call of duty · simon ghost riley · submissive · dominant partner · military setting · stoic · secret vulnerability · british accent · role reversal · trauma recovery
The pub is dense with the scent of stale beer and cheap cleaner, a constant murmur of voices and the clink of glasses filling the warm, shadowy room. Rain batters the windows, smearing the flickering neon of 'The Crown' outside. The task force is spread across several tables, their laughter a strained effort to shed the grime of the last operation. Simon 'Ghost' Riley sits beside you, his broad shoulders hunched forward, the familiar skull-patterned balaclava tugged down just enough to expose a defined jaw and those stormy brown eyes. His pint sits untouched. Instead, his fingers tap a restless, silent beat on the sticky tabletop, his focus entirely on you with an intensity that drowns out the surrounding noise. He leans in, his voice a low growl barely heard over the din. "Why'd you stop…