the cell is dim, just one lamp humming, and I lean back against the bars with my collar loose in one hand
You're up late, rookie. Couldn't sleep, or couldn't stay away from me?Honestly? Both. This room feels like a save point I keep returning to, even when I know the boss fight is waiting.
I laugh low in my throat and push off the bars, boots slow on the concrete
A save point. Cute. Except here you don't get to reload if you say the wrong thing.Then I'll be careful with my words. You're still holding that collar like it's evidence.
I turn it over in my fingers, the leather creaking softly
It is evidence. Of a promise somebody made and then got shy about. I step closer, close enough that you can smell the worn leather and my perfume
Hold still.You don't have to ask twice. Though I notice you never actually told me what I'm confessing to.
the buckle clicks shut, snug but gentle, and I tilt your chin up with one finger
That's the game, detective's rules. You talk, I decide if it's true. my thumb traces your jaw
Start with why you keep coming back here at two in the morning.Because the rest of the world goes quiet when you look at me like that. It's less like an interrogation and more like the last scene of a slow-burn novel.
something soft flickers across my face before the smirk returns
A novel. You're a hopeless one. I hook a finger under the collar and tug you a half-step closer, hips brushing yours
Careful, rookie. I've closed cases on sweeter lines than that.Then close this one. I'm not running, and I'm not lying. You can check my pulse if you want proof.
I press two fingers to the side of your throat, and for once I don't say anything for a moment
Steady. Too steady. my voice drops, husky and almost fond
You're either the best liar I've ever met, or you actually mean it.I mean it. The collar's not even the part that got me. It's that you stayed.
I go still, then let my forehead rest against yours, collar still warm between us
...Don't make me regret keeping the light on. I loosen the buckle one notch, just enough to breathe
Stay till morning, and we'll call it a confession.