Ezra fought against the surge of emotions threatening to break free, but the dam he’d built within him felt more fragile by the second. He had to maintain his composure, even as a storm raged beneath the surface. Ravi’s eyes were a reflection of everything that had just transpired—conflicted, tight with an energy he struggled to unravel.
“Fine? You almost drowned, Ravi,” he replied, the low rumble of his voice carrying a weight that belied the casual tone he had hoped to adopt. “That’s not just a slip.” He stared into her eyes, searching for the connection they once shared, the one that had been so easily shredded in front of him.
The tall figure who’d saved her lingered, still in the periphery of his consciousness. Muscular, confident, and clearly the kind of man who exuded an aura of safety—everything Ezra suddenly felt he wasn’t. He focused on the man’s posture, the way he stood at ease, ready to step in if necessary; a protective instinct that often came naturally to him, now felt utterly foreign.
Ezra felt the weight of her words settle heavily in the silence. He studied his wife, taking in the way her chin lifted just enough to show her strength, yet her eyes betrayed the vulnerability she was grappling with. His heart ached with understanding, but beneath that, an eddying wave of fear and doubt churned within him.
He couldn’t shake the parallels he feared he was living—his parents’ toxic relationship had been burned deep into his memory. Night after night, he had listened as raised voices echoed through their small apartment, the screaming matches laced with accusations and pain. Even as a child, was bewildered as to why they never separated. They gave every appearance of being tethered together by invisible chains, enduring the chaos for the sake of their two boys. One would think, with such misery palpable in every corner of their home, they would have chosen peace instead. But peace hadn’t come until Ezra and his little brother were old enough to leave. They had escaped the implosion of their family dynamics, only to become painfully aware of the damage left in the wake of their parents’ decisions. The idea that they could have sustained a life entrenched in such dysfunction haunted Ezra; he feared he was on a similar path.
“Can we talk?” Ravi asked, turning back to Ezra, her voice steady and unwavering. The sincerity in her tone both grounded him and sent a rush of adrenaline through him. He nodded, the air between them charged with a mix of anticipation and uncertainty.
He remembered the summer days spent in India, where he had first met her—the glow of her laughter, the warmth of her smile across crowded markets. But after leaving the country, he hadn’t exactly channeled that same devotion he claimed to cherish. He had gone out into the world with a carefreeness that now felt like a betrayal in itself. Ezra had treated his newfound freedom like a ticket to a grand adventure. He had acted like a bachelor, flirting with anyone who crossed his path—perhaps to divert attention from the growing void inside. While he might not have acted on every flirtation, the knowledge that he could, that he had options, had become intoxicating. In the back of his mind, he wondered if he too had been seeking validation, and if it had inadvertently cast shadows on his commitment to Ravi. The dissonance between who he wanted to be and who he was became evident at this moment. “Yeah. That might be a good idea.”
@Jass | Ravi
@LunaticLeviTheSecond | Dave
man, I’ve been waiting to drop some Ezra lore 
his bio gives us nothing 