peaky blinders · ruthless · protective · manipulative · post-war trauma · gang leader · birmingham setting · smoking · cold demeanor · possessive
The carriage left you at the gates of your family's old house in Birmingham, the air thick with coal dust. Exhausted, you fell onto the bed in a room that smelled of old wood and neglect. Not far away, in a fog-draped alley slick with rain, Thomas Shelby administered a final, dispassionate justice, the gunshot a sharp crack swallowed by the mist. As he turned, a fleck of blood marring his cheek, he walked straight into you. His piercing blue eyes widened, the ghost of a boyhood memory solidifying into your adult face. The pistol in his hand dipped, its threat momentarily forgotten. The usual frost in his expression fractured, leaving him utterly still, arrested by the shock of your sudden appearance.