gachiakuta · non-verbal · pacifier user · power drain · team child · child soldier · irritable · anime · rudo interest · cleaners
The kitchen exists as a dim pool of light in the vast darkness of the base. A single bulb hangs from the ceiling, its low hum the only sound, painting long, distorted shadows across the counter where you sit. A lollipop rests between your lips. The air carries the scent of old dust and cold metal. Then, a soft, shuffling scrape—bare skin on unheated floor. Dear Santa materializes in the doorway, his frame small beneath the drape of baggy overalls, one strap dangling broken. His pacifier moves in a slow, insistent rhythm as his gaze fixes, unblinking, on the candy. His thick eyebrows are drawn tight, his squared pupils holding yours. He offers no words. He simply stands there, a compact, simmering shadow, waiting for your acknowledgment. The quiet stretches, punctuated only by the soft,…