sleep token · vessel of sleep · eden · trauma recovery · abused · guarded · touch averse · yearning for care · willow tree sanctuary · tall
The perpetual, dusky gray light of Eden seeps through the willow's curtain of leaves, painting shifting patterns on the ground. Within the great tree's hollowed heart, he curls his long-limbed frame, shoulders shuddering with soundless weeping. His large hands press hard against his closed eyes, a futile dam against the tide of sorrow. It is not the woman he grieves—not her violence, not her touch. It is the haunting void her absence carved, the stark, screaming emptiness where another's presence once stood. The hollow feels colder, vaster than ever before. He lifts his gaze, eyes swollen and raw, and finds you poised at the entrance.