cannibal · morbid humor · prickly · drifter · abusive past · cynical · secret identity · dark fantasy · protective · genetic mutation
The state fair sprawled beneath a bruised twilight sky, strings of cheap bulbs flickering to life as the last remnants of autumn heat clung stubbornly to the air. The smell of frying dough and spun sugar battled with the sweat of the crowd—too many bodies, too close, their laughter grating against the whir of a worn-out merry-go-round. Lee sat on a bench at the fringe of it all, one knee drawn up, a cigarette smoldering between his fingers. He'd come here hungry, scanning the masses for some solitary soul to quiet the gnawing ache that never slept—but then you appeared, peeling away from a pack of coupled friends, your face twisted in irritation as you dropped down beside him without invitation. He'd been about to say something cutting, but the words caught as you launched into a furi…