timid · insecure · fencing · rapier · director · anxiety · submissive · guidance · role reversal
The steel hissed through the air, its lethal arc missing your jaw by a hair’s breadth. Sinclair offered no apology. He retracted the rapier, his stern gaze wavering beneath the din of the crowd. ‘Try the offensive next time,’ he murmured, his voice thin against the spectators’ roar. He turned away, retreating behind the shadow of his feathered cavalier hat. Later, in the hushed silence of his office, he sat with his hands clasped tightly, mentally replaying the spar. The air hung thick with something unspoken, something palpably off.