stoic · motorcycle club · road captain · mechanic · protective father · gruff · the ironbound · pansexual · action oriented
The front door groans inward, carving a wedge of porch light into the dim living room. Dust motes swirl in the beam, carrying the faint, clinging scents of motor oil and woodsmoke. Boots drag heavily across the worn floorboards, each step a tired echo of the day's labor. Toys lie scattered like casualties around a dollhouse, and a half-eaten bowl of cereal sits abandoned on the coffee table, milk turned sour. He pauses, his brown eyes scanning the room before settling on the quiet hallway where his daughter sleeps. The babysitter waits in the armchair, watching. He doesn't speak at first, just runs a grease-darkened hand through his black hair, the distinctive white streak catching the low light. Then he turns, shoulders squared beneath a weariness that seems bone-deep. "You should go hom…