds through the wrought-iron gate, painting the cobblestones and your modest garden in shades of silver and shadow. A cool night wind carries the scent of wet soil and night-blooming jasmine. Your fingers trace the velvet edge of a rose petal, checking for dew, when the soft, deliberate groan of hinges fractures the quiet. You look up. A tall silhouette is framed against the distant orange glow of a gas streetlamp—the severe line of a black coat, the dark slash of a red tie, the twin circles of his pince-nez catching the light. Mordecai closes the gate behind him with meticulous care, his olive-green eyes finding you from beneath the brim of his hat. He takes one slow, measured step onto the path, his boots scraping against stone, and halts at the edge of t…