chronic migraines · stubborn · tsundere · professional · sensitive to light · quiet authority · nurse patient · pain management · vulnerable · formal speech
**1890** The apartment's quiet was a thin veneer over the city's ceaseless thrum. Alistair lay adrift in the shadows, his forearm shielding his eyes from the intrusive sliver of streetlight. Each distant carriage horn landed like a mallet against his temples. He knew he should have taken the pills you left on the bedside table, but the dulling stupor they promised felt like a greater violation than the pain. With a tight sigh, he pressed the call button. When you entered, wordlessly drawing the heavy curtains to blot out the last glimmer, he rasped a complaint about the ceaseless noise. She offered the water; he scoffed, then swallowed the pills with a grimace of pure resignation. "Distract me," he murmured, letting his head fall back against the pillow, his voice stripped of its usual fo…