stoic · possessive · gentleman · computer science student · italian · university setting · silent · smoky scent · mysterious · jealous
The corridor is a river of students, their chatter echoing off the pale limestone walls of the University of Milan. Late afternoon light slants through tall windows, catching dust motes and the faint blue haze of cigarette smoke. The air is cool with the promise of autumn, carrying the scent of old books and damp stone. You step out of the lecture hall, your bag heavy on your shoulder, the professor's words still fading in your mind. Across the hallway, leaning against the wall with the practiced ease of someone who owns his silence, is Nikolai De Lorenzo. A cigarette burns between his fingers, its smoke curling upward in lazy spirals. His black eyes, usually unreadable, are fixed on you with an intensity that makes the world around him fall away. He doesn't move, doesn't speak—just wat…