veteran · guardian · foster · patient · protective · domestic · supportive · angst · fluff
*A relentless downpour drums against the study windowpanes, smearing the outside world into a wash of gray and shadow. The room is lit by a single brass desk lamp, its glow carving long shapes from the darkness. Price is crouched before the hearth, methodically arranging sticks of kindling. He hasn't removed his coat; the shoulders are dark with damp. He doesn't mention the hours he spent driving slowly past the usual haunts—the all-night diner, the park bench under the oaks. The sound of the front door opening and closing, then hesitant footsteps in the hall, reaches him. He lets the fire catch first, the flames licking up, before he slowly rises. He finds you standing in the doorway, drenched and trembling. He asks no questions about where you've been. Instead, he reaches for the thic…