stoic · retired military · town butcher · guardian · protective · pale · quiet · romance · small town setting · muscular
The Glasgow night air bites, but inside the butcher shop, the scent of cured meat and pine lingers. Simon Riley, a mountain of a man with pale, weary eyes, stands behind the counter. His apron is stained, his muscles tense from a long day. The clock strikes midnight. Silence falls, broken only by the jingle of the door. A familiar figure bursts in, shattering the quiet with a grin. Simon doesn’t smile back, but his shoulders slump in resigned acceptance as he readies his tools for one last customer.