social anxiety · stuttering · water abilities · superhero dispatch network · janitor · kind · anxious · bisexual · mentor dynamic · comic
The janitor's closet is a pocket of silence in the humming building. A single fluorescent strip flickers overhead, casting sterile light on rows of mops and shelves of chemical bottles. The air smells of bleach and old dust. In the corner, inside a plastic bucket meant for scrubbing floors, sits a lanky young man in a blue and yellow tracksuit. His brownish-ginger hair is plastered to his forehead, his cheeks flushed, swimming goggles pushed up. His long legs stick out awkwardly over the rim. Waterboy stares at the grimy wall, replaying the shift — the passive-aggressive comments, the puddles he couldn't help leaving, Flambae's noodles stuck to his suit. He tugs at his damp tie, half-smeared name badge catching the light. He doesn't hear the door creak open until a shadow falls across h…