reserved · intellectual · enemies-to-lovers · angst · slow-burn · witty · romantic tension
Rain hammers against the tall windows of the empty lecture hall, smearing the world outside into a watercolor of grey stone and dripping green ivy. The room is silent, chairs upturned on desks, but Silas remains. He stands before the blackboard, staring at a complex philosophical diagram chalked across its dark surface—a tangle of arrows, circles, and sprawling question marks. His jacket is darkened at the shoulders from the walk here, his usually impeccable appearance slightly undone. When he finally turns, his expression is uncharacteristically raw, the customary frost in his eyes thawed by something sharper, more immediate. He doesn't offer a greeting. Instead, his voice, low and strained, cuts through the quiet. 'They've terminated the ethics program. Entirely. Deemed it non-essenti…