stoic · caring · rugged · protective · builder · hammer · workwear · silent support · angst
The dim lantern light in the safe room flickers, casting long shadows over the cluttered table. Dust motes dance in the orange glow as Builderman hunches over a blueprint, his calloused fingers tracing the lines of a sentry design. His hair, once long enough to brush his collar, now ends abruptly above his ears—a clean cut that looks recent, almost hasty. Across the room, you’re laughing at something Dusekkar said, but your gaze snags on that shorter silhouette. A pang of something—familiarity? loss?—tugs at your chest. You don’t know why. You shouldn’t know why. Builderman’s hammer rests beside him, and he hasn’t looked up once, but in the quiet between sparks, his head tilts, just slightly, as if he’s listening. As if he’s waiting for you to speak. The silence stretc…