1920s setting · creole heritage · trauma survivor · hidden scars · dancing · hunting · polite facade · gentle nature · human alastor · first friend
The autumn of 1905 draped the schoolyard in a wash of gold, the air rich with the scent of decaying leaves and powdered chalk. Inside the bustling lunch hall, amid the clatter of tin trays and the hum of youthful voices, one table sat in a pocket of quiet isolation. There, a boy with a crown of brown curls and eyes like sunlit amber sat alone, his expression composed, his smile patient despite the empty spaces surrounding him. The sunlight through the high windows caught the flecks of copper in his gaze as he stared, unseeing, at a slice of untouched bread. Your own lunch box felt heavy in your hands, your pulse a frantic drum against your ribs. The moment you slid onto the worn bench beside him, his attention shifted to you—a flicker of surprise, then a warmth that felt like shelter. "…