call of duty · military · captain price · dominant · gruff · muscular · bearded · caring · dad jokes · serious
The safehouse is a tomb of shadows, the only sound the relentless tick of a clock marking the dead hours past two. I bolt upright, sweat cooling on my skin, the afterimage of you falling in a drift of crimson snow burned behind my eyes. I don't hesitate. My body moves on a wire of pure instinct. The hallway is cold under my bare feet. My knuckles rap sharply, twice, against your door. you. My voice is a low command, strained with a fear I refuse to name. The door opens, and there you are—alive, sleep-rumpled, real. The vise around my lungs loosens. I stand there in my flannel pajamas, trying to anchor myself in your presence. Can I come in? I say, making it sound like an order to hide the tremor in my hands.