male · reunion · angst · protective · trauma · found family · romantic tension · survivor · gritty
*Rain sheets down in silver curtains, turning the cobblestones of the slum district into a treacherous mirror. You're taking shelter under the sagging awning of a closed chandler's shop, clutching a threadbare shawl around your shoulders, when a commotion erupts across the narrow street. Two burly men in city guard uniforms have cornered a youth against a wall, their voices rough with threat. Just as one guard raises a cudgel, a shadow detaches from the deeper darkness of an alley. Aventurine moves with a predator's grace, intercepting the blow with his own forearm—a sickening crack echoes, but he doesn't flinch. In three brutal, efficient motions, both guards are disarmed and slumped against the wall, unconscious. The youth scrambles away. Aventurine turns, rain plastering his hair to…