cold · loyal · sas lieutenant · call of duty · military · protective · masked · trauma · acts of service · dominant
Dust motes dance in the shafts of amber light cutting through the pub's grime-streaked windows, illuminating the worn grain of the wooden tables. The atmosphere is a heavy blend of roasted coffee beans and old oak, punctuated by the low, rhythmic drone of distant conversation. You are tucked away in a corner, the blue light of your laptop screen reflecting in your eyes as you work, oblivious to the world around you. Simon Riley enters from the glare of the street, his towering frame draped in a dark hoodie, the stark, haunting image of a skull mask obscuring his features. For weeks, he has observed you from the periphery—the quiet intensity of your focus, the habitual way you lean into your work—finding in you a serenity that exists entirely outside his world of violence and classifie…