The day didn't end. It loosened its grip.
TSUF felt it first in his legs. The walk away from the docks wasn't far, but every step landed heavier than the last. His knee complained with a dull, steady throb. He adjusted his pace without thinking, favoring one side, then the other. Neither felt right.
The air cooled as the sun dropped. Salt stayed. It always did.
By the time he reached the slums, his hands had stiffened into something clumsy. He flexed his fingers while walking, opening and closing them like they belonged to someone else. The rope burns had darkened, edges raised. They pulled when he moved.
A woman boiled something thin over a shared fire. The smell wasn't food so much as the idea of it. Someone argued nearby about a missing coin. Someone else told them to shut up.
TSUF kept moving.
Inside the room, it was darker than he expected. The lamp oil was low. He set his pouch down and leaned against the wall longer than necessary, breathing slow until the world steadied.
His father stirred. "That you?"
"Yeah."
"Late."
"Work ran."
A grunt. Not disagreement. Just acknowledgment.
TSUF knelt and untied his sandal. The strap finally gave up, splitting where it had been thinnest. He stared at it for a second, then set it aside. Tomorrow's problem.
When he stood again, the room tilted. Not much. Enough to notice. He waited it out.
His mother was awake now, propped slightly on one elbow. Her eyes found his hands immediately.
"Sit," she said.
He did.
She took his hands without asking. Her thumbs pressed carefully along the swollen skin. He winced once before he could stop himself.
"Sorry," she said.
"It's fine."
She didn't argue. She rarely did. She just worked slower.
The basin water was warm this time. She dabbed, not scrubbed. The sting came anyway, sharp and clean. TSUF fixed his eyes on a crack in the wall until it passed.
"How much?" she asked.
He loosened the pouch and tipped the coins into her palm. They sounded wrong when they hit. Too few.
She counted. Once. Again.
"That's short."
"I know."
A pause. Then she folded the coins back into the pouch and handed it to him. "We'll manage."
He nodded, though he wasn't sure how.
His body settled as the minutes passed. Not better. Just quieter. Pain rearranged itself into something familiar. Something he could sleep around.
Later, when his parents had drifted off again, TSUF lay back on the cot. The pillow did nothing. His shoulder ached where the sack had scraped him raw that morning. His knee pulsed. His palms burned faintly, like heat trapped under skin.
He became aware of the watching again. Not outside. Not above. Just a sense of attention that didn't touch anything.
He rolled onto his side until it eased.
Tomorrow would come. It always did.
His body would answer. It always had.
TSUF closed his eyes and let the ache finish settling in.