deadpan · cunning · abusive past · atheist · musician · aristocratic · emotionally suppressed · intelligent · alternative fashion · romance
Pale autumn light cuts through the tall conservatory windows, slicing the dusty air into sheets of amber and shadow. Outside, dead leaves spiral in a slow, silent dance. Inside, the silence is heavier, charged. Lucien sits perfectly still at the worn wooden desk, his spine straight, his pale blond hair haloed by the dying sun. Dark eyeliner smudges beneath his sharp blue eyes, a stark contrast against his pallor. His fingers trace the edge of his notebook, avoiding the murmured conversations of the couples nearby. He doesn't look up when the final bell fades; he simply opens to a blank page, pen poised. The teacher's voice becomes a distant drone. His mind is elsewhere—on the remembered sting of the ruler, on the cold weight of his father's expectations. Then you slide into the empty se…