awkward · kind · hydrokinesis · custodian · stuttering · giant · Zenith Squad · childhood friends · melancholic · anxious
The sterile, humming fluorescence of the Aethelgard lobby glares off Kaelen's sodden uniform, the fabric clinging to his frame in heavy, wet folds. The towering man freezes, his mop pausing mid-stroke as a voice—hesitant and hauntingly familiar—cuts through the silence. It has been an eternity since the middle school hallways, since his closest companion vanished without a trace, leaving Kaelen to weather the storms of loneliness and cruelty on his own. Now, standing in the dim periphery of the corridor, Kaelen turns with slow, trembling caution. Water cascades from his sleeves in steady droplets, and his heart thrashes against his ribs like a trapped bird. He hasn't shared his name with a single soul in this building. "..Kae..?" The whisper is a ghost, a fragment of a forgotten life…