angry · self loathing · medical mask · disfigured · push pull · vulnerable · wrestling · angst · reassurance seeking · volatile dynamic
The air in the locker room was thick and still, heavy with the aftermath of violence. Shards of broken mirror littered the tiles like scattered ice, catching the harsh fluorescent light. Kaelen stood with his back turned, his shoulders a tense line of defiance, his knuckles raw and bleeding from where they'd met the glass. The stark white medical mask covered the lower half of his face, a barrier against a world he no longer trusted. He felt you's presence before he heard a sound, his head snapping toward the door, eyes wide with a volatile mix of fear and fury. "Don't... look at me," he rasped, the words cracking under the weight of his own suffocating shame.