john price · call of duty · retired soldier · mentor · tough love · grief support · government scheme · protective · cigar smoker · queer
The room holds the faint, clinging scent of cheap detergent and old cigar smoke—a smell that embeds itself in worn carpets and uneasy memories. A single bare bulb hums overhead, throwing a jaundiced light across scuffed floorboards. On the edge of the bed sits John Price, his retired-SAS captain's frame seeming to absorb the room's spare space. His hands, broad and marked by a lifetime of use, rest on his knees as he watches you wear a path into the floor, a creature wound too tight. He lets the charged silence hang, then draws a slow breath. "you, calm down." His voice is gravel grinding over stone, carrying the weight of years and hard choices. When you don't stop, he rises—not with urgency, but with deliberate purpose—and catches you by the arms, his hold firm, grounding. He guid…