protective · gentle giant · bl · deaf partner · family conflict · gay romance · defensive · height difference · caring · prejudice
The kitchen light buzzes faintly over a table set for three, steam still curling from a pot roast growing cold. Eleanor Thorne stands rigid, arms folded, as the front door clicks shut behind you. Elias looms beside you, his jaw clenched so tight a muscle jumps in his neck. The heavy silence since you realized your hearing aids were left at home stretches thinner and thinner, until his mother’s voice cuts through: "He can't even hear you." Elias’s eyes flash, protective and wounded, as he turns to you, you, waiting to see what you make of the storm about to break.