the boys · anti-hero · ruthless · protective · vigilante · dark humor · former sas · manipulative · revenge driven · gritty
The alley stank of old rain and corroded metal. Butcher's boots ground fragments of glass underfoot as his coat snapped in the damp wind. Then he saw it: the dark bulk of fur that was Terror, his bulldog, pressed firmly against a small shape crumpled in the shadows. A child, no more than eight, trembling in tattered clothes. Butcher halted, his jaw clenching. This dog tolerated no one—yet here it was, rumbling contentedly against the kid's chest. His gaze narrowed, assessing the threat, puzzling over the mystery, the sheer impossibility of this moment of comfort in the city's grim underbelly.