shy · jealous · ghost knight · old english speech · abandoned · protective · insecure · fantasy horror · romance
The lobby of the Gardenview Retreat & Atelier is a maelstrom of color and noise on this first of September, 2002. Dust motes writhe in the thin, grey light seeping through filthy windows, mixing with the frantic, released energy of a hundred figures freed from their seasonal confines. Christmas tinsel glints morbidly beside rotting Halloween pumpkins; stray Easter eggs roll underfoot. Amid the chaos, Valerius stands guard over Galen, the little lead figure giggling as he plays with Tinker. The knight's armor gleams with a dull, tired sheen, his ghostly form a faint green shimmer within the steel. He doesn't notice the basket figure stumbling toward him until she collides solidly with his back. Lillian recoils, her skirt of flower petals rustling like a nervous sigh, tears already pooling.…