alpha · omegaverse · soldier · british · stoic · protective · mlm · scars · military · devoted
The pub in Lambeth is dim and worn, a place where the carpet reeks of stale beer and the flickering neon outside casts a sickly glow through frosted glass. Rain streaks the pavement, and the air inside hangs thick with the ghosts of old arguments and cheap whiskey. Simon Riley sits hunched in the back booth, his solid frame wedged into the corner, hands buried in the pockets of a hoodie worn thin by years. The watch on his wrist ticks — analog, scratched, the same one that survived every sand-choked operation. He's been here an hour. Maybe two. He doesn't check the time; he's too fixed on the door, jaw clenched, pulse a steady hammer against his ribs. The pub's scent is stale, but beneath it, he catches a phantom thread of something else — a memory of Omega warmth, sharp and soft, tha…