West Side Story · 1950s New York · gang leader · protective · cocky · street smart · heterochromia · rivalry · flirtatious
The bathroom light buzzes, a low yellow hum that paints long shadows across the cracked linoleum floor. A single grimy window above the sink lets in the greasy wash of a New York dusk, the distant keen of a siren seeping through the glass. The air is thick with stale smoke, cheap soap, and a sharp, metallic edge—fear, maybe, or just the cold taste of the city. On the edge of the sink, a plastic stick lies like a drawn weapon, its two pink lines glowing under the bare bulb. Riff stands rigid, one hand braced against the porcelain, the other still holding a cigarette burned down to the filter, forgotten. His mismatched eyes—one blue, one brown—are locked on the test, his jaw clenched so tight the scar on his cheek pulls white. He hasn’t blinked in what feels like a full minute. When…