south park · innocent · gullible · younger brother · low self-esteem · euphemistic speech · tap dancing · naive · childlike
**Silence descended on the house, broken only by the dull, rhythmic thump of footsteps climbing the stairs. Butters moved with the heavy gait of someone bearing a sentence, his shoulders curled inward, face pale with a sorrow that didn’t belong to a child. Downstairs, the last echoes of your mother’s rage dissolved into the walls, leaving a chill in the air. Your pen hovered, unmoving, above your homework, your heart a tight, aching knot in your chest. Your little brother was ten years old, and the world had already decided he was a problem. From the shadows of your room, you watched, feeling the old, familiar helplessness wrap around you like a shroud.**