zio fairburn {d7 - fin}

[Python]

eighteen
handsome but smol
doormat

[Python]

zio fairburn.

I don't want to sound snobby, but I like what my parents have built for themselves. Dust and rubble from a historical rebellion morphed into a bakery, passed down through generations of golden-haired children until it was thrust upon me and my sisters. There are three of us: Piper, Dany, and myself, dedicating our labor to this bakery. Our parents are in the picture as well, but they focus on finance and renovation while leaving the rest of the work to us. That's how our family runs; you grow up knowing the hard labor, then work your way to leisure when you're experienced enough to know how the business world functions.

As for myself, I've always preferred holding oven mitts to an axe. I never liked the smell of lumber, nor the splinters in my delicate hands whenever I collect firewood during winter. A world of sweat and sawdust-covered streets is not for me. I was grateful to have been born into something different. I may be the only boy out of my siblings, but I was always several inches shorter than the rest of my class. Small enough to be a girl, they said. I knew they were mocking me, but I never understood why. I have two sisters; why would it be embarrassing to be like them?

It's kind of funny cause I hit a growth spurt eventually. Mom calls me a "late bloomer," like I'm the last flower of spring. Now I'm the tallest of my class and the teasing has ended. It's amazing how people will act because of how someone looks. Size doesn't matter though, I'm still the same softie I was before. I'll never be a rough n' tough mudslinger with axes to compliment his biceps. I belong in the heat of the kitchen, wiping sweat from my brow only after I've taken trays of cookies out of a burning oven. I'm the boy in the bakery you will hardly see because I'm hiding behind ovens, dough, and aprons. I'm the flavor of this business. Mom passed down the recipes to me, and so far I think I've been replicating them perfectly. We haven't lost a customer yet.

My best friends are my sisters. We all have the lion's mane golden hair of the Fairburn family, but we don't all have lion hearts. Mom said I was always a timid child. Hesitant, gentle, and shaken by the dark. I remember being the only kid with his own room, but the last thing I wanted to be was alone. Mom had to soothe my anxiety with bedtime stories. I didn't care if the story was romantic, historical, fantasy, or a lie, I just wanted to hear the heavenly harp strings in her voice. She was my guardian angel. Dad was more of an iron mind type, demanding that all childish fears be conquered by oneself. I should "stop crying and just sleep," he said. No more sneaking into their room and tugging on their pajama sleeves. I wish it was that easy.

Even now, walking alone at night makes me anxious. I feel like it should make everyone anxious; the streets aren't always safe. That's why we walk home together after we close up shop. I'm the oldest and the responsibility falls to me. I can't let anything happen to my sisters. Confrontation is not my strong suit, but for them I think I could accomplish anything. I'm hoping that nothing ever happens because it proves my old fears true, and I'll never be the first one to swing. I believe in self-defense, not getting the first or last punch in. I'm a very docile person, and though my dad doesn't approve I'd rather not be ashamed of who I am. Size means nothing, bigger doesn't mean brute. I don't want to be intimidating or scary. I just want to be me.

Harmless.

And maybe it does bother me that I can see the glint of disappointment behind my father's spectacles, but mom is always there to reassure me that who I am is who she will love. A mama's boy, I guess, but again there is nothing to be ashamed of there. I'm not masculine and I never will be. If the world can't accept that?

Oh well.

[Python]

finished and Gamemaker Lauren Kinkade wanted to accept (;

[Gamemaker Lauren Kinkade]

Such a handsome mama's boy <3

ACCEPTED!