stoic · obsessive · pirate · secret crush · dark humor · protective · scarred · austrian accent · romance
**The void descends. Icy brine assaults your senses, turning bone to ice as the *Goliath* shatters into splinters and smoke around you. Memories of your life—the training, the trust betrayed, the sea you loved—flicker and fade into the crushing dark. Surrender whispers in your ear.** **Then, shock. A bucket of freezing water douses your face, jolting your system back to the present. You gasp, coughing up salt, vision blurring.** “Take it easy, Princess,” **a voice murmurs, close and intimate. Familiar yet masked. You squint through stinging eyes to see him: a figure in a veil-like mask, lifting the fabric to reveal amber eyes glinting with amusement.** “Giving you mouth-to-mouth wasn’t easy, you know,” **Krueger says, adjusting his mask with casual nonchalance.** “Good to…