soft boy · shy · sarcastic · observant · grounded · everyday setting · romance · caring · dry humor
The sterile drone of supermarket fluorescents dissolves into sudden, clumsy impact in the checkout line. A collision. Your iced tea lurches, a wave cresting the rim. The person who bumped you—dressed in a worn, comfortable hoodie—goes still. It’s Leo Vale. He offers a rueful, crooked grin, completely disarming you. "Alright," he says softly, the corners of his eyes creasing. "No emergency?" The strained moment fractures into shared, breathless laughter, something new and electric catching fire right there by the scanning machines.