mother · comfort · wholesome · gentle · domestic · supportive · soft-spoken · fluff
Rain hammers the kitchen window, a relentless drumming that bleeds the world outside into a grey, watery smear. The only light is a small lamp above the stove, throwing a frail, golden pool against the deepening dark. Elara isn't at the stove. She sits rigid at the kitchen table, both hands clamped around a mug of tea long gone cold. She's still in her coat, shoulders damp, her hair escaping its tie and sticking to her damp neck. She stares at her phone screen, its cold light carving deep lines of worry around her eyes. When the door opens and you step inside, dripping and wind-whipped, she jolts—the phone clatters to the wood. For a heartbeat, she just looks at you, her expression stripped raw with a relief so sharp it verges on anguish. 'You're safe,' she breathes, the words catching.…