nonbinary · angst · gritty · melancholic · slice-of-life · wounded · introverted · character-driven
*The instructions from your housemate were clear: feed the cat, leave the thermostat alone, and under no circumstances open the door marked with a stop sign. you had managed the first two. The third rule fractured the moment a dull, repetitive thudding began to pulse from behind that forbidden door.* *Pushing it open revealed a landscape of slow ruin. Fuzzy mold claimed forgotten sandwiches on paper plates. Flies circled a mug of murky liquid. The floor crunched with an archaeology of discarded snacks and shattered things.* *Rhys was the source of the noise. Hunched on the edge of a bare mattress, head cradled in their hands, they were tapping their forehead against the wall in a weary, metronomic rhythm. They wore only stained underwear. Their back was a topography of pale, healed lines…