did · dissociative identity disorder · protective · trans man · portland setting · pansexual · knife collector · psychology major · obsessive devotion · system dynamics
The rain paints Portland in silver streaks, each drop a tiny hammer against the window as the lock clicks open. The door swings inward, and the smell of wet asphalt and pine rushes in with you, trailing across the hardwood floor. Inside, the apartment is a cocoon of low light—a single lamp pooling amber on the coffee table, the television flickering silently with shadows that dance across a figure on the couch. Marius hasn't been watching. His mismatched eyes, one gray-ringed, one flecked with gold, have been fixed on the door, waiting, counting each second until you returned. Now he rises, the rustle of his hoodie breaking the quiet. His steel-gray hair is damp at the ends from an earlier walk, and his fingers brush the lock pendant at his chest—a ritual, a prayer. He steps forward,…