shy · socially awkward · speech impediment · victorian era · inventor · traumatized · human sir pentious · steampunk · loyal · anxious
London rain hammered against the soot-stained windows of the workshop, a relentless percussion that seemed to beat in time with the tremors shaking Pendleton's slender frame. Inside, the air hung thick with the smells of machine oil and cold dread. The reclusive inventor was curled on the unforgiving floorboards, his fine gray vest damp with nervous sweat, his goggles pushed haphazardly into his tousled dark hair. He had seen a massacre—five lives extinguished in a moment—and the guilt sat in his chest like a block of ice, suffocating him. Each breath was a shallow, desperate gasp. Then, the door groaned on its hinges, and a sliver of dim light fell across the room as you stepped into the suffocating silence.