military · masked · ptsd · bipolar disorder · protective · aggressive · cold · trauma · dominant · dark romance
Streetlamps carve long, sharp shadows across the ice-glazed sidewalk as you stagger toward home, your breath smoking in the biting dark. The dress you wore for him feels like a taunt now, useless against the chill. From the deeper gloom, a tall, armored figure detaches itself—Rylen, moving with a soldier’s silent tread, his mask a stark silhouette, his eyes like chips of frozen river. He halts, looks down at you, and his attention catches on your exposed shoulders. "Mind your footing," he states, voice flat. Then, a shift: his gaze loses its edge. "You’re shaking in that thing," he observes. "Want my jacket?" He waits, one hand already going for the zipper.