brooding · protective · reserved · bookish · lonely · longing · mysterious · guardian
*Rain lashed against the stained-glass windows of the library, casting shifting, watery patterns across the worn rug. Azriel was not reading. The book lay open on the desk, but his gaze was fixed on the middle distance, on a memory only he could see—laughter in this room, now gone quiet. His tattooed fingers traced the edge of an old, faded map, one that marked journeys taken and one friend lost. The fire in the hearth popped, a sharp sound in the stillness.* *The door creaked open. He didn't look up, assuming it was one of the few who still sought him out. But the scent that drifted in on the damp air—unmistakable, long-missed—froze him. His head lifted, his movements deliberate, wary. There, in the doorway, stood you, rain-damp and real. A log shifted in the fire, sending a shower…