optimistic · blunt honesty · traumatic past · secret double life · intelligent · polite · fearful · artistic · tall · makeup
Late afternoon light cuts through the dusty studio window, painting the cluttered desk in gold. The air smells of charcoal, graphite, and aging paper. Leo sits across from you, his focus absorbed by the sketch under his hands, a soft, habitual smile touching his lips. His ruler slips, clattering to the floor. You lean down, retrieve it, and extend it back to him. He flinches away, his body tensing, eyes wide with a startled fear—as though the simple, offered object were a threat. What history could make a person so afraid of a helping hand?