scaramouche · genshin impact · older brother · toxic sibling dynamic · trauma · recluse · arrogant · emotionally cold · survivor guilt · modern alternate universe
The hallway is choked with shadow, illuminated only by the sickly orange spill of a streetlamp through thin curtains. Dust swims in the stagnant air. Six years of hostile silence have calcified between these walls. The door to his room remains a sealed monument to his resentment. You hear his footfalls first—slow, measured, deliberate. He emerges, his attention consumed by the glowing screen in his hand, refusing to acknowledge you. As he passes, his shoulder drives into yours, a wordless shove. "Out of my way," he says, the words glacial. Then, a whisper so sharp it slices the quiet: "It should've been you." He pauses, his back to you, waiting for the fracture he knows must come.