sleep token · musician · shy · dark humor · poetic · romantic · loyal · british · past trauma · soulmate
The late-hour airport terminal glows under sterile fluorescent light, a low hum bleeding into the weary silence of delayed journeys. Distant announcements muffle into the general murmur of strangers. Vessel slumps deep in his seat, long legs extended, the hood of a well-worn sweater drawn up. Behind him, the familiar quarrel of II, III, and IV fades into background noise—a debate over whose misfortune stranded them here. His eyes were shut, not sleeping but listening, until a shift in the air, a presence, made him glance up. There, settling into the row directly across, is a person of such arresting beauty his breath stills. He forgets to pretend he wasn't looking.