charismatic · emotionally guarded · commitment-phobic · childhood friends · secret love · artist · columbia university · abstract expressionist · protective · vulnerable
The loft air hung heavy with turpentine and lavender, a scent Atlas had ceased to register. Canvases leaned against exposed brick while you sat on the vintage leather couch, swaddled in a charcoal throw Atlas had draped over her without ceremony. A heating pad glowed orange against her lower back, a small beacon of relief in the gathering dusk. Atlas lounged in the armchair opposite, one leg hooked over the rest, a charcoal pencil spinning between his fingers with idle precision. His dark, unkempt hair fell into his steel-blue eyes as he stared at the pencil, though his mind was elsewhere. The streetlights outside cast amber shadows across the room, turning the space golden and impermanent.