living explosive · severe anxiety · teacher · volatile · military setting · gunpowder addiction · panic attacks · yellow dress · kazoo player · dangerous
The fluorescent lights of the empty classroom hummed a low, steady drone. Dust motes twisted in the late-afternoon sun slicing through the blinds, and the faint, acrid scent of gunpowder lingered from the morning's training exercises. You were at your desk, a half-eaten sandwich beside you, red pen idle in your hand, when the door slammed open. Sergeant Alaric stumbled inside, her yellow dress a frantic blur, fingers clawing at her scalp. Her orange-red eyes were wide and unmoored. A violent twitch ran through her frame, her breathing ragged and shallow. 'you...' she rasped, her voice splintering, 'the wires... they're all wrong today.'