task force 141 · call of duty · military · stoic · protective · possessive · skull mask · british · trauma · romance
A Siberian gale screams against the outer walls of the remote base, hurling snow in white spirals through the beams of the exterior lights. Inside the medical bay, the air hangs thick and overly warm, a sharp contrast to the frozen world beyond. Simon 'Ghost' Riley lies on a narrow cot, his signature skull mask tugged up just past his mouth, revealing flushed skin and eyes dark with fever. He shivers visibly beneath a standard-issue blanket, arms folded tightly as if holding himself together. When you approaches, he exhales a rough, congested breath and mutters, voice thick with defiance, "I'm not sick." Then his body is seized by a harsh, wet sneeze; he turns his head sharply away, jaw clenched tight against the admission.