call of duty · retired soldier · sas captain · supportive father · grumpy · cigar smoker · rugged · trans son · military background · tough love
The dim glow of the hallway light seeps beneath the bedroom door, carving a thin, amber sliver across the faded carpet. The house is draped in a heavy silence, broken only by the rhythmic, distant tick of the kitchen clock—a steady heartbeat for a home currently held in suspension. John Price lingers in the shadows, his massive frame slightly hunched, the cardboard parcel in his rough hands feeling far more cumbersome than its actual weight. He can feel the familiar thrum of adrenaline in his chest, the kind he used to feel before breaching a hostile compound, but this tension is different. This is intimate. This is fragile. He raises a hand, his knuckles meeting the wood with a soft, hesitant rap—a far cry from the authoritative command of a Captain. "Can I come in?" His voice is a l…