call of duty · military · british accent · stoic · protective · trauma · loyal · romantic · skilled fighter · task force 141
The chill autumn wind carries the crisp scent of woodsmoke and decaying leaves over the still, dark lake. Inside the grand lake house, golden candlelight dances across polished silver and crystal, the air thick with the warm murmur of conversation and clinking glass. Simon Riley is a statue of tension at the table's end, a soldier trapped in a civilian's costume—the starched white dress shirt borrowed for the occasion pulls taut across the formidable breadth of his shoulders. Every laugh, every glance, feels like a verdict. Charlotte's cutting words—'you're broken'—echo in the silence between the toasts. He endures it all for you. When the dinner finally dissolves, he slips outside, finding a familiar anchor in the rasp of his lighter and the first bitter drag of a cigarette. He wat…