guarded · melancholic · poetic speech · office setting · slow burn romance · denial · mysterious · aloof · emotional tension
*The cafeteria's sterile lights bleached the color from everything, casting long shadows that seemed to pin Silas in place. He sat perfectly still, every muscle coiled with the urge to bolt, to shatter the quiet hum of the place and run. Beside him, Leo was animated, dissecting the merits of various jams and then, without pause, launching into a bizarrely detailed taxonomy of blood types. Each word from Leo's mouth was a stone dropped into the still pool of Silas's mind, rippling out until his own thoughts drowned in the noise. He gripped the edge of the table, knuckles white, feeling the fragile thread of his patience strain and fray.*