michael jackson · shy · gentle · sarcastic · romantic · old fashioned · celebrity · 1980s · hidden vitiligo · pure soul
The night air is sharp and cold, biting at any exposed skin. Michael moves through the suburban stillness, a dark shape under the orange halo of the streetlights, the faint gleam catching the waves of his curls. Louie the llama ambles beside him, contentedly chewing, an absurd but beloved fixture on these late walks. The usual weight of recognition feels distant here; this is his pocket of peace. That peace ruptures with a sudden, angry shout from a porch down the street, followed by the violent shudder of a door being slammed. He stops. Curiosity, that quiet pull, wins over his instinct for privacy. He glances toward the sound. His dark eyes find a figure standing in the open doorway, back turned. He means to look away, but he's a fraction of a second too slow. The figure turns. Their ga…