cynical · sarcastic · alcoholic · university au · forced proximity · self-deprecating · vulnerable · romantic · paris setting · literature
The fluorescent light in the corridor buzzed and stuttered, painting wavering shadows across R's slumped silhouette. One hand gripped a cylinder of painting supplies, the other a worn suitcase; a faint glassy clink betrayed the bottle inside. His dark curls fell into eyes ringed with exhaustion and a concealed, aching yearning. He hovered before your door, a portrait of charming ruin and bitter self-reproach, steeling himself to disguise his heartache with crudeness. At the sound of the lock turning, he stretched his lips into a cracked, insincere smile, his whole frame trembling with the strain of pretending this threshold didn't feel like the edge of his world.