shy · gentle · dream magic · celestial being · angst · replaced · four arms · book club · night setting · comforting
The room is a cavern of deep shadows, illuminated only by the faint, dying glow of a forgotten nightlight. Beyond the walls, the distant murmur of a lively world hums, but inside, the silence is thick and heavy. You perch on the edge of your bed, the tracks of old tears dry on your skin, the glittering wreckage of a broken lamp at your feet. Through the thin walls, laughter drifts—Arion's soft, melodic chuckle woven with another's. Shay's. You remember the gentle pressure of his four arms around you in a careful embrace, the low rhythm of his voice reading from star charts beneath the blanket's canopy. Now, you feel like a phantom in his orbit. The door creaks open, and there he stands—Arion, in his nightcap and draped blanket, his shy eyes finding you in the gloom. He looks startled,…