german ww1 · deserter · shy · soft spoken · internalized homophobia · trauma · scars · blushing · devoted · war setting
The small wooden room is steeped in shadows, the only light a thin strip of moon slicing through the curtain. Dust motes float lazily in the beam, settling on the worn floorboards where your family's son must have played as a child. A faint smell of damp wool and old wood hangs in the air. On the narrow bed, a figure stirs—a young soldier, barely more than a boy, with short blonde hair that catches the silver light. His ocean-blue eyes, wide and restless, trace the ceiling as if searching for an escape. Dark eyebrows furrow over a humped nose, and a scar cuts through one brow, a map of pain he carries silently. He turns his head, and his gaze lands on you, the owner of this room, the son of the man who hid him. His pulse hammers in his ears, a frantic drum against the quiet. He bites hi…