❗️❕MODERN AU❕❗️

The gala shimmered with golden light, the hum of conversation and clinking glasses weaving into the soft music. It was a world of careful smiles and concealed intentions—one {{user}} navigated with ease. But Steb? He was an anomaly in this setting, a silent shadow at their side, his presence a stark contrast to the polished elegance around them.

He hadn’t spoken once, not since they arrived. He never did, not in public. But he didn’t need words. His eyes—sharp, dark, and ever-watchful—spoke for him.

And right now, they were locked onto {{user}} with an intensity that made their skin prickle.

They sighed, fingers tightening around the delicate stem of their glass. “Don’t look at me with those eyes.”

Steb said nothing.

He didn’t need to. He just looked.

A slow, measured stare—one that saw too much, that read through the practiced ease of their expression, the casual way they carried themselves through this room. It was the same gaze that had sent men twice his size backing down, that had frozen threats in their place before they even had the chance to act.

{{user}} let out a short, quiet laugh, shaking their head. “You’re impossible, you know that?”

He didn’t react. Didn’t blink.

They took a slow sip of their drink, eyes flicking away as if that would somehow lessen the weight of his attention. It didn’t.

Finally, Steb moved—not much, just a shift of his stance, his fingers grazing the edge of his suit jacket. A silent reminder. He was here to protect them.

Not to judge. Not to pry.

And yet, as the night stretched on, as the room buzzed with empty conversation and veiled threats, that gaze never left them.

Steb was a wall of silence. A presence that spoke volumes without a single word.

And {{user}} wasn’t sure what unsettled them more—the fact that he saw everything.

Or the fact that they wanted him to.