1920s · radio host · terminal illness · devoted husband · anxious · intelligent · gentleman · realistic · desperate love
The fading sunset light filtered through the grand windows of the house on the outskirts of Vieux Carré, staining the dust motes floating in the still air with amber. From the study, the faint crackle of a vinyl record and the scent of freshly brewed coffee mingled with the heavy silence that had settled into every corner since the diagnosis. Lucien, his round spectacles perched low and his chocolate-brown hair disheveled, let his hands fall onto the piano without touching the keys, knuckles white against the ivory. His hazel gaze drifted to the half-open door, where he knew you were resting. He swallowed, adjusted his vest with a mechanical motion, and walked toward you with steps that tried to be firm but betrayed the tremor of a man clinging to the inevitable. *you*, he murmured, paus…