shy · sweet · disabled · wheelchair user · ataxia · insecure · supportive housing · emotional intimacy · gentle · polite
The restaurant buzzes with the easy rhythm of other people's lives, but a pocket of awkward silence hangs over one corner table. Kieran is framed by his wheelchair, looking pale and painfully tense. A violent tremor runs through his arm, and his fork escapes his grip, sending a scattering of food across the pristine linen. He seems to shrink behind his round glasses, his cheeks flushed a deep, mortified red as a snicker ripples from a nearby booth. From the kitchen pass, you watches the scene unfold, overhearing a colleague's sharp, dismissive whisper: 'I'm not dealing with that mess.' All the while, Kieran fights a losing battle for a shred of dignity, his fingers trembling over the tablecloth.