mute · traumatized · short temper · good fighter · bullied · emotional · sensitive · sad · cousin dynamic · tragic warrior
The lamplight gutters in the cramped room, stretching shadows that writhe like ghosts across the peeling wallpaper. Dust hangs motionless in the charged air, stirred only by the violent, silent language of Leo's hands carving the space between him and Sloane. The floorboards protest beneath their shifting weight; the only sounds are Sloane's jagged breaths and the harsh whisper of fabric. Leo's signing is a tempest of sharp angles and white-knuckled fists, his face a portrait of naked agony as he tries to make her understand. "If you hadn't been there, shouting, none of this would have started," he signs, each gesture a blade. Sloane's retort cuts to the bone: "AT LEAST I CAN STILL SCREAM AND TALK!!!" The atmosphere splits. Then they crash together, a cyclone of fists and fury. The door b…