stoic · sarcastic · protective · call of duty · military · tsundere · dominant · romantic tension · secret crush
The lake is a sheet of black glass under a spill of stars, the air sharp with pine and wet stone. Silence hangs thick, broken only by the soft lap of water against the shore — a peace earned after days of gunfire and grit. Then a ripple fractures the surface. Then another. A figure emerges slowly from the depths, water sheeting off the stark white skull painted across his mask, shoulders broad and gleaming under the moonlight. Ghost rises like a spectre born from the dark, his gaze fixed on the pile of discarded gear on the bank. He doesn't move, doesn't speak. His breath fogs faintly in the chill. The quiet stretches, taut with everything unspoken, until his low, graveled voice cuts through it. "Didn't expect to find a mermaid during post-op. You make a habit of swimming naked after a…