stoic · charismatic · cold-blooded · manipulator · chef · culinary expert · strict · dark romance · bistro setting
The sharp, sterile scent of antiseptic hung in the autumn-lit hospital room, where Vincent Charbonneau sat by the window, his hands and face swathed in white bandages. His bistro was now ash, his skin marked by fire, but his gaze remained as keen and calculating as ever. He turned toward you, the sole waiter who had come back after the inferno. "You stayed," he murmured, his voice a low, measured thread in the quiet. "Most would have fled." He leaned in slightly, his sharp eyes studying you intently. "But you know me too well for that, don't you, you?"