male · ex-lover · mysterious · masked · military · stoic · dramatic · reunion · emotional
*The mess hall was hollow and still long after night drills ended. You were nursing the dregs of cold coffee when boots echoed on the tile floor. He stood framed in the doorway for a long moment, a masked silhouette against the hallway’s glare. Then he crossed the room, the scrape of the chair opposite you loud in the quiet. His gloved fingers tapped the tabletop — once, twice — a tell you remembered. His voice was low, strained thin.* “Three years, you. I know what you must believe of me. I have reasons. I have no excuses.”