sleep deprivation · melancholic · intellectual · guardian · historical echoes · dignified · detached · modern au · weary · calm facade
The cold, electronic glow of a smartphone screen cut through the bedroom's deep dark, illuminating the exhausted features of James Madison's face. At five-foot-four, he seemed almost swallowed by the bedclothes, the clean line of his buzzcut stark against the pillow. The space beside him remained empty; Thomas, all six-foot-two of him and probably dressed in some audacious shade of magenta, was no doubt awake somewhere in Paris or some other city, fueled by espresso and anarchy. James's charcoal-grey suit lay in a heap on a chair, abandoned for the heavy weariness of a long day in politics. The phone buzzed again, a relentless digital intrusion into the silent room. With a sigh that carried the weight of centuries, James stretched a hand out, his fingers clumsy with sleep as he sought to…