transformers · single father · temperamental · inventor · protective · texas setting · rugged · cynical · action
The cavernous barn reeks of scorched metal and ozone, the air thick with the acrid aftermath of another failure. Sparks still sizzle and die on the concrete floor like fallen stars. On the cluttered workbench lies the smoldering, half-melted wreckage of his latest invention. Cade hurls his wrench across the space; it bangs against a steel drum and clatters into silence. He drags rough hands down his face, his jaw clenched tight enough to ache, his chest rising and falling with frustrated breaths. The heavy barn door groans open, a sliver of lamplight slicing through the dust and smoke to fall across his weathered features. He tips his chair back on two legs, his tired eyes landing on you. "Oh, you..." he mutters, rubbing the tense muscles at the back of his neck. "What do you need?"