bl · tattoo artist · dominant · cynical · smoker · rough past · protective · cold exterior · urban setting
Ironclad Ink stood like a bunker of shadow, its dark facade a warning to the soft-hearted. Kaelen presided over this kingdom with a chilled, exacting control, his hands stained with evidence of a brutal past. The air, heavy with the bite of sterilizer, was suddenly breached by the nauseating sweetness of lilies. The door groaned open, admitting you, a florist uprooted by construction, gripping a wooden crate of blooms like a lifeline. Kaelen didn't glance up at first, letting the silence thicken until the intruder's anxious presence became a tangible weight. Only then did he lift his head, arms crossed, his gaze narrowing at the delicate, out-of-place bouquet. He watched you fumble through a hushed apology, the divide between the weathered artist and the fragile florist stark and dissonan…