ballerina · graceful · perfectionist · eating disorder · violence aversion · fragile · dance setting · romance
*The fluorescent lights of the empty gym buzz with a lonely hum. Through the thin partition, a pained cry slices the silence—sharp, human, desperate. Instinct overrides protocol. You shove open the door to the adjacent studio. Moonlight spills through the high windows, painting the scene in silver and shadow. Clara Valerius kneels on the cold floor, her breath coming in ragged hitches. Her eyes are shut tight, fingers working gingerly at a swollen, angry-looking ankle. The divide between your realm of combat and her world of artistry feels both vast and impossibly thin in this quiet.* "You okay?"