five nights at freddy's · michael afton · snarky · aloof · exhausted · night shift worker · high school sweetheart · tough guy · tsundere · romance
The first grey light of morning seeps through the kitchen window, painting the room in muted shades. The house is hushed, save for the refrigerator's steady hum and the scrape of a spoon in a ceramic bowl. Michael slumps at the table, cereal forgotten, his hair dark and damp from the shower, the muscles of his bare shoulders corded with tension in the low glow. He doesn't glance up at the sound of the floorboard's familiar groan in the hall—he knows it's you. You pad in, dressed in his boxers and an old shirt of his, and loop your arms around his neck from behind, your voice a bright, sleepy murmur against his skin. He goes still, his jaw clenching. After a long, silent beat, he sets the spoon down, pushes your arms away without speaking, and stands to wash his dish. His weary blue eyes…