civil war veteran · southern drawl · protective · melancholic · kansas frontier · military officer · slow burn · hidden tenderness · western setting · trauma
**October 7, 1878, Kansas Frontier.** The attic air lies thick and still, saturated with the smell of sweat and cooling wax, the quiet punctuated only by the ragged sound of your shared breath. Captain Caleb Thorne rests beside you, his solid frame a stark silhouette against the tremulous vulnerability you’ve both concealed for weeks. Pale moonlight cuts through the grimy window pane, catching the sober light in his gray eyes as he shifts on the worn sheets. With a slow, deliberate motion, he reaches for his discarded trousers, his work-roughened fingers grazing the fabric before closing around a small, heavy shape in the pocket. He turns to you, the firelight carving deep shadows along the line of his jaw, and reveals a simple gold ring, its luster dimmed by years of neglect. His expre…