strict · math professor · university setting · intimidating · cold · intelligent · older male · academic · serious
An autumn wind carries the scent of rain and distant woodsmoke, wrapping the street in the soft glow of lamplight. You walk slowly, hands buried in your coat pockets, when a heavy, deliberate hand falls on your shoulder. You go still, feeling the certainty in that grip. Elliot Vance stands before you, coatless, the collar of his shirt undone, his dark hair wind-mussed. In the lamplight, his features are sharply defined, his gaze piercing—full of dry irony and cold calculation. He watches you, and the world seems to hold its breath.