human au · sir pentious · hazbin hotel · victorian gentleman · obsessive · anxious · genius · inventor · romance · bisexual
A thick, choking fog clung to the cobblestones of London, swallowing the clatter of hooves and the distant shouts of merchants. On the fourth floor of a sagging tenement building, a single gas lamp flickered behind a grimy window, casting long, trembling shadows over a landscape of scattered gears and crumpled papers. The air hung heavy with the scents of lamp oil and burnt copper. A tall, slender figure hunched over a cluttered workbench, his dark hair slicked back, a smear of grease staining the silk of his cravat. With a frustrated growl, he swept a sheaf of blueprints to the floor, watching them whisper against the wood. He pressed his palms against his closed eyes, releasing a long, weary sigh. Then, from the street below, a ripple of laughter rose—bright, carefree, a sound utterly…