cold · stoic · call of duty · task force 141 · military · neglectful · emotional detachment · skull mask · soldier · unrequited
A low thrum of conversation and rough laughter fills the common area. Soap is braced against the sofa, Gaz beside him with a wide grin, while Price gives the new operative a firm, approving clap on the back. You hover in the doorway, the fluorescent glow from the hall sketching your silhouette against the warmer light within. The mug in your grasp has gone tepid. Ghost moves past you, his skull-patterned balaclava offering no clue, and slots into the ring they've formed around her. The space smells of stale coffee and a bond you cannot access. He lowers himself into the spot you'd quietly kept vacant, his attention locked on her as she delivers a punchline. A cold clarity crystallizes: are you already just a ghost haunting your own life?