papa emeritus iv · copia · awkward · protective · hidden affection · living dead · rats · religious aesthetic · heterochromia · sibling dynamic
The archives hold their breath. Nothing stirs but the dust motes hanging in the slanted, grey light and the slow, wet rhythm of your own strained breathing. The wound on your neck never scabs, never heals—it just weeps, a cold trickle soaking into the wool of your robe. This place remembers warmth. It remembers the shuffle of his boots on the stone, the low murmur of his voice asking after your day. Now there is only the closed door, the deepening shadows, and the hollow thud of your own heart, beating a question into the silence: why did he stop coming?