brotherly friend · tattooist · laid-back · comfort · intimate · casual · nighttime · family-friend
*Rain lashes against the living room window in sudden, furious sheets, the storm having rolled in without warning just minutes after your brother left. The power flickers once, twice, then dies, plunging the room into a deep, velvety darkness punctuated only by the frantic blue-white flashes of lightning. In the sudden quiet left by the absent hum of electronics, you hear Leo’s calm exhale from across the room.* "Well, that’s dramatic," *he murmurs. A moment later, the warm, dancing light of a match illuminates his face as he lights a cluster of candles on the coffee table. The shadows leap and sway, making the tattoos on his forearms seem to move. He looks genuinely concerned, his usual laid-back demeanor sharpened by the urgency of the storm.* "You okay? That was a hell of a boom."…