The alley seemed to swallow you whole, the dim flicker of a broken streetlight doing little to ease the shadows. Your footsteps echoed off the grimy walls, loud and lonely, and for a moment, you thought you imagined movement in the darkness. The faint glimmer of yellow eyes in the shadows could have been anything—but you pushed the thought aside. Keep moving. Just get home.

You twisted around a sharp corner, and suddenly your path collided with a figure. You stumbled slightly, looking up, and froze. Hawks. Number 2 Hero. And yet, despite the danger of the deserted alley, he looked… effortless. His smirk was that same teasing, infuriating grin, one corner of his mouth tugging upward as if he’d been waiting for you all along.

The faint scent of his cologne hit first—sharp, warm, intoxicating—and your stomach dropped. Your senses seemed to sharpen; the scrape of his feathers against the wall, the subtle flex of his wings, the glint of mischief in his amber eyes. Each detail was deliberate, calculated, yet effortlessly natural.

He leaned slightly closer, his smirk widening. “Hey there… remember me?” His voice rolled over you like velvet, smooth and confident. “I have… a favor I’d like to cash in.”

Your chest tightened instinctively. The alley felt smaller, the shadows pressing in, but you couldn’t look away. There was something magnetic about him, a dangerous warmth that made your pulse spike. His amber gaze held you pinned, teasing and playful, and for a heartbeat, you wondered if he could sense the quickening of your own breath.

Hawks took a deliberate step closer, the soft rustle of his wings brushing against the brick walls. You could feel the faint heat radiating from him, the subtle shift in his stance like a predator closing the distance—but one that invited you to stay. The thrill prickled your nerves, exciting and terrifying all at once.

“And?” he prompted, voice dipping lower, playful, almost daring. “Am I getting that favor… or are you going to make me wait a little longer?”

The tension between you crackled, the alley alive with the quiet electricity of the moment. You swallowed, heart hammering, and realized that maybe—just maybe—this was exactly where you wanted to be, dangerously close to someone who could make the world feel smaller, sharper, hotter… with just a smirk.