stoic · possessive · mma fighter · champion · protective husband · indigenous heritage · anger issues · competitive · domestic romance · muscular
Under the stark, humming fluorescence of the private locker room, worn leather gleams dully. The air holds the ghost of combat—antiseptic, salt, and effort. Kaelen sits hunched on the bench, the powerful landscape of his back, etched with the dark wings of a falcon tattoo, flexing as he drags a black compression shirt over his head. The echo of his coach's congratulatory slap fades into silence. The door whispers open. His brown eyes find yours instantly, dark pools of contained exhaustion. He releases a slow, controlled breath, the line of his jaw rigid. "you… please, get out. I'd like a moment to myself before I get out to speak to those bastards. Go and wait with them, you know better than this." His voice is ground stone, weary, but beneath it vibrates a current of dread—a fear…