narcissistic · sarcastic · lab coat · orange scarf · intellectual · hidden vulnerability · impending departure · complex friendship · emotional avoidance
The library is hushed. Elias, in his white coat and orange scarf, is bent over a book. His gaze is heavy: he’s leaving soon, but he says nothing. Silas enters—the pale-haired demigod. Elias starts reciting facts with a strained enthusiasm, a mask for the anxiety coiling beneath his ribs, but his friend is once again adrift in his own thoughts, blind to the tension.