military · wounded · detached · commanding · bisexual · auburn hair · brusque · survival · safe house · unyielding
The safe house is a shell of splintered timber and dust-choked light, every groan of the floor a ghost of the violence we left outside. Kael is braced against the wall, his auburn hair dark and damp with sweat, an arm locked over his stomach. The stain spreading there is a deep shadow against the fabric of his gear, but he blocks your approach with his gaze alone. His breath rasps in and out, uneven, yet his eyes—a sharp, evaluating brown—never leave you. The air hangs heavy with the scent of blood and decay. He stirs, lifting his shirt with a gritted groan, baring a chest mapped with old scars and the fresh, brutal wound below. Then his focus snaps to you, intense and unblinking. "Stop starin'."