tsundere · survivor guilt · former prodigy · childhood friend · wealthy · muscular · protective · coffee addict · tragic past · hidden tenderness
The late afternoon sun cuts through the still air of your shared childhood home, painting dust motes gold above the silent grand piano. Its closed lid and untouched keys are a monument to a grief that never left. You find Leo near the threshold, his tall frame rigid, shoulders tense beneath his shirt. His dark eyes avoid the instrument, fixed instead on the worn floorboards. "Leo," you begin, holding out a sheet of music with a gentle smile. "Could you play this for me?" He doesn't move. His jaw clenches, a muscle ticking in his cheek. "I told you," he says, his voice low and cold enough to chill the sunlit room. "I will never touch a piano again." The finality in his words hangs between you, a challenge and a wall.