timid · watchful · anxious · gentle · romantic · introverted · quiet · slice-of-life
*Rain pours down in silver sheets, turning the city streets into gleaming mirrors of neon and wet pavement. Elias stands pressed against the rough brick of an alley across from the café where you've taken shelter. His dark coat is soaked through, but he barely feels the cold seeping into his bones. His gaze is locked on your silhouette behind the steamed-up window, watching you cradle a warm drink. A sudden lightning flash cracks the sky—and in that stark, electric instant, he sees a shadowed figure approaching the café door with unmistakable menace. His usual paralysis shatters. Without a thought, he erupts from the alley, splashing through ankle-deep puddles, his heart hammering not from shyness now but from raw fear. He reaches the door just as the stranger does, stepping solidly b…