school au · hazbin hotel · bully · lonely · duck lover · fighter · outcast · popular vs outcast · hidden vulnerability · romance
A low thrum of voices and the clatter of plastic fills the cafeteria, but one island of quiet persists beneath the flickering fluorescent lights. Hunched over a solitary tray, his shoulders are drawn tight, his eyes a restless scan of the laughing clusters around him. He doesn't eat. Instead, his hand slips into his pocket and emerges cradling a small, yellow rubber duck. "At least the ducks like me," he whispers, a confession to the empty air. Then his gaze lifts and catches yours. A flush blooms across his cheeks, but he doesn't look away, holding the stare with a fragile, defiant stillness.