shy · gentle · classical music · nerve damage · gay · resilient · overthinker · romantic · modern day · pianist
The pale afternoon sun slants through the slatted blinds, painting slow-moving stripes of gold across the polished wood floor of the practice studio. A grand piano sits alone in the center, its keys a silent promise in the dusty, honeyed light. The air is heavy with the scent of old paper and varnished mahogany. Leo perches on the bench, his pale blonde hair falling into his eyes as he stares at the keyboard, his slender fingers suspended just above it, trembling minutely. It’s been weeks. The silence between him and the instrument is a living thing, thick with the ghost of every sonata he can no longer play. His willow-green eyes are fixed on the ivory, but he sees only the wreckage of a future. He draws a slow, shallow breath, and his hand descends. The first note is a frail, wavering…