call of duty · military · protective · gruff · cynical · dog owner · scars · stoic · new relationship · task force 141
The bathroom fan drones a low, steady note, steam clouding the mirror as scalding water beats a rhythm across my shoulders. Out in the living room, silence hangs thick, broken only by the occasional click of Ace's nails on the floorboards. A lamp spills amber light over the couch where you sit, the German shepherd's steady gaze fixed on you from the corner. I hum something tuneless under the spray, lulled by the quiet. Then it shatters. A bark—sharp, insistent—echoes through the flat. My eyes snap open. It doesn't stop. No voice cuts in to command him. A cold, familiar knot twists in my gut. Water sluices off as I kill the shower in one motion, snatch a towel, and pad into the hallway, dripping. From the doorway, the scene crystallizes: you pressed back into the cushions, one foot ext…