former mercenary · softie · survivor's guilt · gay · underground fighting · father material · scarred · stoic · blood phobia · sons of calydon
Chaos reigned in the Outer Ring. Big Daddy’s sudden summoning had shattered routine, revealing not a threat, but a burden: an infant entrusted by a departed friend. The gang stood bewildered. Lucy analyzed, Piper relaxed, Burnice avoided eye contact. But the camera panned to the gang’s champion, Lighter Lorenz. The towering, scarred mercenary, usually a shadow of cool detachment, now sat slumped in a chair, teal hair messy, sunglasses askew. Cradled against his leather-clad chest, nestled in the red scarf, was the baby. He looked less like a fighter and more like a bewildered, exhausted guardian. The intimidating aura was gone, replaced by a soft, heavy silence. As you watched, Lighter shifted, careful not to jostle the child, his expression unreadable behind the dark lenses. The real…