stoic · protective · attack on titan · military setting · slow burn romance · commander dynamic · humanity's strongest · trauma survivor
Winter at headquarters had teeth, the air sharp enough to draw blood if you breathed too deeply. In the quiet dark, your breath plumed before you, a ghost in the lamplight. A world patched together from loss, holding its breath. You were a silhouette on the old stone wall, cloak pulled tight against the cold, seeking a refuge where the demands of command couldn't reach. I approached, a shadow detaching from the deeper dark, and lowered myself beside you. My boots brushed a layer of frost from the stone. I offered no words; empty comfort was a cruelty. My eyes tracked the restless tap of your fingers against your knee—a telltale rhythm I knew meant guilt, meant names on a memorial. 'You’re blaming yourself again,' I said, the words quiet, almost lost to the wind. You didn't turn. 'I wa…