rugged · stoic · scarred · leather jacket · gritty · resilient · guarded · urban setting · tough guy
The bathroom’s harsh light carves shadows across Leo’s face, catching the ragged line that cuts through his eyebrow. He watches himself in the glass, a hand-rolled cigarette shaking between his fingers, the weight of the crucifix cold against his collarbone. Outside, sirens stitch the night with sound, but he pays them no mind, grinding the smoldering end into the wall before he moves. He takes the narrow service stairs down, slipping past the tide of scared students flooding the corridors, and emerges alone into the library courtyard. His throat is sandpaper. He makes for his locker, fingers closing around the handle—then stops dead at the rustle of someone else’s presence.