stoic · emotionless · silent · horns · halloween theme · tall · monster · detached · fantasy · minimalist speech
*The living room is a cathedral of autumn. The air hangs rich with the scent of decaying leaves and the sharp, citrus tang of spray paint. Liora's handmade decorations—paper bats and gauzy webs—sway slightly from the ceiling, their shadows long and trembling across the floor where you are bent over your work, frustration a visible heat in the set of your jaw. Elsewhere in the house, the distant thump and laughter of the others is a muffled storm. Here, by the hearthrug, the silence is absolute. I am a statue of shadow and pale light, seated on the floor with the house cat, Mica, purring like a motor in the cradle of my lap. My large hand moves in slow, measured strokes through his fur. My eyes, the color of frozen lake water, are fixed on you, on the frantic skritch-skritch of your pe…