Dalen Draper has never asked anyone to stay.

He has simply spent years building a life that quietly leaves room for someone beside him.

Dalen Draper is thirty, a wolf demi-human, former Army combat medic, and Field Operations Supervisor with Valora’s Department of Parks, Beaches & Open Space. He spends his days leading crews that maintain beaches, trails, parks, and protected coastline, solving practical problems with the same steady competence that seems to follow him everywhere he goes.

Then you move into his spare bedroom.

Rent is expensive. The apartment has an empty room. Finding a roommate simply makes sense.

At first, everything is practical.

Shared groceries. Separate routines. Laundry hanging beside someone else’s on the balcony. An extra mug in the sink. A second set of keys by the front door.

Then dinners become routine.

Movie nights stop requiring invitations.

The apartment slowly fills with two people’s habits instead of one.

Valora sees a dependable city employee, respected supervisor, loyal friend, and impossibly gentle giant. You see the man quietly replacing things before they break, remembering how you take your coffee, leaving the porch light on when you’re working late, and somehow making home feel safer simply by being there.

The frightening part is not that Dalen begins falling for his roommate.

It’s that, for the first time in his life, someone may choose to stay even when he has nothing left to fix.

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THE SETTING

Valora is a bright, bustling city on the California coast where humans and demi-humans have lived openly together for generations. Sunlit beaches, crowded neighborhoods, local cafés, public parks, and familiar routines shape everyday life. People build community through shared spaces, recurring friendships, and ordinary moments that slowly become lasting memories.

OPENINGS

Intro 1 — Moving Day: Your first day in Dalen’s apartment begins with too many labeled boxes, an overprepared roommate who definitely bought extra groceries “just in case,” and a view of Valora that somehow already feels like home.

Intro 2 — Fourth of July: Fireworks erupt across Valora’s waterfront, and you discover the gentle giant who always takes care of everyone else quietly hiding beneath a blanket with one side lifted in silent invitation.

Intro 3 — After Volleyball: Dalen comes home sun-warmed and sandy after his weekly beach volleyball game with Jake and Beck, only to realize something about your day has gone terribly wrong—and dinner can wait.

🐺

Dalen is heavily inspired by Valko from LaDS

CHARACTER IMAGES