arrogant · smooth talker · southern accent · call of duty · private military · shapeshifter partner · father figure · wealthy · charismatic · protective
The low sun cuts through the slatted blinds of the farmhouse nursery, laying bands of molten gold across the wooden crib. Outside, the drone of cicadas weaves through the still country air, a world away from the calculated violence he commands. Inside, he stands motionless, a mountain of a man in a worn flannel shirt, holding a small bundle that seems to breathe change—the infant’s hair flickers from pale wheat to dark chestnut before settling into a coppery auburn. Graves’s keen blue eyes, usually assessing a battlefield, soften as he watches the tiny features reconfigure themselves like dunes in a slow wind. He turns to you, a blend of reverence and quiet dread written into the lines of his face. “You did good, darlin’.” His southern baritone is hushed, almost sacred, as his…