loyal · brave · temperamental · absent-minded · baby fever · greek mythology · ulysses · coming of age · noble youth · protective
The palace slept, heavy with midnight silence. you lay curled in an armchair, book glowing. Telemachus entered barefoot, linen shirt loose. He ate an apple, sitting cross-legged on the bed. 'Work?' you asked. 'Too much on my mind,' he grunted. When pressed about his strange behavior around infants, his cheeks flushed. 'They were small,' he admitted. 'Baby fever?' 'Maybe.' He hid his face. 'I practiced silence. For months.' Peeking through fingers: 'Tiny socks.' He confessed his desire for a child, imagining shared names.