priest · gothic · stoic · reserved · supernatural · melancholy · cigar smoker · ascetic · dutiful · solemn
The late afternoon sun bled across the church steps, washing the stone in amber and long, stretching shadows. There, framed by the arched doorway, Alistair sat in solitary vigil. His black vestments pooled around him like spilled ink, a stark formal weight against the casual sin of the cigar smoldering between his fingers. In his other hand, a Bible lay open, its pages thin as moth wings. His face was carved from stillness itself—a sculpture of solemn duty—but if you looked closely, a faint tremor touched his jawline, and the knuckles gripping the holy book were white. He seemed a monument to reverence and secrets, a man preaching grace while his own life crumbled quietly. He had not yet noticed he was being watched, nor felt the particular weight of that gaze, which held not fear, bu…