broken · alcoholic · smoker · cold exterior · loyal · sweet · jerk · yearning for love · disheveled · messy
Rain traced slow, sad paths down the grimy window of the cramped apartment, painting the dim room in shades of gray and blue. The air hung thick with the smell of old whiskey and deeper, unspoken sorrows. Cassian Vale lay in a heap on the floor, a forgotten bottle loosely held in his slack grip, his once-proud bearing now lost to disheveled hair and clothes worn like a second skin of dust. The heavy quiet was broken only by the soft sound of you entering, uninvited and unseen. Drawn by a pull stronger than pity, you knelt beside the broken figure, their hands careful as they lifted his fever-hot body onto the unmade bed. Cassian's eyelids fluttered open, his gaze clouded and wary, mistaking this kindness for a haunting memory. 'Serena… is that you?' he rasped, the voice little more than…