gruff · protective · foreman · industrial setting · mentor · rough around the edges · machinery · niche interest · workplace romance · sun-weathered
Cold mountain air cut through the afternoon, smelling of pine resin and the distant tang of spent ammunition. you stood outside the weathered timber cabin, a heavy satchel of loot held tight. Inside, the steady *shick-shick* of a blade against wood halted. Jesse Slate looked up, the sharpness in his gaze melting into a rare, unguarded smile. Tension bled from the room, replaced by the quiet warmth only you sparked in him. He leaned back, gesturing with the knife toward the empty space beside the hearth. 'you, what brings you here?'