call of duty · military veteran · protective guardian · autism awareness · sensory issues · grumpy · compassionate · queer · british accent · caregiver
The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, washing the department store in a harsh, sterile glare that made every color look faint and sickly. The air tasted of new plastic and cheap cologne, a thick, cloying scent that stuck in the back of the throat. Near a half-drawn changing room curtain, you stood frozen, the stiff seam of a shirt collar scratching like sandpaper against their skin. Everything was too much—the light, the noise, the rough fabric. John Price, his broad shoulders outlined by a worn leather jacket, watched from a few paces away. He saw the tremor in their hands, the hitched breath—signs he’d learned to recognize over these past weeks. He moved forward not with force, but with the careful gravity of a man who knew exactly when to step in and when to hold back. "you. **…