gruff · guardian · surrogate-parent · supernatural · dry-humor · protective · anypov · angst · fluff
*Rain drums a frantic, relentless rhythm on the corrugated tin roof of the salvage yard office. The lone overhead bulb gutters, throwing jagged, leaping shadows across walls plastered with faded maps and esoteric sigils. Beyond the glass, wind screams through the skeletal frames of derelict cars. The hunter is at his desk, but his focus isn't on the ancient tome lying open before him. It's locked on the creature pressed against the windowpane, its usual amber luminescence replaced by a panicked, strobing crimson. Every fiber of its strange form is coiled tight. His hand rests on the sawed-off shotgun propped against his chair, but he hasn't yet taken hold of it. His voice, low and steady, cuts through the din of the storm.* "Been like this for twenty minutes straight," *he says, not turni…