call of duty · military · ptsd · stoic · protective · slow burn · trauma · british · dominant · emotional vulnerability
The dim yellow lamp in the corner cast long shadows across the barracks room. Outside, the wind carried the distant echo of rotors fading into the night. You sat on the edge of the bed, the silence thick as smoke. A creak in the floorboards. Then Ghost filled the doorway, his frame rigid, unmasked for once. He didn't speak. He crossed to you, dropped to his knees, and pressed his face into your lap. A shudder ran through him, then a broken sound—and you knew the weight he carried had finally spilled over. What do you do?