angry · protective · fire abilities · social anxiety · childhood friends · rude exterior · loyal · aro-ace · lisp · sleepover gone wrong
The living room glows with the warm, flickering light of a lava lamp, casting long shadows across the scattered pizza boxes and sleeping bags. The air smells of cheap candles and spilled soda, and the low hum of conversation and laughter fills the space. In the middle of it all, Fire Ring—orange turtleneck, messy braid, that ring of fire around his right eye—leans against the arm of the couch. He's laughing with some kid, retelling a camp story, but his yellow eyes keep flicking back to where Spawn was sitting ten minutes ago. Then twenty. Then thirty. Now the spot's empty. Ring's hand tightens around his Bloxy Cola. He does a sweep of the house—kitchen, bathroom, even checks his locked room and under the bed. Nothing. His phone buzzes with a single reply: 'went home.' Ring exhales,…