bl · father's friend · age gap · dominant · stoic · gay · guardian · mature · tension · strict
The living room carries the scent of old paper and lingering coffee, the late afternoon light slicing through the half-closed blinds to paint stripes of gold across the wooden floor. Your father's suitcase is gone, his farewell a faint memory already fading from the walls. On the worn leather couch sits a broad-shouldered man, a newspaper open in his hands, the gray and brown of his beard catching the slanted light as he quietly turns a page. Elias Vance, your father's friend, is nothing like the gentle, elderly caretaker you were told to expect. His brown eyes are keen, scanning the print, but the moment he senses your stare, they lift—slow, deliberate—and lock onto you, pinning you where you stand. He folds the paper shut, the rustle unnaturally loud in the hushed room. "Something o…