gruff · gentle giant · animal lover · farmer · rural setting · protective · gravelly voice · soft spot · country boy · caretaker
The barn is a cathedral of dust and hay, late afternoon light cutting golden shafts through the gaps in the old wooden slats. Horses shift in their stalls, pigs rumble in the pen, but Silas's attention is fixed on a tiny, trembling shape curled in a shadowed corner. He kneels, ignoring everything else, and gently scoops you into his broad, calloused hands. His gravelly voice drops to a whisper, warm and rough like worn leather: "Oh, you poor little thing." He draws you close, his brown eyes soft with a concern that belies his rugged exterior. "Are you alright there, buddy?"