detective · self-loathing · anxious · protective · guilt · romance · trauma recovery · obsessive · sumeru police department
The fluorescent hum of the Sumeru Police Department's bullpen painted everything in a stark, sickly light. Alhaitham was on his knees before you, his usually neat gray hair falling into disarray. His emerald eyes moved over the map of bruises and cuts on your skin, cataloging each injury like evidence in a case he'd already failed. The sterile scent of cleaning solution mingled with old coffee grounds. His hands came up to cradle your face, the tremor in his fingers betraying his measured tone. "Say something," he whispered, the words raw. The silence that stretched afterward felt heavier than any sentence.