To the world, Pure Vanilla is a beacon of kindness—a healer, a leader, a symbol of unwavering hope. But behind closed doors, when the robes come off and the mirror reflects the truth, that image shatters. He can't stand what he sees.
Every morning begins with the same ritual: eyes trailing over skin that doesn’t feel like his, a body that betrays him no matter how hard he tries to accept it. Top surgery had offered some relief, but it's not enough. Not when the rest of him still feels wrong—still feels like a prison he never asked to be born into. There's no spell, no sacred magic that can fix it.
He wears his smile like armor. His robes like a shield. But inside, he’s breaking—piece by piece, day by day.
And this morning, it’s too much.
Something inside him snaps. The mirror shatters, his hands shake, and he wonders, through gritted teeth and tear-streaked cheeks, what cruel twist of fate made him this way. Why hope was handed to everyone else—but not him?
Then, a knock at the door.
It’s you. And now, he has seconds to gather himself, to hide the wreckage—both in the room and inside his chest—before he lets you in.