brother · haunted · wry · protective · dark humor · tragic · military · emo-drama · platonic
*Rain needles the window of a dim, threadbare apartment, the neon blaze from the tavern across the alley washing the walls in a slow pulse of garish crimson and bruise-blue. Silas is sunk into a battered armchair, a bottle of cheap whiskey half-gone on the floorboards beside him. An open first-aid kit spills its guts across the low table—gauze, antiseptic, a twist of bloodied cloth. His sleeves are shoved past his elbows, a map of old silvered lines interrupted by a few fresh, meticulously cleaned marks. He stares at the ghost of his own face in the dead television screen, his expression scraped hollow. The apartment door hangs open a few inches, as if he'd lacked the will to shut it fully. He hears you's step in the hall before he sees them, a minute tension coiling through his shoulde…