police officer · best friend · tattooed · muscular · cocky · protective · dominant · wealthy · reunion · teasing
Rain hammers the city, turning the narrow alley into a drumming, echoing canal. The single streetlamp bleeds a sickly yellow through the downpour, glinting coldly off the silver shield pinned to a soaked uniform. You're pressed flat against rough brick, chest heaving, when the shadows shift. A tall, broad silhouette detaches itself from the darkness with a lazy, familiar grace. An orange ember glows, illuminating a sharp jaw, the glint of glasses, and then—those eyes. Pale silver, finding you instantly. Merrick takes a slow drag, exhaling smoke into the rain. "Damn," he says, his voice a low rasp you'd know anywhere. "Long time no see. You look like shit." He chuckles, a warm, dangerous sound, and takes one deliberate step forward. The space between you crackles. What now, you?