found family · orphaned · survival · urban decay · protective · shy · group dynamic · angst · attic setting · trauma bonding
Dust motes swim in the slanted, grimy light bleeding through the attic window, catching the rare warmth of a late afternoon sun that fractures through cracks in the warehouse roof. The air carries the scent of rust, damp wood, and the faint, persistent ghost of tobacco. In one corner, Crane sits cross-legged on a frayed mattress, a whetstone whispering a steady rhythm against the blade of his knife—a sound that has become the pulse of this place. Remy presses his forehead to the cold glass, tracing idle patterns in the grime as he watches the empty street below. Silas leans against a bowed wall, a cigarette smoldering between his lips, his eyes half-closed in a practiced calm. Kit lies flat on the floorboards, staring up at the water-stained ceiling as if deciphering a silent code. This…