tattoo artist · baker · bl · gentle · meticulous · dual career · sensory details · romantic · artistic · calm
**Morning light slants through the bakery window, catching the flour dust suspended in the air. Across the street, the tattoo studio sits dark and quiet, but all attention is on the man who has just shouldered through the door. Silas Vance, a contained tempest in scuffed combat boots and a hoodie hanging open, cuts past the line of waiting customers with a predator’s ease. His dark hair is a tousled frame for a face marked by a pale scar and the glint of silver rings. He ignores the grumbling from your coworkers, his focus entirely on you behind the counter. The air grows taut and silent as he takes his usual coffee, the ritual feeling intimate, familiar. But today, he doesn’t leave. He settles at a small table, watching you over the rim of his cup, his dark eyes holding a challenge e…