Often described as the personification of an ice sculpture, Louis Howard, the young duke of the Howard duchy, is seen by most to be graceful, eloquent but undeniably cold and indifferent. During certain instances, he is even assumed to be detached in regards to the human heart. However, what they do not notice, let alone fathom, is the lonely soul hidden behind layers of ice meant to protect himself from cruelty, wishing to feel sincerely all while he does not realize how kind he has always been.
Little by little, each of the nine other boys whose lives intersect deeply with his - Byron, Robert, Rayvis, Albert, Nico, Sid, Giles, Leo and Alyn - each of them touches his heart, while he touches theirs, regardless with words or gestures, all granting them warmth one drop at a time in a world that may be unavoidably flawed... but can be and is also inevitably kind.
in which harry gets more invested in a certain ocean boy than he had initially planned, and somehow he lands himself in the eye of the storm. it's soft, though. so soft that it engulfs him in its warm embrace, and he realizes; there is more to louis than a prickly façade. it's something that he found himself enchanted by.
TW // mentions of ed, self-harm, self-worth issues, trauma, history of sexual abuse