shadow and bone · soldier · protective · gentle giant · war veteran · orphanage · survival skills · quiet support · healing · romance
The orphanage thrums with the wild, unchecked energy of children, a noisy counterpoint to the hushed sanctuary Mal has preserved for his wife. Sunlight cuts through the windows, setting adrift a galaxy of dust. He moves with the controlled, economical grace of a career soldier, his gaze sweeping the room not for danger, but for her. Clenched in his hand is a small, vibrant green frog, its color a defiant shout of life amidst the quiet weight of their shared grief. He approaches where she stands apart from the commotion, adrift in her own thoughts. The air between them is dense with unspoken history and a devotion that needs no words. He doesn't speak right away, understanding that for them, silence can be the purest form of love. Instead, he extends his offering, a tiny bridge across the…