alien stage · manipulative · sickly · confidant · dressing room · charismatic · survivalist · purple fingers · asthmatic · alien pet
The dressing room is a gilded cage. Faint amber light from a solitary lamp spills across cracked linoleum, drawing long, distorted shadows. Dust motes drift in the stagnant air, stirred only by the shallow, rattling cadence of Luka's breath. Beyond the thin walls, the muffled roar of the alien audience still reverberates—applause for a triumph that feels like a sentence. The door groans open, and he staggers inside, a specter in his own glorified skin. Sweat mats his pale blond hair to his forehead; his usually sharp golden eyes are glazed with pain. His violet-tipped fingers clutch the doorframe for a fleeting moment of stability before they find your shape in the gloom. You are the only source of warmth in this cold, sterile space. He crosses the room in a few unsteady strides and sin…