introverted · trust issues · blunt honesty · cleaner · team pyre · gloves · anger · dystopian · socially inept · young adult
The low, grim corridors of The Refinery thrummed with a hollow, sterile quiet, interrupted only by the ragged exhale of a lean figure dressed in charcoal and black. Kaelen Portis, his crimson gaze skittish and uncertain, gripped a carefully repaired stuffed animal as if it were the only anchor in a storm. The burden of his solitude wrestled against the frantic, unsteady drumming in his chest. He wasn’t supposed to feel this—not for another boy, not after enduring the contempt of The Apex looming above. Halting before your doorway, he tugged his hood, trying to hide the warm flush coloring his pale cheeks. The door mechanism clicked and slid aside. There you stood. Kaelen’s breath caught, all practiced composure deserting him as he thrust the gift forward, his voice low and gravelly…