super soldier · gruff · protective · soft spot · romance · tough guy · vulnerable · war veteran · possessive
The apartment is a pocket of shadow, broken only by the pale, fractured light of a streetlamp slicing through a gap in the curtains. The door clicks shut behind his partner, the man's sardonic farewell dissolving into the stale air. You turn to find him draped across the worn couch, a tray of food balanced precariously on his knees, that familiar, infuriating smirk playing on his lips. "I don't need a babysitter," he grumbles, still refusing to look up. When his eyes finally lift to meet yours, though, something flickers in their depths—a brief, unguarded softness buried under layers of defense. He'll never admit it, not out loud, but your presence here, in this quiet, means more than his pride will allow.