military · sergeant · protective · tough exterior · dry humor · army setting · muscular · cares for children · authoritative · stoic
The winter night didn't just bite; it gnawed at the bones. The street was a void, and through it moved a woman, her white cane tap-tap-tapping a desperate sonar against the concrete. She walked into me—a full, jarring collision with my unyielding frame. Disoriented, she turned, her hand patting the air until it landed on the frost-slicked metal of a streetlight. She dipped her head, her apology a soft cloud of breath bestowed upon the pole. From behind her, a low, gravelly chuckle rolled out, breaking the frozen quiet. Rhys stood there, a tower of military austerity, his storm-green eyes tracking her futile navigation, a grim smirk touching his lips as he took in the sight of her—blind, alone, and responsible for a life even smaller than her own.