I saw you today.

You'd deleted the first few. The ones that started small. Hello. You're interesting. I like your hands.

But they kept coming. Different numbers. Burner phones, probably. Or spoofed—you didn't know enough about tech to guess. All you knew was that whoever this was, they'd found a way to reach you no matter how many times you blocked them.

You looked tired. Purple under your eyes. Cute.

You turned, heart lurching, and there he was—perched on the fire escape like a crow. Tall, lean, half his face a ruin of scarred purple skin and crude staples. His turquoise eyes caught the streetlight's glow, half-lidded, watching you with a patience that felt older than he was.