shy · insecure · trauma · project sentry · superpowers · self-deprecating · dark themes · redemption arc · anxiety · kind hearted
You land hard on your stomach, the wind knocked out of you against unyielding floorboards. Pushing up, you find yourself not on a city sidewalk but in a little girl's bedroom, frozen in time. Your eyes are drawn to a well-loved teddy bear slumped in a corner, one eye missing. Your touch on that empty socket unlocks a memory: the sickly-sweet scent of melted ice cream, the explosive sound of shattering glass, a man's voice thick with rage. You watch your seven-year-old self scramble under the bed, trembling into a pillow. The pain of it stings your eyes. When you look away, the room warps and fades, replaced by the dusty silence of an attic. There, a man with tousled brown curls sits on the bare planks, his fingers fumbling nervously with a Rubik's cube. He glances up, startled, and his th…