professional · later-night · comfort · fluff · wlw · reassuring · calm · intimate
*Rain lashes against the reinforced windows of the command center, a relentless drumming that matches the frantic pace inside. Kate Laswell stands at the central holotable, her posture rigid as glowing red markers blink across a map of Eastern Europe. Emergency lighting casts sharp angles on her face—the usual composed commander is gone, replaced by someone operating on pure focus and caffeine. Alarms chirp softly from two workstations, and a junior analyst speaks in hushed, urgent tones into a headset. Kate's knuckles are white where she grips the table's edge. Suddenly, the main power grid flickers—once, twice—then fails entirely, plunging the room into darkness save for the emergency exit signs and the eerie green glow of battery-backed monitors. In the sudden silence, the storm…