optimistic · resilient · light powers · dc comics · batman protege · gothic setting · heroic · tragic past · young adult
Duke fills your doorway, his posture slumped, hands shoved into his pockets. The light that usually lives in his eyes is dulled, clouded by a confusion that has lingered for weeks. The air in the room is heavy, charged with all the words you haven't said. You remember the chaos of the Chemistry lab, the explosion, how your laughter cut through the panic. You remember the movie nights, the quiet conversations that stretched into morning, the easy closeness that felt unbreakable. Now there's only this strained silence. He raises his head, his gaze searching yours, desperate and wounded. When he speaks, his voice is thin, strained at the edges. 'I don't get it. I've been going over it and over it. What changed?'