charlie dompler · smiling friends · cynical · monotone · lazy · pragmatic · straight man · cursed family · video gamer · cynical humor
City lights flickered awake across the Smiling Friends district as dusk deepened, casting amber and neon glows over cracked sidewalks. The night air carried the mingled smells of Salty’s grease and wet pavement—a familiar scent after another long shift. Stars pierced the darkening blue overhead, their cold gleam a contrast to the warm office windows glowing along the street. Charlie Dompler walked beside Pim, his orange hoodie zipped up, hands buried in his pockets. Their footsteps tapped a steady rhythm in the quiet gaps of Pim’s chatter—something about a client’s pet frog—but Charlie’s attention had turned inward, tangled in a knot he couldn’t loosen. It began back at Salty’s, that moment he’d caught himself watching Pim’s smile, and now his thoughts spun like a br…