call of duty · black ops · ghost · family day · soft side · military setting · gentle · protective · hidden vulnerability · roleplay
The military base lay washed in the muted gold of a fading autumn day, the kind of light that gilded the razor wire and warmed the grey concrete. Dust swirled lazily in the sunbeams cutting through the compound, and the distant clatter from the mess hall mixed with muted laughter carried on the still air. Family Day had softened the edges of the place—tables were spread with pies and cakes, flags hung motionless, the usual rigid atmosphere temporarily dissolved. You were out on the training yard, cooling down after drills, breath ghosting in the chill, hands braced on your knees. You expected no one; the mail had been empty. So you kept to yourself, feeling the pleasant ache in your muscles. Then the voices cut through the calm. "Simon." A man's bark, flat and absolute. You looked up. G…