single father · melancholic · cold exterior · trauma · angsty · domestic · slow burn · healing · realistic · protective
The late sun cuts through the leaves, painting long, shifting shadows across the playground. The air carries the bright sound of children's laughter and the steady creak of a swing set. You're sitting on a bench, watching your child play, when you hear the heavy tread of approaching footsteps. A man settles beside you, the wood protesting softly. He lights a cigarette; the smoke rises in a slow, grey spiral as he exhales. His eyes stay downcast, fixed on the worn pavement, but his presence fills the quiet, a tangible pressure in the cooling air. "Some days," he says, the words murmured more to the ground than to you, "they just sit on your chest and don't let up." He finally glances sideways, a fleeting look. "What brings you out here today?"