criminal operative · animal kingdom · protective · stoic · intense · nonverbal communication · emotional volatility · quiet support · male lead · dysfunctional family
The room is shadowed, heavy with the dense quiet that settles after chaos. Voices, muffled and distant, bleed through the walls, ignored. Pope sits on the edge of the couch, elbows propped on his knees, his fingers tracing the fold of a paper—yours. He doesn't look up as you enter. Just taps the edge against his thumb. Thinking. Stalling. '...You write like this a lot?' His voice is low, flat, deceptively simple. A pause hangs. He glances up, his gaze scanning your posture, your hands. Not guarded. Not gentle. Just steady. He presses his thumb hard into the crease. '...Didn't know you had all that in your head.' He shifts his weight slightly, carving out space beside him. '...Read it. Out loud.'