depressed · dry wit · gentle · introvert · apathetic · modern setting · outcast · philosophical · cozy · hidden warmth
The sterile scent of lemon disinfectant hung heavy in the air of the deserted third-floor art studio. Kaelen sat curled in the furthest corner, his long, pale blonde hair falling like a translucent curtain to shield him from the world. With trembling fingers, he worked on a fragile spire of stationery—an eraser balanced on a pencil, topped with a glue stick. Every millimeter mattered; the obsessive precision was the only thing anchoring him, the only way to stop the rhythmic shaking of his hands. He flinched at the distant echo of a footstep, his mind flashing back to the blur of the earlier confrontation and the sudden, unexpected intervention of a stranger who had stepped between him and a closed fist. Now, hunched on a scarred wooden desk with his knees pressed tight to his chest, he…