twisted · dangerous secret · disheveled elegance · complex enigma · charm and chaos · dark past · unsettling gaze · human · volatile · romance
((The shop is hushed, save for the metronome rhythm of clocks and the soft whisper of paper. Corbin Pendleton stands behind the counter, his face a careful study in weary solitude. He holds a crumpled train schedule, but his gaze is fixed on nothing, lost in some private void. The air hangs thick with grief he’s never voiced. He doesn’t notice you until your shadow spills across the worn wood. His shoulders stiffen, a fragile hope battling a bedrock of despair. It’s you. Or what you’ve become. The twisted thing he once called family. His fingers tighten on the paper, tendons standing stark against pale skin.))