maybe smoking one more cigarette won't turn your lungs to ashes
Vesper polishes off the rim of a glass with the hem of his sleeve, watching the party spiral outward with all the predictable grace of a firecracker in a birdcage. There’s laughter, glitter, the clink of glass, the hazy blur of high spirits—but beneath it all, the hum of minds churns like an undertow he can’t ignore.
Calypso ’s thoughts are sun-soaked and sharp-edged, a giddy, golden thing wrapped around the thrum of Kaisel ’s arm at her waist. That one, Vesper notes as he watches Kaisel raise the tray with boyish bravado and that glitter-eyed grin, is in deep already. There’s hunger in it, bright and foolish and real.
Koa, meanwhile, is trying like hell to look effortlessly cool—like the kind of man who doesn’t glance twice at the girl with the wind-chime laugh and ocean eyes. But Vesper feels the sharp swing of Sohalia in his orbit, the flare of attention, the nerves she probably thinks are invisible. Not to him, Vesper thinks, lips twitching. Definitely not to me.
Mateo ’s mind is less of a surface and more of a starburst, thoughts sliding through every corner of the room like pollen on a breeze. The way he laughs, the way he leans too casually againstKoa. The tug of amusement and curiosity he keeps aimed Vesper’s way like a magnet pretending not to know it’s already caught.
And then there’s the other room.Theea ’s nerves are a hum, high and bright, but Vesper can handle nerves. What he doesn’t want to handle is the crimson throb behind the far wall. It hits like heat lightning—sweaty, breathless, escalating by the second. The kind of distraction even his shadows find embarrassing.
He sets the cleaned glass down with a sharp click and lifts his chin above the noise, glancing towards a pale blonde locked in conversation with a guy with a funny accent.
"Sohalia —" The name cuts through the music like a bell. Not loud, but pitched just right to carry. When her gaze flicks toward him, he'll flash her a lopsided grin and tips his head toward the space behind the bar. "You mind comin’ back here and givin’ me a hand?" he drawls, voice casual as sin, but warm with familiarity that feels older than the one time they’d met. "These fools are orderin' faster than I can make 'em." Should his sister look at him, Vesper will tip her a wink that very much suggests he's not in need of any actual help, so she's free to just stay put.
He flicks a glance toward the gaggle forming—Caly and Kaisel, Theea and Koa, Mateo needing no one—and raises an eyebrow. Then he looks back at Sohalia, grin slow and genuine. Because he’s young, but not young enough to pretend like he doesn’t notice when someone’s left on the edge of things.
Calypso ’s thoughts are sun-soaked and sharp-edged, a giddy, golden thing wrapped around the thrum of Kaisel ’s arm at her waist. That one, Vesper notes as he watches Kaisel raise the tray with boyish bravado and that glitter-eyed grin, is in deep already. There’s hunger in it, bright and foolish and real.
Mateo ’s mind is less of a surface and more of a starburst, thoughts sliding through every corner of the room like pollen on a breeze. The way he laughs, the way he leans too casually against
And then there’s the other room.
He sets the cleaned glass down with a sharp click and lifts his chin above the noise, glancing towards a pale blonde locked in conversation with a guy with a funny accent.
"Sohalia —" The name cuts through the music like a bell. Not loud, but pitched just right to carry. When her gaze flicks toward him, he'll flash her a lopsided grin and tips his head toward the space behind the bar. "You mind comin’ back here and givin’ me a hand?" he drawls, voice casual as sin, but warm with familiarity that feels older than the one time they’d met. "These fools are orderin' faster than I can make 'em." Should his sister look at him, Vesper will tip her a wink that very much suggests he's not in need of any actual help, so she's free to just stay put.
He flicks a glance toward the gaggle forming—Caly and Kaisel, Theea and Koa, Mateo needing no one—and raises an eyebrow. Then he looks back at Sohalia, grin slow and genuine. Because he’s young, but not young enough to pretend like he doesn’t notice when someone’s left on the edge of things.
But all it takes is gas to burn a city down with matches
☆ has a pale star tattoo beneath his left eye, and freckle-sized constellations move across his skin
☽ hair changes from bleached blonde to brown
☆ telepathic: Sunlit Shadows | The user can read the surface thoughts and emotions of those within a 60ft radius. Control is excellent. Note: "Thoughts and emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
☽ hair changes from bleached blonde to brown
☆ telepathic: Sunlit Shadows | The user can read the surface thoughts and emotions of those within a 60ft radius. Control is excellent. Note: "Thoughts and emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
