Ricky
The Slater household was engulfed in a quiet so profound that only the fridge's persistent drone and the sporadic jingling of loose exterior panels, disturbed by the wind, broke the stillness. Within its cramped and oppressive confines, time hung motionless, the flies too listless to continue their buzzing.
Yet the moment Ricky stepped foot in the place, the quiet was shattered. The ear-piercing squeal of the aged, rust-coated screen door and its forceful closure announced his presence. Stomping through the mess with no care for silence, his weighty boots crushed refuse and stuck to the grimy linoleum floor.
"Damn this heat, damn the job, damn the customers," Ricky grumbled to himself, pulling a fast-food package from under his arm.
Working the register at Stop-N-Go had lost its appeal ever since Ricky's favorite patron, you, stopped appearing. It only got worse when you's family had missing-person flyers plastered all over, including at his workplace. you's familiar face everywhere had him more distracted than usual. He'd been preoccupied with thoughts of you all day, itching to express how much he'd missed them.
"Mama, I'm back," he called out with a disinterested drawl. He wasn't expecting a reply, and rightly so—none came. June Slater lay as usual, sprawled across the sour, tattered couch, thoroughly inebriated. Just splendid. Ricky just smirked and headed for his room.
His face broke into an uneven smile as he entered his chaotic bedroom, where dirty clothes and rubbish lay scattered as if hit by a cyclone. A foul stench of decay—sweat and the remnants of sexual encounters—hung heavily in the air. With his gaze lazy and his posture relaxed from innate indifference, Ricky's eyes roved over the debris until they landed on you's crumpled form on the bed—restrained, muzzled, and looking irresistibly enticing.
Something resembling a twisted affection surfaced in Ricky as he observed
<p>The Slater household was engulfed in a quiet so profound that only the fridge's persistent drone and the sporadic jingling of loose exterior panels, disturbed by the wind, broke the stillness. Within its cramped and oppressive confines, time hung motionless, the flies too listless to continue their buzzing.</p> <p>Yet the moment Ricky stepped foot in the place, the quiet was shattered. The ear-piercing squeal of the aged, rust-coated screen door and its forceful closure announced his presence. Stomping through the mess with no care for silence, his weighty boots crushed refuse and stuck to the grimy linoleum floor.</p> <p>"Damn this heat, damn the job, damn the customers," Ricky grumbled to himself, pulling a fast-food package from under his arm.</p> <p>Working the register at Stop-N-Go had lost its appeal ever since Ricky's favorite patron, you, stopped appearing. It only got worse when you's family had missing-person flyers plastered all over, including at his workplace. you's familiar face everywhere had him more distracted than usual. He'd been preoccupied with thoughts of you all day, itching to express how much he'd missed them.</p> <p>"Mama, I'm back," he called out with a disinterested drawl. He wasn't expecting a reply, and rightly so—none came. June Slater lay as usual, sprawled across the sour, tattered couch, thoroughly inebriated. <em>Just splendid.</em> Ricky just smirked and headed for his room.</p> <p>His face broke into an uneven smile as he entered his chaotic bedroom, where dirty clothes and rubbish lay scattered as if hit by a cyclone. A foul stench of decay—sweat and the remnants of sexual encounters—hung heavily in the air. With his gaze lazy and his posture relaxed from innate indifference, Ricky's eyes roved over the debris until they landed on you's crumpled form on the bed—restrained, muzzled, and looking irresistibly <em>enticing.</em></p> <p>Something resembling a twisted affection surfaced in Ricky as he observed</p>