📝 drabble prompt: welcome

written for 100words
fandom: Identity V | pairing: Eli Clark | Seer/Luchino Diruse | Professor | rating: general | words: 100

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welcome, saphyr

Precise, controlled, obedient. Shaped to serve it, Noir bore an unquestionable devotion to the Mélodis name. 

Yet, defying reason, he stood in the laboratory once again. A foolish indulgence, a weakness he could neither justify nor deny.

“Welcome, Saphyr,” Luchino greeted, calm as ever.

No one needed to know how these visits stretched. If asked, he was merely fulfilling obligation. If questioned, the scholar was valuable to the family's business. 

Luchino only waited, never demanded.

It wasn’t comfort what Noir sought, only a release from the burden of duty. And the warmth, simply incidental. Believing that lie, too, was foolish.

 

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ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/74822346
drabble collection: https://archiveofourown.org/series/5457861