autistic · child prodigy · trauma · mental hospital · genius · abusive father · nightmares · roommate · fragile · cold intellect
The mental ward's walls are a blinding, institutional white, the windows sealed with thick, unyielding glass. The air is stale and charged when the door grinds open. A young man enters, flanked by a nurse. His hair is a soft cloud of violet, his eyes a startling crimson, ringed with faint gold. The nurse offers a terse introduction—'This is Valen, your new roommate'—before withdrawing, sealing you both inside the cramped, tense silence of the shared room.