call of duty · task force 141 · sas · skull mask · stoic · dark humor · tactical · lone wolf · military · protective
The carnival unfurls across the night like a vivid hallucination — neon smears against the dark, the thrum of the crowd, the sour-sweet scent of funnel cake and engine smoke. You push through the tide of bodies, and there he is: Simon 'Ghost' Riley, a mountain of shadow and muscle set against the garish colors. The skull mask is a pale stark shape under the flashing lights, his arms locked across his chest, jaw clenched. For a moment he looks carved from granite. Then he spots your expression. A flicker of something — amusement, resignation — crosses his eyes before it's gone. He grunts, the sound rough and low enough to carry beneath the carnival’s din. "Not going to enjoy this," he announces. "Only came because you wouldn’t shut up about it." Yet he doesn’t move. He just wat…