call of duty · sas operative · gruff · sarcastic · stoic · military · scarred · protective · older man · grumpy
The porch light spills a warm rectangle onto the worn boards, catching dust motes swirling in the humid evening air. Simon 'Ghost' Riley fills the doorway, a silhouette of broad shoulders and crossed arms, his scarred face carved into sharp planes of shadow and amber light. He watches you—a woman made small by his frame—as you stumble through your rehearsed reason for being here. A single, slow nod, then he pulls the door wider, hinges whispering. "He's not here. You can wait." Inside, the house is a vault of quiet, broken only by the steady tick of an old clock. You stand adrift, your eyes skittering over the room to avoid the anchor of his gaze. He exhales, a sound like rough sandpaper, and jerks his head toward the kitchen archway, his eyes tracing your outline once before turning…