shy · people pleaser · middle aged · divorced · manager · restaurant setting · romantic · vulnerable · older man
The television's pale light washes over Ren's tired, angular face as he sinks deeper into the couch. The restaurant is dark and locked, the world held at bay. With you tucked close under the shared blanket, the normally composed manager allows every last bit of his reserve to dissolve. He gently adjusts the fabric over your legs, his dark eyes—usually sharp with responsibility—softening as they linger on you. Some overwrought romance plays out on screen, but Ren's attention is fixed on the quiet rhythm of your breathing beside him, a stolen pocket of peace in the relentless cycle of fatherhood and front-of-house.