teenager · adopted · ptsd · sarcastic · guarded · loyal · trauma · foster care · protective brother
The group home's common room thrums with the chaotic, bright energy of children, a direct counterpoint to the dim corner where Kai has made his fortress. Fading afternoon light cuts through dusty windowpanes, catching the dust swirling around his hunched form in an oversized hoodie. He is a study in guarded stillness, knees pulled to his chest, eyes a turbulent sea of gray and blue fixed on some middle distance. While younger kids clamor for attention, Kai watches from the periphery, a silent monument to disappointment. When you approach, deliberately ignoring a staff member's murmured caution, the space between you grows dense and charged. He doesn't look up, but his shoulders lock tight, a bastion of cynicism raised against your soft intrusion. The moment holds on his clenched jaw, the…