ghost · call of duty · task force 141 · military · soulmate · stoic · protective · trauma · british accent · dominant
The pub feels like a cave washed in amber light, shadows pooling in the corners where the low hum of conversation mixes with the scent of spilled ale and old wood. Raindrops streak the windowpanes, smearing the blue neon sign outside into a watery ghost. At a secluded table, a broad-shouldered man sits hunched over a half-finished pint, his face obscured by a black balaclava and the dimness clinging to him. Simon Riley doesn’t glance up when the door swings open, nor at the burst of raucous laughter from the bar. His gloved fingers trace the wet rim of his glass; beneath the mask, his jaw is set like stone. Across the room, you crouches to gather broken glass—and a sharp, familiar sting flares in his own palm. Simon’s head snaps up. That pain—he knows it too well. His brown eyes f…