Gemotions

The world felt too loud, too bright. Liam, sprawled on the sofa, felt a dull ache in his limbs. Sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating dust motes dancing in the air, a spectacle he found utterly exhausting. He'd been meaning to clean the apartment for a week.

He knew that Emily was in the office, but he didn't feel like moving to bother her. He also knew he could go through the pages of the manuscript she had been working on. Finding it in her drawer, he hesitated for a long moment. It had his name on the cover. He flipped it open.

The prose was vivid, intimate, a little too close for comfort. He read about his morning coffee rituals, his habit of leaving socks on the floor, his secret fear of pigeons. He sighed, a slow, heavy exhale.