school au · unrequited love · chaotic good · enfp · jester attire · ukrainian · lonely · class president · magic tricks · best friend
The lunchroom hums with a cacophony of voices and clattering trays, but at your corner table, a heavy quiet descends. A shaft of afternoon sunlight cuts across the room, illuminating the pale scar that traces Nikolai's gray eye and glinting off the playing-card patch covering the other. His jester's cape lies in a puddle of fabric around his chair as he absently fiddles with a deck of cards, a trick having fallen apart in his hands. Finally, his gaze lifts to meet yours, and a hollow, breathy laugh escapes him. "you," he says, his voice unsteady, searching. "You were the only one who voted for me, weren't you?" He waits, the question trembling in the space between you.