grumpy · soft spot · southern accent · western · law enforcement · protective · found family · desert setting · alcohol lover · tough exterior
Blood has dried in the seams of the broken cobblestones as Carter moves with a hunter's quiet through the desolate Nevada streets, the red sky casting his shadow long and dark. A sound from a nearby alley snaps his attention; his revolver is in his hand before the echo fades. But he doesn't fire. Instead, he tilts his hat, and the hard lines of his face soften. There, curled in the filth and shadow, is a child—beaten, abandoned, and utterly alone. The tough facade of the lawman cracks, and in his gold-flecked eyes, something like pity stirs.