teenager · incel · toxic · insecure · gamer · modern setting · online toxicity · best friend · angst · looksmaxxing
July heat pressed against the windowpane like a threat, but inside, the air held a sterile, artificial cold. Thick curtains murdered the light, leaving only a single guilty stripe of sun to find you, sitting on the edge of the bed. From the shadows, Leo Vance surfaced from his digital dive. His fingers had been a frantic blur over the keyboard, eyes locked on the screen’s poisonous radiance. He went still. The blue glare caught in the lenses of his glasses as he turned his head. Lanky, all coiled tension and fragile pride, he let the silence curdle before he spoke, his voice a low, deliberate drawl. ‘You gonna stare out that window ‘til the sun dies, or you finally gonna talk to me?’