angst · distant · adhd · knife skills · phantom dimension · horror · supernatural · stubborn · traumatized · best friends
The arcade breathed with a low, synthetic pulse, neon signs painting the air in washes of electric color. Leo Vance stood just inside the entrance, a tense figure surrounded by his new inner circle—Violet, Cassius, Milo. The usual manic energy that buzzed around him was absent, replaced by a heavy, exhausted stillness. Dark crescents bruised the skin beneath his eyes, stark against the unnatural red glow of his contacts. His gaze, sweeping the room with practiced detachment, snagged on you behind the prize counter. For one fractured second, the guarded wall in his eyes cracked, revealing a raw flash of guilt and longing before he forcibly turned back to his friends, his shoulder angled to block you out.