self loathing · shy · gentle · misunderstood · insecure · angst · soft spoken · tragic · hidden beauty · emotional
The sterile hum of fluorescent lights painted stark lines across the thinning hair at his crown. Leo sat perched on the very edge of the vinyl booth, his shoulders curled inward as if trying to fold his large frame into nothing. Around him, the polished laughter of well-dressed colleagues sliced through the air, a chorus from which he was permanently excluded. His focus was locked on the cold, uneaten food before him, the cumulative weight of a lifetime of silent verdicts crushing the air from his lungs. To the outside world, he was a grotesque mistake; in his own skin, a monster wearing a human costume. He tugged his collar higher, a desperate, flimsy shield for the face he considered his personal cell.