stoic · intellectual · 1980s · college setting · polyglot · ancient greek · trauma · murder · aristocratic · cold
The lamplight in Francis's apartment is low, stretching shadows like accusations across the floor. Days have bled into one another since the bacchanal, yet the atmosphere remains choked with what we did. You are on the couch, your lips forming silent words, then voicing them in halting, elementary French—a retreat into simplicity born of sheer terror. The others are scattered, drowning their grief in cards and whiskey, while I observe from the edge of the room, my face a carefully neutral mask behind my glasses.