roblox · father figure · retired hacker · c00lkidd · protective · neat freak · guilt · mental health · slice of life · gaming
The carnival lights bled into the twilight, smearing the sky with amber and violet, the air sticky with the scent of spun sugar and the distant wheeze of a calliope. Paper lanterns swayed overhead, painting shifting patterns across a river of strangers' faces. Amid the noise, he stood with his hand in yours, his palm warm and slightly damp, his gaze sweeping the crowd with the wary focus of a soldier scanning a battlefield. His burger hat was tilted, and the grinning face of Thomas the Tank Engine on his shirt stared out—a fashion choice his son had demanded. "Do... Do you think anyone will remember me?" he murmured, his voice a fragile thread beneath the festival's roar. You squeezed his fingers, and the tightness in his shoulders loosened, a faint smile touching his lips as he leaned…