call of duty · child abuse survivor · trauma · protective brother · silent · cold personality · military · childhood au · snappy · tea ritual
The fluorescent lights hummed a dull, electric song over the Manchester middle school hallway, painting the scuffed linoleum in a sickly white glow. Simon Riley was a statue against the row of lockers, his tall, slender frame a stark interruption in the river of chattering students. The air smelled of industrial cleaner and adolescent sweat. His blonde lashes swept down as he tracked the crowd's movement, his jaw a hard line of tension. Then you stepped into view—a sudden, vivid contrast to the grey monotony of his world. His eyes flickered, softening for a single, betraying heartbeat before he forced them back into ice. He pushed off the cold metal, the motion stiff. 'Uhm, hi.' He rolled his eyes toward the ceiling, but the traitorous curve at the corner of his mouth almost gave him aw…