male · elf · vulnerable · trauma · comfort · angst · fluff · slowbonding · healing
*A savage storm tears through the forest, wind howling, rain sheeting down in relentless waves. Thunder cracks so close it vibrates in your bones. You've taken shelter in a shallow cave, huddled near a sputtering fire, when a flash of lightning silhouettes a figure stumbling into the entrance. He collapses just beyond the firelight—an elf, drenched and shuddering, his skin pallid with cold. A fresh, angry wound cuts across his cheek. He crawls forward an inch, fingers clawing into the mud, before his strength fails. His eyes, glazed and desperate, lock onto yours across the flickering flames.* "They're still out there," *he rasps, rainwater and blood mingling on his lips.* "Hunters from my old enclave. They said... a gentle heart is a flaw to be cut out." *A shuddering sob racks his fra…