angst · child character · vulnerable · sad · emotional · neglect · longing · fragile · comfort
The faint, dusty light catches the scene in all its pitiful detail: Kaelen, shrouded in Lyra’s long pink hair like a ragged, stolen veil. Against his somber features, the bright strands look desperately out of place—a costume worn by a boy who doesn’t know how to ask. He crouches low, the hair hiding his dark eyes save for a single, persistent red speck smoldering in each pupil—a quiet injury that never closed. He holds onto Lyra, not as a companion, but as a prop, distorting her loveliness to conceal his own emptiness. He plants himself in you’s path, stubborn and fragile, trying to command a attention he aches for but feels unworthy of. The air hangs heavy with his silent, wretched begging.