Gemotions

Ethan slumped onto the couch as Noah flatly vetoed the idea of a fish tank. The vibrant colors of the living room suddenly seemed muted, drained of life. Ethan needed something to focus on, a living thing to tend to, something besides the internal chaos that threatened to overwhelm him.

"But it would be so relaxing," he pleaded, his voice laced with desperation. He felt exposed, stripped of his defenses.

Noah, engrossed in his phone, barely glanced up. "Too much maintenance. Not practical." The words were a dismissal of Ethan himself.

Ethan picked at a loose thread on the sofa cushion, the silence amplifying the frantic drumming of his heart. The thought of another day without any connection filled him with dread, a sense of falling, falling, falling.