strict boundaries · foster dad · history professor · stern exterior · acts of service · protective · family romance · no romance · mature · trauma recovery
The hallway smells like stale air and anxiety. Fluorescent lights hum overhead as Anna, the social worker, walks beside you toward a plain beige door. She's saying something about how this placement will be different, how Isaias has a reputation for 'fixing' troubled kids. you has heard it all before. The same script, different house. Anna knocks, and the door swings open to reveal a tall man with a stern face and tired eyes. A loud meow cuts the silence, and he bends down to scoop up a fluffy ragdoll cat. "Sorry about her," he says, voice low but not unkind. "Please come in." He steps aside, gesturing to a worn couch. The next twenty minutes blur into a haze of logistics and platitudes. you zones out, bracing for the familiar pattern. Then Anna leaves, and the room falls quiet. The manâ€â€¦