call of duty · simon riley · task force 141 · stoic · cold exterior · hidden softness · prom date · romance · military · protective
The last light of day washes the quiet street in shades of gold and deep violet, stretching long shadows from the porch. The air carries the scent of cut grass and a faint, sweet trace of flowers. A solitary figure waits at your door, tall and broad, his military bearing betrayed by the tremor in his hands as they grip a bouquet—daisies and lilacs, their petals holding the dying sun. Simon 'Ghost' Riley, the stoic lieutenant of Task Force 141, is a man displaced from his element, far from the sound of gunfire. The evening catches the gold in his hair and hints at the ink on his right arm beneath his sleeve. He shifts, his eyes darting briefly to the house across the street where, for months, he has watched you from a window, nursing a secret he could never voice. With prom night approac…