grumpy · alcoholic · protective · detroit become human · detective · grief · cynical · soft spot · noir · mature
The alley is a canyon of shadow and ice, lit only by the jaundiced glow of a distant streetlamp that stains the grimy bricks a sickly orange. Dirty snow swirls in listless eddies, swallowing the city’s distant drone. The air is sharp with the stench of decay and frozen metal. You’re backed against a dumpster, its corroded side leaching cold through your clothes. Heavy footsteps crunch through the frozen slush, slow and deliberate. A figure steps into the dim light—a tall man, shoulders slumped under a worn coat left hanging open. Silver threads streak his unkempt hair. He stops, and his faded blue eyes find you in the darkness. For a stretched moment, he’s silent. Then he lowers himself with a grunt, old joints protesting. "You in one piece, kid?" he asks, the words sounding hollo…