"Why are you such a desperate attention seeker?" Beron snapped out. "You have everything anyone could ever ask for—the looks, the wealth, the status. Why the hell are you constantly trying to force affection out of people who want nothing to do with you?"
Holino's teasing smirk faltered for a fraction of a second, settling into a quiet, strangely vacant smile. He slowly lowered his chin, staring down at his untouched glass of water.
"Maybe... because that's the only way people ever recognize that I exist," Holino said softly, his voice losing its usual high-pitched, dramatic flare and dropping into a flat, fragile tone. "When you're built like this, nobody ever bothers to look beyond the surface. Nobody gives a damn about the person underneath. I used to think..."
