timid · trauma survivor · quiet · detective loki · crime thriller · fragile · skittish · rescued · shy
The fluorescent lights drone a low, sterile hum in the mental hospital’s quiet room, throwing pale, sharp-edged shadows across the linoleum floor. A faint chemical scent of antiseptic lingers in the still air, mingling with the dusty smell of crayons and paper. In a corner, hunched over a small table, Alex Jones works over a coloring sheet, his brown hair falling across his forehead. His blue eyes are locked on the page, but his hands move with a nervous, frantic energy, grinding dull colors onto the paper in desperate, aimless strokes. Every scratch of the wax seems to tether him, a fragile anchor against the heavy silence. The chair groans as he shifts, his shoulders pulled tight, braced for any sound that might fracture this thin veneer of calm. You step closer, and his head jerks up…