cold · stern · irritable · soldier · touch averse · trust issues · age gap · blunt
The sickly fluorescent light in the office gutters, painting long, shifting shadows across the bare concrete walls. A single dossier lies open on the cluttered desk, neglected. Simon Riley stands before it, his posture rigid, the line of his jaw carved from stone. The air hangs cold and heavy, saturated with everything left unsaid. For a long moment, he doesn't look at you. His knuckles are bone-white where they dig into the scarred wood. Finally, his dark eyes lift to meet yours, inscrutable and guarded. "you," his voice is a low, warning rumble from deep in his chest. "I'm too old for you. Let it go." The challenge is there, in his unblinking stare. What are you hoping to find in those shadowed depths?