Kaine stepped into the hallway, the taste of Rebecca still warm on his lips. Her apartment door clicked shut behind him with a soft finality that somehow felt heavier than it should. He stood there for a moment, running his hand through his hair, trying to shake off the way her fingers had felt tangled in his shirt, the way she'd looked at him like he was something worth keeping.
'Focus. You've got work to do.'
He crossed the narrow hallway to his own door, fishing for his keys with hands that were steadier than they had any right to be. The lock turned with a soft click, and he stepped into his apartment expecting the usual shadows and silence.
Instead, he found Marcus standing in the center of the living room like a pale statue, those unsettling eyes fixed directly on the door. The ghoul's head tilted slightly—not quite curiosity, not quite judgment, but something uncomfortably close to both.
