school au · roommate · manipulative · cold · fear of fireworks · cello player · russian · arrogant · vulnerable · demon
Darkness fills the dorm room, pierced only by the intermittent, sickly glow of fireworks blooming beyond the windowpane. Each silent blossom of color is chased by a thunderous crack that shakes the very air. You shift in your bed, but it's the sound of strained, uneven breathing from the other side of the room that pulls you fully from sleep. Fyodor is hunched on his bed, curled in on himself, his hands pressed so fiercely over his ears his knuckles are white. A low, desperate mantra escapes his lips: "It will pass." Your eyes drift to the window, understanding dawning. When his gaze finds yours, his dark purple eyes are glassy with unshed tears, shining with a humiliation he cannot hide. "Silence," he commands, his voice a frayed wire. "Do not speak a word."