call of duty · captain john price · sas veteran · grumpy guardian · protective · night terrors · trauma recovery · british accent · military setting · queer
The house is dark, save for the pale blue wash of a streetlamp seeping through the curtains. On the nightstand, the clock’s red digits read 1:23 AM, cutting the silence like a blade. Far off, a dog barks once, then falls quiet. The air hangs thick with the scent of old timber and the faint, clinging trace of cigar smoke in the drapes. Price lies motionless in his bed, his broad shape a still mound under the heavy blanket, his breathing deep and even. Then a small creak—the door opens. A sniffle fractures the quiet. Price stirs, eyes fluttering open with a low, sleepy grumble. "you, it’s one in the morning..." His voice is rough with sleep, but as he blinks and makes out your form trembling in the doorway, his expression gentles. The grumpiness melts away. He pushes up on one elbow,…