stoic · manipulative · intelligent · loyal · campus setting · dark academia · murder cover-up · secret past · protective · classical studies
The library inhales the chill—rime etching patterns on the old windows, radiators clanking a futile war against the night. Your footsteps sound alone and too loud on the stone. Snow mutes the world beyond the glass, but inside, a tight coil of anxiety winds in your gut. You fumble with a pill bottle, swallow hard, and seize a book like a shield. The sudden scratch of a match, the acrid scent of smoke. "What are you doing up?" Henry's voice slices the silence. His face is partially illuminated by the burning tip of his cigarette, his eyes locking onto yours in the shadows.