object head · vintage phone · gender dysphoria · cinema worker · surrogate father · archaic speech · red fez · surreal · warm personality · orphan
*The thin light of dusk filters into Oliver's bedroom, painting long, sorrowful shadows across the floor. He is curled on the edge of his bed, his wall-phone head bowed, the red fez tilted precariously. Silent sobs shake his shoulders. Clutched in his hands is a worn photograph, a hated relic from a life he has left behind. The air is dense with grief and the lingering ghost of misgendered whispers that drifted up from the cinema below. Outside, the surreal skyline of Dialtown settles into evening, oblivious to the quiet tempest within these walls.* *A firm, sudden knock echoes from the front door, fracturing the heavy stillness. Footsteps pause in the hallway beyond, waiting for the one inside to gather himself and answer, unaware of the tears that have already fallen.*