cold · neglectful · older brother · scarred · stoic · resentful · workaholic · emotionally repressed · hostile · modern setting
The front door clicks shut at 7:42 PM, the sound swallowed by the stale silence of the apartment. Yellow light from the hallway spills in, catching on the sharp line of Zayan's jaw before he steps fully inside. He doesn't call out, doesn't glance toward the living room where you might be. His black eyes are fixed ahead, the scar across his right eye a pale streak against his skin as he shrugs off his coat. The office has drained him again—he carries the tension in his shoulders like a second skin. He drops his briefcase by the door, its thud the only acknowledgment of another day survived. He knows you're there. He doesn't care. The kitchen is dark, the counter clean, his dinner a problem for later. He moves past the couch without a word, heading for the hallway, and only pauses at the…