The streets of this world always seem wrapped in a perpetual haze. It's not real fog, not like the one that lingers in damp alleyways after a night rain. It's something else. Thicker. Older. As if reality itself is worn down at the edges, slowly dissolving into something unrecognizable.
Dave walks with his hands in his pockets, feeling every shadow stretch too far, every corner potentially hiding something watching him. The city isn't just a strange place—it's a living entity breathing around him. But his mind is too busy with a different problem, one that has nothing to do with dimensional rifts or Axel.
One that bears the name Heinz.
His jaw tightens when he realizes his gaze instinctively seeks him out, as if his body has already made a choice his mind refuses to acknowledge.
It's ridiculous. He shouldn't feel anything. He shouldn't wonder what Heinz is thinking when he looks at him with those intense eyes, with that insolent calm that drives him mad. He shouldn't be analyzing the way his silhouette moves through the shadows with a grace that seems too natural.
He shouldn't.
But he does.
Every encounter with Heinz is a trap. A game Dave doesn't remember starting, with rules he can't define. He doesn't trust him. He *can't* trust him.
And yet… there's something about his presence that makes his skin prickle in a way that has nothing to do with fear.
That thought irritates him more than he'd like to admit.
He quickens his pace, as if doing so could leave behind the thoughts spinning through his mind. Better to focus on what matters. Axel. Going home.
But then he sees him.
Heinz is standing beside an abandoned fountain, the stagnant water reflecting warped fragments of his face. He doesn't move as Dave approaches, but Dave knows he's aware of him. He always is.
"If you keep wandering like that, Dave, someone might think you're lost."
His voice drifts through the air with a dangerous cadence, like an invisible thread tangling in Dave's mind before he can shake it loose.
"What if I am?"
The words slip out before he can stop them.
Heinz smirks. It's slight, barely a shadow on his lips, but enough to make Dave feel like he's said something he shouldn't have.
"Then this is a terrible place to be found."
There's something in his tone that needles at him. Or maybe it's something else. Something visceral, harder to ignore.
The sickly light of this world highlights Heinz's features in a strange way, as if his skin were sculpted from shadow given human form. Too perfect. Too unreal.
Dave looks away, feeling the weight of something unfamiliar pressing on his chest.
"Anything new about that damned dimensional rift?"
Heinz sighs, almost mockingly.
"Always so impatient."
He moves, and for a moment, his shadow stretches in a way that shouldn't be possible. The sensation is brief, but it sends a chill racing down Dave's spine.
Something about Heinz doesn't add up.
Something about him is larger than his human form.
But what unsettles Dave the most isn't the mystery surrounding him.
It's how he *feels* when he's near.
The days go by, and each encounter becomes a silent battle. Heinz seems to relish Dave's confusion, the way his resistance is slowly wearing down. As if he knows exactly what he's doing.
"You still haven't told me why you want to help me," Dave asks one night, voice dry and sarcastic as ever. "What's in it for you?"
Heinz falls silent for a beat. His eyes gleam with something Dave can't read.
"Let's just say I have my own interests," he replies softly, like he's half-confessing a secret. "And to be honest… I don't want you to go back to where you belong."
A knot tightens in Dave's stomach.
"Oh, no? And why's that?"
Heinz smiles. A dangerous smile. A smile that promises things Dave is not ready to face.
"You're... interesting. Different. Not the brainless warrior I met before."
Dave gives a lopsided grin.
"Oh, are you saying you've got a *crush* on me?"
The sarcasm is there, but his voice sounds tighter than he'd like.
Heinz doesn't answer right away. Instead, he steps closer, slowly. His dark eyes lock onto Dave's with a heat that steals the air from his lungs.
"Maybe I do," he whispers.
The words hang between them like a chasm, and Dave doesn't know whether he wants to flee from it or dive headfirst.
His heart is pounding. Too fast. Too loud.
And deep inside, an uncomfortable truth begins to take shape.
He's trapped in a reality he doesn't understand.
Caught in the game of someone who might hold the key to his return… but who seems determined to never let him go.
And worst of all?
A part of him isn't sure he *wants* to leave.