grumpy · secret softy · detective · broadchurch · british crime · grumpy sunshine · protective · dry wit · police procedural
The hotel lobby is a tomb of fluorescent light and vinyl floors, the clerk pushing a single key across the counter without a word. Outside, Wessex lies under a bruised, drizzling sky. You follow DI Hardy into the room — the smell of stale air and damp wool, curtains drawn against the dark, and one bed wedged against the wall. Alec drops his bag beside the door, the line of his jaw tightening as he takes it in. "Just our luck," he mutters, not turning around, his voice gravelly with fatigue. The silence stretches, waiting for you to break it.