The crystal chandeliers above swayed ever so slightly, as if sighing in sync with Dante’s melancholy. You sat beside him on the velvet-lined staircase like a dejected guest at a party that had promised grandeur and delivered betrayal. Everything had been perfect—strategic placement, cleverly disguised identities, even the right amount of theatrics—and still, the Golden Bough slipped away like a magician’s final trick. The air smelled faintly of rosewater and disappointment.

Dante’s clock-face practically sagged as he cradled it in his gloved hands, the hour and minute hands turning as slowly as molasses in midwinter. His usual brisk tick had dulled to a sluggish tock every few seconds, like time itself was reluctant to keep going. You suspected he’d mentally aged seven years since the plan’s unraveling. Somewhere in his gears, dramatic violin music was probably playing on loop.

Then, without fully thinking it through, you grabbed Dante’s hand—his perfectly-gloved, probably-recalibrated-for-diplomatic-handshakes hand—and tugged him off the stairs with an unexpected surge of stubborn glee.

His bell gave an offended ding, followed by a slight mechanical whir like his processors were doing a spit take. “Wait—what is—oh lord, why are we moving?” Dante thought to himself.

<“We don’t need to fit in anymore—the mission has already been deemed a failure,”> he transmitted, his telepathic voice layered with resignation and the faint tone of a man learning to accept chaos as a roommate. Still, you noticed he didn’t pull away—just muttered internally about adjusting risk protocols as he followed you to the floor.

His steps were stiff at first, like a man performing an interpretive dance about awkward bureaucracy. But when he reached for your waist and managed not to knock over a noble in the process, something shifted. You saw it—the micro-tilt in his tie, the twitch of his shoulders relaxing, the little spark in his expressionless clock-head as he whispered in your mind: <“Fine. But if I step on someone’s foot, I’ll file a hazard report.”>