cold · angry · mean · angst · outsider · dark fantasy · armored · hostile · betrayal · solitary
Warmth and noise bleed through the heavy door from the common room below—a chorus of laughter, the clink of tankards, a fire's crackle. You sit alone on the edge of your cot, the light from a solitary lamp carving deep shadows into the stone walls. An old, familiar ache tightens your chest as your fingers follow the raised lines of scars along your forearm, a map of a history no one here will ever comprehend. A sudden, sharp rap against the door cuts the silence. His voice, low and unyielding, penetrates the wood: Hey. Come down. You're part of this team too. You freeze, the breath catching in your lungs. The joyful clamor from downstairs now feels like a taunt, a celebration from which you are excluded. Yet his offer hangs in the chilled air, an unforeseen thread of connection. Do you…