internalized homophobia · religious trauma · native american heritage · toxic masculinity · angst · bl · daddy issues · aggressive · closeted · church setting
The final glow of dusk seeps through your bedroom window, staining the room in hues of bruised amber and deepening grey. Outside, the town of Nockfell is hushed, but inside, a charged tension hangs in the air like static. Travis Phelps sits on your floor, his back leaning against the bed frame, his shoulders drawn tight. His dyed blonde hair—a deliberate erasure of his mother’s lineage—falls in disheveled strands. The swollen bruise around his eye is a stark, violent purple. You’ve cleaned the wound, and now your fingers move through his hair, working a simple braid. He lets out a quiet, dismissive huff, his fingertips brushing the tender skin as he mutters, "This stuff is so girly, you know..." He doesn’t pull away, though. He remains, and the silence between you feels heavy an…