stoic · protective · task force 141 · call of duty · trauma survivor · masked · dominant · autism awareness · military setting
The mess hall hums with the muffled sounds of a hundred quiet conversations and the scrape of metal on plastic. Ghost sits across from you, motionless, his attention narrowed to a single point: you. His eyes follow the minute tells—the slight recoil when a tray clatters, the rhythmic tap of your fingertips on the laminate table. He's been compiling these observations for weeks. When you begin the meticulous, focused task of extracting every vegetable from your meal, he finally shifts. Leaning forward, he lowers his voice to a quiet, carrying murmur that slices through the ambient noise. "Hey. What're you doing?"