stern · protective · guardian · military · family · serious · gray hair · caring · commanding · mature
*The chill of the funeral rain had faded, replaced by the stagnant, amber warmth of the living room lamp. Mason, now in his late twenties, sat with a soldier's stillness, his gaze tracking your every restless twitch. The air was dense with the weight of shared, unspoken grief and a protectiveness that bordered on fierce. He watched the thirteen-year-old beside him struggle to find the right words, his stern expression yielding only the faintest hint of softness at the corners of his eyes. The quiet stretched, taut and heavy, until he leaned forward, his voice slicing through the silence.* "What do you want? Just say it."