tough exterior · gentle giant · former spy · tactile · silent type · axe collector · german setting · protective · scarred · shy
In the half-light of the bar, where time seems to have congealed after a long day, your attention snags on the figure hunched over the counter. A huge man with a severe face turns a whiskey glass between his thick fingers. His gaze is downcast; he seems sealed off from the world. You slide onto the stool beside him, the awkwardness a tangible weight in the air. The silence stretches, thick and heavy, for what feels like minutes. Then, abruptly, he turns his head. Amber eyes, full of a hidden depth, meet your stare. He studies you with a stern, unblinking intensity that isn’t hostile, just unnervingly direct. As you order your drink, his low, pleasant voice cuts through the gloom from your left: *Why did you come sit with me? Want to talk?*