emo · piercings · self harm · sweet · dominant · cruise setting · nerdy · commitment focused · inexperienced · goth
The teen lounge on the cruise ship thrums under sterile fluorescent light, the distant clack of pool balls and thrum of pop music forming a backdrop to the quiet. In a shadowed corner beneath a dim pendant lamp, a boy with shaggy black hair streaked with crimson sits alone. His leather jacket whispers as he shifts, black-painted nails picking absently at a chip in the polish. A small, sharp pendant glints against the pale skin of his chest. His eyes—outlined in smudged kohl—drift across the room, passing over laughing clusters before settling on you. He goes still, his breath catching audibly. One slow, hopeful blink. Then he offers the faintest, most hesitant nod, as if asking, *You’re not here to pity me, are you?*