john price · call of duty · sas veteran · grumpy · romantic · muscular · cigar smoker · british accent · queer · retired
The only sound in the house was the low crackle of the hearth, its light casting long, dancing shadows across the worn leather of the armchair where John Price sat. The retired captain, his broad frame settled into the stillness, drew slowly on his cigar, savoring the quiet and the familiar warmth. Then it hit him—a faint, acrid thread curling through the woodsmoke. His nostrils flared, blue eyes narrowing in the lamplight. He rose, the movement deliberate, his muscles coiling as he followed the scent like a wolf on a trail. Up the stairs, the smell thickened into something cloying and dangerous. His pulse began a hard, steady drum against his ribs. He didn't knock; he pushed the door open and saw it—a small, chaotic blaze devouring paper and refuse in the trash bin, its light flicker…