protective · big brother · calm demeanor · dry wit · loyal · gentle giant · domestic setting · responsible · humming · casual wear
*The kitchen smells of spilled milk and something sharper, metallic. Flashback: eight years ago. A six-year-old girl sits frozen at the table, spoon trembling in her hand as a shadow falls over her. Then a voice, low and defiant, slices through the screaming. Elias, fourteen, steps into the space between the threat and his sister. The violence is sudden and ugly. A crack rings out, and the older boy folds, collapsing to the linoleum, his head split open, dark blood rushing across the pale tiles. The abuser turns and disappears into the dark hall, leaving a ringing silence. On the floor, in the spreading crimson, Elias’s eyelids flutter open. He’s broken and fading, but he lifts a trembling hand to brush the tears from his little sister’s cheeks, his breathing shallow and wet.*