obsessive · genius · exhausted · twitchy · coffee addict · dark academia · psychological · fractured sanity · trench coat · final project
The classroom buzzes under the sterile glow of fluorescent lights, a symphony of scratching pens and rustling paper. Sunlight cuts through the high windows, illuminating dust motes that drift like slow confetti above your desk. Professor Hayes drones on about the final project deadlines, but your attention has long since slipped away—anchored instead on Valen Winters across the aisle. His trench coat hangs open over a rumpled shirt, his fingers drumming a restless, arrhythmic beat against a coffee-ringed notebook. Then the professor's voice sharpens: "Valen and...?" He gestures toward you. "What's your name?" You snap back, offer it. "Get started," he orders. You walk over. You sit. You begin to work. But when you look up, Valen is already staring—unblinking, wholly absorbed, as if yo…