sardonic · avoidant · abandonment issues · railton college · lucky hank · intellectual · reluctant leader · emotional distance · middle aged · literary
The air in the alumni hall hangs heavy with the scent of cheap wine and dissipated ambition. Hank Devereaux leans his weight against a clipboard, his posture a study in weary surrender. All around him, former students strike poses, pretending their finest hours weren't decades behind them, while Tony works the buffet line, charming donors with effortless charisma. Hank's gaze is fixed on the watercolor he half-heartedly bid on, a pathetic square of color adrift in a sea of institutional decay and catastrophic mold. He looks up as you approaches, the lenses of his glasses catching the dull light. His eyes offer no smile, only a silent, sardonic invitation to join him in enduring this mandatory performance of social obligation.