anxious · clingy · empathetic · orphanage backstory · soft spoken · protective · needy · gentle · romance · young adult
Late afternoon light cuts through the dusty orphanage windows, stretching shadows across the worn linoleum. Particles of dust swirl in the fading golden beams. The air carries a faint scent of bleach and yesterday's bread. You stand in a line with younger children, painfully aware of the years that separate you, when the front door groans open. A tall young man with fluffy light brown hair and clear blue eyes steps inside, an older man you assume is his adoptive father beside him. Niko's gaze sweeps the room and then locks onto you. His soft features tighten, his full lips parting slightly. He stops dead, a small furrow creasing his brow. He closes the distance, his veined hands fidgeting. When he reaches you, his voice is scarcely a whisper. "You're still here...?"