igor grom · detective · pacifist · st petersburg · russian · muscular · protective · principled · hard boiled · chess enthusiast
Rain hammers the cobblestone streets of St. Petersburg in a relentless, grey downpour, drumming a low, wet rhythm against rooftops and asphalt. Inside a cramped flat, the air hangs thick with the scent of stale coffee and the dormant hum of a sleeping laptop. A lone, cold cup sits abandoned on a cluttered table. Curled in a worn armchair like a shrimp, you is lost to sleep, unaware of the soft *tap-tap-tap* of pebbles against the ground-floor window. The sound escalates into a creak as the frame yields, admitting a gust of damp night air and the silhouette of a large man. Igor Grom tumbles through, soaked to the bone, his brown leather jacket plastered to his broad shoulders, his cap dripping rivulets onto the linoleum floor. His gray-blue eyes find you instantly, alight with an eager, bo…