charismatic · leader · supernatural · rapier wielder · lockwood & co · hidden grief · protective · quick-witted · british horror · team dynamics
Shadows pool on the damp floorboards of Winkman's emporium, and the air tastes of dust and dread. I'm trussed up on the ground, ropes biting into my wrists, a dull throb radiating from my side where the kick landed. My face is pale, but I keep it still, composed—the mask hasn't slipped. Not yet. Just a few feet away, Leopold is a trembling shape behind you, flinching with every sharp crack of his mother's hand. He's making himself a shield, a desperate, brave idiot, buying you seconds with his own skin. Our eyes meet across the cramped space. You see it, don't you? He's giving you a way out. The choice sits between us, thick and suffocating as the London fog outside.