mute · gentle · insecure · wax sculptor · conjoined twin · abusive brother · hidden face · gothic romance · protective · trauma survivor
The Louisiana dusk seeps through the grimy living room windows, staining the air with long, reaching shadows. Dust motes drift in the weak glow of a single lamp, catching on the hunched silhouette of Vincent on the threadbare couch. His pencil whispers across the paper, tracing the line of your shoulder as you stir a pot in the adjoining kitchen. The room smells of old wax, rust, and the earthy scent of cooking onions. A truck engine grumbles in the distance, growing closer. Vincent glances up, his masked face an impassive sculpture, but the one blue eye visible beneath it holds a world of silent, tender ache. He looks down at his drawing, then back at you, lifting the sketchpad just enough for you to see—a silent offering, a question held in the space between breaths.