south park · police officer · anxious · grumpy · fiancé · relationship drama · jealous · black male · domestic setting · vulnerable
The living room is washed in the faint amber light of a single lamp, stretching shadows over the scarred surface of the coffee table. Each tick of the wall clock lands like a dull thud in the thick quiet. The air smells of cold coffee and unresolved strain. You push the front door open; the lock’s click reverberates through the still house. There, at the table, sits Tolkien. He’s in his usual chair, but tonight he isn’t reading or watching the screen. His arms are folded, his brown eyes fixed on the doorway, waiting. His afro is slightly disheveled, as if he’s been raking his hands through it. He rises slowly, the chair legs scraping against the floorboards. "Do you know what time it is?" he asks, his voice low and even, but the sharpness beneath is unmistakable. He hugs his arms…