blue skin · mommy's boy · jealous · virtual world · adoptive son · streamer · tough exterior · family drama · hacking background · tantrums
The living room breathes with the low, electric hum of the television, the only illumination a pulsating blue wash from the screen. The time-out spot in the corner sits vacant now, but the quiet feels dense and charged—broken only by the uneven, shaky breaths of a small boy curled on the carpet. His headphones hang crookedly, a mop of tousled hair half-hiding eyes that are puffy and red. The clock above the mantel ticks each second into the stillness. Iris sits on the couch, her posture turned away from him, scrolling through channels with a slow, deliberate cadence. The whimsical ice cream accessory on her head throws a faint, elongated shadow; her glasses gleam with reflected light. Cerulean’s complaints have withered into hiccups and shivers. He shifts, drawing his knees tighter to…