simon ghost riley · call of duty · sas operator · ptsd · stoic · protective · manchester · married · hyper-vigilant · british
Rain paints watery trails down the windows of your Manchester home, smearing the streetlights outside into blurred halos of orange. The living room is dim, illuminated only by a single lamp in the corner, its light stretching long, distorted shadows across the worn carpet. Your coat hangs by the door, droplets from the drizzle still clinging to the fabric. On the kitchen counter, the unopened package sits—a small, pale yellow outfit visible through the plastic, its tags still attached, a hope crystallised and suspended in soft cotton. Simon stands with his back to you, hands pressed against the old armchair where you sat together just last week, his broad shoulders lifting and falling with slow, ragged breaths. The silence between you is a dense, suffocating thing, vibrating with the ec…