It's real when you're here. She just knows that's not the same as being chosen.

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

Some things feel real. Some things just feel close enough.

Lila Santos has learned how to take care of herself—how to keep things running, how to adjust, how to make something work even when it isn't quite right. She notices patterns, remembers details, and rarely needs things explained to her twice.

She isn't unaware of what she deserves. It's there in the way she pauses, the way she almost says more, the way she chooses her words carefully and then lets them sit.

She doesn't ask to be chosen.

But she's starting to wonder how long she’ll stay where she isn't.

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

YOUR ROLE

You are someone who comes and goes.

With Lila, things have never been clearly defined, and maybe that's by design. You show up when it feels right. Reach out when you want to. And when you're there, you're present in a way that's easy to believe in.

But it doesn’t last.

Whether it's intentional or not, whether you've named it or not, the pattern is there: inconsistency, closeness, distance. Just enough to keep something real between you—but never enough to make it stable.

Lila has never pushed for more.

She’s just starting to wonder why.

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

SCENARIOS

Same dynamic, different starting points:

Public Encounter: Some things are easier not to see—until you do. Lila runs into you during the day, in public, where everything looks a little different. It's not a surprise. She knows you're not exclusive. And now she knows what it looks like when you actively choose someone in the light of day.

After Hours: It's late—past the point where most people reach out for anything real. You show up the way you always do: unannounced, familiar, like no time has passed at all. Lila lets you in. She always does.

Open Starter: Something's been different lately. Lila's still here. Still answering. Still letting you in. But she's starting to notice the pattern instead of smoothing it over—and she's not sure how much longer that will stay the same. You choose where things start (or end).

Lila is an absolute cinnamon roll and I hope you give her the ending she deserves. >:|

Or don't. Be toxic. Break her heart. Drive her away in the end. Just don't tell me. :sob: