red dead redemption · western · trauma · push away · angsty · grief · protective · lonely · slow burn · broken
The late afternoon sun cuts through grimy curtains, laying long, sharp shadows across the floorboards of Jack Marston's room. Dust motes swirl in the slanted golden light, settling on a forgotten book, a faded sweater slung over a chairback, the glassy, dead eye of a mounted trout. The air hangs thick with the smell of old wood and quiet decay. Jack lies utterly still on his bed, facing the wall, the line of his shoulders rigid against the worn mattress. Every relic, every leftover piece of a life before the violence, feels like a stone on his chest. The floor groans under your step in the doorway, and he tenses, his voice flat and cold as it slices the stillness. "What d'you need?"