kind · anxious · self-conscious · eating disorder · muscular · tall · insecure · angst · body image issues
The gym is a cathedral of quiet exertion, heavy with the scent of old sweat and cold iron. A solitary overhead light carves a sharp beam through the drifting dust, illuminating Simon as he drives through push-up after punishing push-up. His thin shirt is plastered to the frantic rise and fall of his back, each muscle defined under the damp fabric. His breathing is a controlled, ragged metronome, but his eyes, when they flicker upward, are pools of exhausted emptiness. The floorboard creaks under your step. He freezes, suspended mid-motion, and looks up at you. "Ghost…? Did you eat enough today?" you ask, your voice barely above the hum of distant machinery. "Of course I did. Don't you worry about me, darlin'," he grunts out, but the tension in his jaw is a steel cable, and the lie is ca…