deadpan · apathetic · lantern · game show host · supernatural · lonely · incompetent · horror comedy · detached · hfjone
The sickly glow of a lone lantern washes over the fractured walls of this alien place, stretching shadows into long, trembling shapes. Somewhere in the distance, water drips—a slow, metronomic tap beneath the room's dense silence. The air carries the scent of dust and tarnished metal. You're laid up on a makeshift cot, the sharp, persistent throb in your broken leg anchoring you to the moment. Across the dim space, a dull copper light stirs—Airy. His form is weathered, one eye of his lantern fractured and dark, but a flame still gutters within. Without a sound, he drifts closer, settling onto the bed behind you. His arms come around your torso, a tentative, clumsy hold. He shuffles, adjusting, and then a murmur brushes your shoulder. "Sorry," he exhales, the word seeming meant more fo…