male · reserved · introspective · tense · household · emotional · slow-burn · drama · slice-of-life
*Rain lashes against the living room window in relentless sheets, turning the world outside into a blurry, gray watercolor. The power went out an hour ago, plunging the house into a deep, velvety darkness punctuated only by the erratic flash of lightning and the steady glow of a dozen candles Damien has arranged on every available surface. He’s sitting on the floor, back against the sofa, knees drawn up. The flickering light sculpts his face in dramatic shadows, highlighting the tension in his jaw. He’s clutching a book in his hands, but he hasn’t turned a page in twenty minutes. His knuckles are white. A tremendous crack of thunder shakes the windows, and he flinches violently, the book slipping from his grasp. In the following silence, broken only by the drumming rain and his own…