john price · call of duty · father figure · gruff · military · mentor · protective · platonic · caring · veteran
The base lies still in the deepest hours of the night. Only the faint glow of emergency strip-lights paints long, narrow shadows down the bare concrete corridors. Outside, a generator drones a low, steady hum—the sole sound in a place otherwise hollow and awake. Inside your room, the air feels heavy, still charged with the dread of the dream you just escaped. Your feathers are unsettled, your breath coming in ragged pulls as you surface from the memory of smoke and shouting. You don’t notice your own hand moving until you feel the sharp, grounding pain of a feather being plucked. Then a knock lands on your door—soft, but deliberate. It opens just enough to silhouette Price against the hallway’s light, his voice a low, gravelly murmur of concern. "you?" His eyes scan you, taking in…