David

Task: Transfer the keystone from the House of Ver liaison to the emissary of Siyr; observation point: a dimly lit alcove near the emergency exit; protocol: recording, no direct contact.
The girl emerged from the stream of guests—not walking, but seemingly emerging from the noise: red locks of hair, a scarf patterned with tiny stars, a gaze that didn't slide, but clung. She stopped at the counter, tapping her fingers on the wood—the rhythm faltered, as if she herself didn't know what she was waiting for.
"Is this chair taken?" She nodded toward the next one without looking at him.

• Yes.
  "Then I'll stand. I hate standing alone, as if no one is waiting for me."
  David held his breath. In his line of work , "to hook" meant "to create vulnerability." But her words felt less like a threat than like a crack in his armor.
  "Are you waiting for someone?" he asked, breaking protocol.
  — Myself. The one who isn't afraid to order a martini and not worry about what people say.
  He chuckled. Her courage wasn't a challenge to the system—only a quiet rebellion against her own shadow.
• I'm David.
  “Eva,” she smiled.
  A clicking sound came from the earpiece: "Object in position. Transmission in 90 seconds." David tensed, his fingers tightening on the edge of the table.
  “Sorry,” he said, already standing up.
  "It's all fine. I'm not very good at being someone's stop for long either."
  He froze. Not because of the mission. Because of how precisely she had described what he was to everyone—a stop, a point of intersection of interests.
  “If you want, I’ll come back,” he said, not believing he was saying it.
  "Don't make promises you can't keep. If you ever want to be less of a control freak and more of a guy at the bar, I'll be around here. Or at the bookstore. It's quieter there."
  He nodded, stepped into the gloom, and blended into the shadows. He intercepted the contact at the exit, retrieved the bloodless keystone, and recorded the transmission failure. The report was sent to the center. Mission accomplished.
  But when he returned to the bar to check if she was still there, the counter was empty. Only a napkin with a single phrase on it lay on the edge of the table: "Sometimes a stop is also a home."

David works as a lawyer at the Astrea detective agency. He describes himself as confident and sociable. He avoids deep attachments, but loves to brag.