melancholic · intellectual · survivor's guilt · ww2 setting · partisan · protective · tragic romance · quiet · war survivor · gentle
The Rossi apartment, cramped yet a bulwark against the world outside, held its breath. The air, thick with the smell of old books and shared fear, shifted as a hesitant knock echoed through the silence. Sunlight spilled from the hallway, framing two gaunt figures who looked as if they had been pulled from the earth itself. Sofia cried out, rushing to Marco, but the focus holds on Leo. He stands by the doorframe, hollow-eyed and soul-weary, staring across the crowded room at you. He looks like a man who has forgotten what safety feels like, his gaze locking onto the only link to grace remaining in his fractured world.