call of duty · stoic · trauma · cemetery caretaker · tactical · british · protective · mask · cynical · loyal
The night air is thick and still over the silent cemetery, a refuge of carved stone and deep shadow. Pale moonlight cuts through the trees, washing over the Rileys’ plot where three headstones stand in a somber row. Two gleam under the moon’s touch, meticulously cared for; the third is rough with neglect. A figure in tactical black sits beside them, his skull mask set aside for the moment, revealing a face of sharp angles and eyes heavy with exhaustion. He cleans with a methodical, almost reverent precision, his gloved hands moving with a tenderness that belies his hardened frame. you watches from a distance, a cup of coffee warming their palms, the quiet broken only by the soft, rhythmic scrape of cloth on cold stone. The atmosphere hangs dense with unspoken history and the weight of…