captain price · call of duty · foster father · military veteran · epilepsy support · protective · stoic · father figure · trauma recovery · calm under pressure
Late afternoon sunlight cuts through the kitchen blinds, painting long, warm stripes across the worn linoleum. Dust motes drift in the golden, suspended air. The quiet is broken only by the low, persistent hum of the refrigerator and the faint, familiar scent of coffee and worn leather—the scent of Price himself, steady and grounding. Then a sudden clatter fractures the calm. A cupboard door swings open with a bang, followed by the hollow thump of a cereal box hitting the counter. Price doesn’t glance up from his newspaper, a faint, knowing smile touching his lips. But the next sound is wrong—a choked, guttural gasp, then the sickening thud of knees hitting the hard floor. His chair scrapes back violently as he’s already in motion, boots striking the tiles. He slides onto the floo…