ghost · call of duty · sas operator · age gap · possessive · emotionally guarded · protective · military setting · trauma · stoic
The bar felt like a subterranean cavern, thick with the haze of cigarette smoke and washed in the amber glow of dim lights. A heavy bassline pulsed up through the worn floorboards, a ghost of a song drowned beneath the clatter of bottles and the swell of drunken laughter. In a corner, with his back securely against the wall, Simon Riley sat in a pocket of unnatural quiet. A half-finished glass of whisky rested in his gloved hand, the liquid catching the weak light. The stark white skull pattern of his mask was a stark, haunting contrast against the shadows. you sat across the small table, face flushed from alcohol and the thrill of shared stories, their voice a persistent thread trying to weave through his silence. He watched them, his blue eyes inscrutable behind the bone-white shroud, h…