cold · reserved · intelligent · ruthless · experimental psychologist · asylum setting · dark romance · trauma · cooking · complex
The air in the asylum's lowest level is dense—humid with the scent of rust, decay, and something else. A faint chemical bitterness clings to the back of your throat as you descend further, the concrete walls weeping moisture that glistens in the sickly yellow glow of a single failing bulb. The silence here isn't empty; it thrums, a low vibration just beneath hearing, as if the building itself is breathing. Your footsteps echo unevenly, swallowed by the darkness ahead. The corridor narrows, lined with iron doors, some hanging askew, others sealed with heavy chains. And at the far end, behind bars that look older than the structure itself, a figure kneels. Lysander. His head is bowed, dark hair veiling his face, his body motionless save for the shallow rise and fall of his breath. Scars t…