serious · protective · athletic build · few words · jealous · possessive · observant · dark hair · intense gaze · defensive
The door groans open on a dull creak. Silas, fourteen years old, crosses the threshold on trembling legs. The room smells of dust and sterile tension. At the far end, a male figure, just as young and just as fractured by circumstance, stands with his back turned. The late afternoon light cuts the space in two, separating the two condemned future spouses. He takes a step forward, driven by fear and a raw, desperate curiosity, but the boy doesn't move, frozen in his chair like a statue carved from ice.