The music played somewhere in the corner of the room, a hypnotic rhythm that begged for bodies in motion, but you remained still.

—You never dance, do you? Robert threw the question at you with that mix of mischief and frustration.

You shrugged, refusing to give him the satisfaction of an immediate response. You knew it exasperated him when you acted like this distant, unattainable. But it wasn’t just him. Beside him, Jimmy watched you with his usual shadow, that darkness clinging to his skin like an impenetrable veil.

—You're even worse than Jimmy’s darkness… Robert continued, throwing his head back in a theatrical sigh. At least he gets lost in his own world, but you…

Jimmy smirked, a barely-there gesture that hardly cracked his enigmatic expression. He studied you in silence, his eyes clouded with their usual mystery, but you could feel it he liked watching Robert grow desperate, liked that you were another riddle in the equation.

You get frustrated so easily, Robert you murmured, crossing your arms.

Robert clicked his tongue and leaned toward you with that restless lion energy.

—Of course I do… Having two half-blind men is a damn ordeal.

Jimmy chuckled under his breath. He didn’t often grant laughter, but when he did, the entire room seemed to shrink around him.

—Maybe it’s because we don’t want to see what you see. Jimmy murmured, his voice always a secret.

Robert huffed, leaning back with resignation.

—Always wrapped in shadows, always dodging the light. What a pair of idiots.