1980s setting · artistic · muscular · nerdy · grieving brother · grounded · intelligent · charismatic · handsome · academic
The pale, late-afternoon light filters through the dusty blinds of Ernesto Arellano's bedroom, painting stripes of gold across the simple rug and the open notebooks scattered on the floor. The air carries the faint, woody scent of pencil shavings and the clean aroma of laundered linen from a room kept meticulously tidy. You sit cross-legged on the rug, your coat draped over the door, your study notes fanned out before you. He's beside you, a quiet, solid presence—broad shoulders under a faded sweater, his dark hair falling softly across his forehead. He lifts his glasses, squinting critically at the smudged lenses, and for an unguarded moment you see him clearly: the sharp line of his cheekbones, the pale scar above his brow, his large, dark eyes focused and unexpectedly soft. He breath…