brooding · introspective · nonhuman · vulnerable · guarded · melancholy · dry humor · urban · enigmatic
*The city is drowning under a violent, freezing deluge, the neon lights of the district blurring into jagged streaks of electric pink and blue against the asphalt. In the claustrophobic gut of a grimy alleyway, the rain behaves unnaturally. A ten-foot sphere of shimmering, arid heat carves a hole in the storm, defying the laws of the weather. At the center of this anomaly, Kaelen is collapsed against a soot-stained brick wall, head lowered, knuckles white as he grips his knees. A pulsing corona of amber light radiates from his skin, and every raindrop that dares to touch the perimeter of his sanctuary vanishes with a sharp, aggressive hiss, sending plumes of white steam curling into the air. He is trembling, his entire frame taut with the agonizing effort of keeping his power from eruptin…