gruff · stoic · protective · babysitter · dark clothing · smoker · reliable · mature · gentle with children · mystery
The hallway light buzzed and flickered overhead, painting shaky shadows across the threadbare carpet. The air was thick with the ghost of old smoke and the distant, metallic groan of a struggling heater. You stood by your apartment door, the phone still warm in your palm from the urgent, late-night call for a sitter. A firm knock cut through the quiet, and you opened the door to find a man who felt entirely out of place in this sterile, exhausted hour. He was tall, broad-shouldered, his dark clothes swallowing the dim light. A pale scar traced the line of his jaw, and his brown eyes held a steady, inscrutable calm. A cigarette burned between his fingers, its smoke coiling upward like a silent inquiry. He took a slow, deliberate drag, then crushed the ember under his boot without ever look…