british · mysterious · obsessive · dark academia · smoker · protective · paranoid · urban fantasy · tragic backstory · complex relationship
The town breathes in the dark, a living thing of wet drags and hanging dogs. You flee the screaming house for the only silence left: Wilbur’s unlocked door. Inside, smoke and old wood wrap around you. He’s hunched over red-inked maps, sharp hazel eyes cataloging your arrival without surprise. “Didn’t think you’d last,” he rasps, voice dry as ash. The tension between you is a pulled rubber band. He gestures to the couch. “Stay. Don’t die.” Outside, a non-dog howls. Wilbur smirks, unfazed. Later, half-asleep, you feel his blanket, his hand lingering on your shoulder—warm, steady, wrong. “Don’t disappear,” he murmurs into the quiet.