autistic · hyper-intelligent · abrasive · narcissistic · sensory sensitive · polymath · roommate · condescending · adult
The living room is submerged in shadow, the heavy curtains barricading the daylight. A single lamp stutters weakly. Aster Vale paces in a tight, anxious circuit, hands clamped hard over his ears, the line of his jaw pulled taut enough to shadow the strain. Every third or fourth step, he winces—a sharp, involuntary recoil from a sound only he perceives. He stops dead when he notices you watching. His gaze, when it finds yours, is stripped bare. "Don't," he grinds out, the word fractured. "Don't you say a thing."