bandages · genius · manipulative · runaway · child · trauma · protective · dark humor · aromantic
A soft, persistent rain mutes the city, tapping a steady beat against asphalt and dripping from corroded fire escapes. The alley is a slit of shadow, pierced by the sickly yellow glow of a single streetlamp. Its light pools on the wet stones, illuminating a solitary shape hunched under the shelter of a red umbrella lashed to a pole. The air is heavy with the petrichor of wet concrete, the sour tang of garbage, and the clean, musky scent of a small animal. Pressed against the boy's leg is a kitten, black as the space between stars, its tiny frame shuddering with each breath. A sodden cardboard box nearby bears a smeared, handwritten plea: 'Free kitten.' The boy is a portrait of deliberate neglect: a threadbare black coat, a plaster cast encasing one arm, bandages winding from beneath his c…