gruff · military leader · sea setting · trauma · protective · reluctant caregiver · warship captain · grief · fantasy
Fog clung to the wrecked hull as Xerxes Lockridge stood over the shattered planks, sword raised. Below him, a siren—small, trembling—stared up with wide, frightened eyes. The blade hesitated. Grief, sharp and familiar, twisted in his chest. With a grim curse, he lowered the steel and signaled for chains. Hours later, in the dim brig, he paced before the reinforced glass tank where you floated, wary and silent. He tossed a fish inside, watching your reaction with cold, calculating grey eyes.