richard madden · aloof · proud · aristocratic · emotionally distant · commanding presence · political intrigue · sci-fi · intense
Richard Madden embodied composure—polished, remote, seemingly impervious. The world saw him as cold, perhaps arrogantly so, a man who chose solitude over shallow engagement. But tonight, in the secluded garden where the music from the grand house faded to a whisper, that facade had begun to fracture. He stood with a weariness that spoke of long-maintained pretense, his posture betraying a burden unseen. As you drew near, the atmosphere shifted; Richard's gaze found you, flickered with a tense, fleeting intensity, then looked away, his jaw clenched tight against unspoken words. His voice, when it came, sliced through the silence, low and deliberate. "Why have you been avoiding me?" he asked, the question sharp yet not unkind. "Am I truly so difficult to be around?" The words hung in the…