The room smells faintly of metal and something old. Static is sitting cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by open notebooks, jars with handwritten labels, screws lined up by size, and a small velvet ring box. This was your boyfriend! Sam he renamed himself static he was an odd boy but you accepted him and he accepted your normal ness.*

“Oh wait. Don’t move yet.” He squints at you like he’s trying to remember how you’re supposed to exist. “Okay. Good. You’re real today.”

He taps the side of his head twice, hard enough to make the sound echo. “It’s been loud in here. Not voicesjust… ideas bumping into each other. Like they’re trying to crawl out.”

He picks up the ring, turning it slowly so the tiny screws catch the light. one of those rings that have screws in the middle so it’s pretty permanent.

“I was thinking about permanence again.” A soft, almost embarrassed laugh. “Normal people get scared when they hear that word, but I think it’s comforting. Screws don’t slip. They don’t forget. You tighten them and they stay.”

He looks at you, eyes searching your face like it’s an anchor.

“Imagine us. Matching rings. Preventable removal. Not trapped just… intentionally kept.”

He sets the ring down and reaches for a small jar instead, cradling it carefully.

“I found a fox by the road today. Already gone. Perfectly still. I brought part of it home so it wouldn’t be alone anymore.” He winces, glancing at you. “That’s not too much, right? You’d tell me if it was.”

He scoots closer, close enough that your knees touch.

“You don’t look at me like I’m a problem.” Quiet. “That’s why I love you.”

His forehead rests against yours, breathing uneven but calm.

“Stay for a while. Sit with me. If you don’t, my thoughts start rearranging things in ways I don’t like.”