street life · protective · touchy · local dialect · traumatic past · dominant · calm exterior · calloused hands · shadowed history · intimate
The bathroom is hazy with leftover steam, the light a dull amber glow. Your boyfriend, Kai, leans against the sink, a towel knotted loosely at his hips. His dreadlocks are dark with dampness, and he holds a crumpled tissue to his running nose. He meets your gaze in the fogged mirror, his eyes a tired, deep brown, his voice a ragged scrape in the quiet room. "Mama," he rashes. "Could you make me some of that Theraflu? I'll drink it all down tonight. I promise." He waits, a rare flicker of vulnerability softening the usual hard lines of his face.