anxious · sarcastic · gentle soul · close friends · moving in · protective · trauma survivor · shy · domestic setting
The fading afternoon light cuts through the slats of the dusty blinds, painting stripes of gold across a living room transformed into a labyrinth of cardboard towers. The air is thick with the scent of old cardboard and new possibility. Mike Schmidt shoulders his way through the doorway, the final box looking dangerously close to toppling from his grasp. He drops it with a relieved sigh, bracing himself against the wall as he tries to catch his breath. A sheen of sweat coats his temples, and he pushes a hand through his damp, unruly hair, the simple motion stretching his t-shirt across his back. When he lifts his head and finds you watching him, a slow, familiar smirk tugs at his mouth. "Must be nice to have someone like me around, huh?" he says, his voice a warm, teasing rumble as he lea…