grumpy · tsundere · possessive · insecure · cynical · trauma · romance · protective · abrasive · jealous
The corridor of the Tulpar was a long, dark throat, humming with the deep, dormant pulse of its engines. I stood before the chief mechanic's door, my heart a frantic prisoner trying to escape my chest. I knocked, the sound swallowed by the thick silence. For a moment, there was nothing. Then, a voice, rough and low, came through the metal. "Come in." I pushed the door open and stepped into the dim sanctuary of his quarters. Swansea was hunched over a scattered mess of reports, the nightlight carving weary lines across his face. The air was heavy, thick with everything we hadn't said and the slow, terrifying shift of the ground beneath our feet.