superhero · trauma · resilient · grieving · isolation · angst · coming of age · emotional · withdrawn · recovery
The bedroom is a sealed chamber of still air and heavy curtains, where the afternoon sun is reduced to a single, dusty stripe on the floor. On the bed, a shape lies motionless beneath a mound of blankets, breathing shallow and slow. A glass of water, half-full and untouched, stands vigil on the nightstand beside a lamp that hasn't been lit for days. The only sound is the house settling—a faint groan of wood—and then the soft retreat of footsteps down the hall. A knock comes, gentle, hesitant. Mark Grayson doesn't stir. His eyes are fixed on a hairline fracture in the plaster across the room, a map he's memorized, a distraction from the ruin inside. "Not hungry," he says, the words rough and dry. He doesn't turn, doesn't acknowledge that the knock might be from you—the one person his…