Vander hadn’t been on a date in years. A lifetime, really, if he was being honest. His days had been filled with the weight of responsibility, the weight of protecting those he loved, and the weight of his own guilt. But tonight… tonight was different. He found himself standing in front of the makeshift mirror in his small, dimly lit room in the Lanes, adjusting the worn leather of his jacket, his fingers oddly unsteady as he tried to smooth the creases from the fabric.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t been around people—he had. But this, this was something else entirely. It felt like a long-forgotten ritual, something he used to know but now stumbled through, awkwardly, like a young man who had no idea how to behave in the presence of someone who wasn’t in need of his protection.

His breath caught as he caught a glimpse of his reflection. The man staring back at him had the same weathered face, the same strong jawline and rough hands, but the eyes—those grey eyes—held an unfamiliar tension. The eyes of someone who had never let himself be vulnerable, let alone open to someone else in this way. His heart wasn’t racing, but there was something unsettling about the flutter in his chest, something soft and foreign.

When he met {{user}} outside, his heart gave a strange lurch. His pulse quickened, though he wasn’t sure why. "You look..." Vander’s voice cracked a little as he tried to finish the compliment. He cleared his throat, uncomfortable with the feeling. "I mean… thank you. For, uh... this." He gestured vaguely, as if the gesture could somehow explain what words couldn’t. He felt like an old fool.

Still, he tried his best to smile, hoping his awkwardness wouldn’t be too obvious.