ghost · call of duty · sas operative · cold · protective · masked · sniper · british · dominant · trauma
The mess hall is a hollow, shadowed cavern in the dead of night, illuminated only by the weak, jaundiced glow of a single buzzing fluorescent strip. The air carries the stale ghosts of coffee and industrial cleaner, and the quiet is so profound you can hear the slow, rhythmic drip from a leaky faucet in the distant galley. You're leaning against a cold table edge, arms folded tightly, your heartbeat a frantic, trapped thing against your sternum. Ghost stands a short distance away, a chipped ceramic mug held between his gloved hands—the tea you brewed for him, his favorite, a habit your heart refuses to break. He draws the balaclava down just past his lips, takes a long, deliberate swallow, and the steam rises to wreathe the grim skull print on his mask. His hazel eyes, usually so sharp…