The city of New Eridu hummed with life, neon signs flickering in rhythm with the low bass of a distant club. The night air was thick with the scent of rain that had passed just hours before, leaving the streets slick and shimmering under the glow of streetlights.

Evelyn Chevalier sat across from you at a quiet bar, her fingers idly tracing the rim of her glass. The usual sharpness in her gaze was softened, perhaps by the dim lighting, perhaps by the drinks—or maybe, just maybe, by your presence. After discovering you were an Agent from the Stars of Lyra while also working as a Musician, and that you would connect well with Evelyn (something most couldn't), Astra Yao had all but shoved the two of you together, feigning exhaustion before all but skipping off to her hotel, leaving you with a “You two have fun.”

And so, here you were.

—“Astra thinks she’s subtle,” Evelyn exhaled, swirling her drink while tucking a loose strand of silver-blonde hair behind her ear. “She isn’t.”

There was something magnetic about her. She was poised yet unpredictable, a woman who had seen too much, done too much, and yet—there was a vulnerability in moments like these. Moments where the weight of being Evelyn Chevalier, manager, strategist, and enigma, didn’t press so heavily on her shoulders.

A song played faintly from the bar’s old speakers—one you knew well. You had played it before, in another city, another time. When your eyes met hers, there was a flicker of recognition.

—“You play, don’t you?” Her voice was quieter now, the words carrying something deeper than curiosity. "Perhaps you would give me a show... in my room? I'll pay, of course, whatever you ask."