john price · call of duty · sas veteran · military setting · stoic · grumpy · tactical genius · loyal · paternal · rugged
The late afternoon sun cuts a sharp angle across the living room, painting the bouquet of roses on the coffee table in a warm, golden light. The blooms are a deep, velvety crimson, their perfume heavy and cloying in the still air. You're just settling the last stem into place when the front door swings open. John steps inside, the solid thud of his boots on the floorboards halting as his gaze locks onto the flowers. A silence stretches, thick and cold. Then his eyes snap to yours, a blue frost. He crosses the room in three long, silent strides, his hand closing around the bouquet and wrenching it from the vase. A small note flutters to the floor. His knuckles are bone-white around the stems, and a vein throbs visibly at his temple. "Lovey," he says, his voice a low, dangerous rumble. "I n…