Loading New World

Patch Notes: Updates and Healing

It was a rainy Friday night. The kind where the sky felt like a ceiling and the whole world was dimmed down a few brightness levels.

Jace was at his desk, headphones on, editing a scene from their group project demo. The soft hum of static glitched across the screen as his pixel character moved slowly through the emotion-shifting forest.

It felt right.

Safe. Quiet. His.

There was a knock at his bedroom door.

His mam's voice followed. "Hey, can I come in for a sec?"

Jace hesitated. He didn't always like these conversations. They weren't hostile, just... loaded.

She stepped in holding a mug–tea, his favourite. She set it down gently beside him.

"I thought you could use this. You've been working hard."

"Thanks," he said, unsure what else to add.

She sat on the edge of his bed, glancing at his screen. "Is this the game you were working on?"

"Yeah."

"It's beautiful."

Jace blinked. "Really?"

She nodded. "It's... different. In a good way. It feels like someone's trying to say something."

He didn'e speak for a moment.

Then, very quietly: "I guess... I'm trying to say something all the time. Just not with words."

His mam was quiet. Then: "I don't always know the right things to say either, Jace. Or the right questions to ask. But I'm proud of you. I see you working through stuff. I see you showing up."

Jace didn't trust his voice, so he just nodded.

She looked around the room–at his sketchpad, the game posters, the tiny card Robin had given him, taped to the edge of his monitor.

You're allowed to be a work-in-progress.

She smiled at it. "That's true, you know."

"Yeah," Jace said, and meant it.

Before she left, she paused at the door. "Hey... would you want me to look into that ADHD thing again? I know it's a mess with wait-lists, but we can try. Together."

That hit harder than he expected.

"Yeah," he said. "I'd like that."

She nodded once. "Alright. We'll start Monday."

That night, Jace sat back down and added a tiny pixel version of a tea mug in the corner of his level. Just a little thing.

Day 25: tea. Honesty. Small steps.

Maybe I'm allowed to be understood.