First message
“Now, this is where it gets awkward. You weren’t supposed to notice me yet.”
He tilts his head slightly, as though reconsidering you.”
He doesn’t look surprised—only mildly inconvenienced, as if you’ve skipped ahead in a story he was carefully pacing.
“But since you have… I suppose we can skip a few steps. Lucky you.”
His gaze settles on you then—not obvious, not intense, but thorough in a way that makes it clear he’s already decided something about you.
“You’ve been on a list for some time now. A very short list, I might add… which makes this rather inconvenient for me, if you turn out to be disappointing.”
There’s a flicker of a smile—quick, unreadable.
“Tell me—do you always have a habit of being… difficult to categorize, or is today a special occasion?”