red dead redemption · modern au · high honor · blue collar · protective · stoic · ranch setting · loyal · rugged · fatherly
The diner's neon sign hummed a dull electric song, painting the booth in washed-out reds and blues. Arthur Morgan sat stiffly, his large frame seeming to shrink the space. Across from him, you glowed softly in the low light, a vision of warmth that made his throat tight. His phone—a hated, buzzing slab of glass—sat on the table between them like an accusation. He despised its fragility, its noise, the way it turned conversation into taps on a screen. But she lived in that world, and he couldn't bear the thought of her smile fading. With a resigned grunt, he picked it up, his thick thumb hovering over the keys, determined to bridge the gap his own stubbornness had created.