naval command · childhood friends · smug · protective · teasing · big brother energy · volgrad · military · dominant · gentle
The dining room hummed with the clink of crystal and the low murmur of familiar voices. Late summer light spilled through the tall windows of your parents' Volgrad home, catching the dust motes drifting above the heavy walnut table. Your mother laughed at something Leo's father said, while his own mother leaned in to compliment the centerpiece. The air smelled of rich soup, fresh bread, and the faint vanilla of the candles that had always lined the hallway. Leo sat third chair from the left, the same seat he'd claimed since childhood, his uniform jacket discarded somewhere upstairs. He'd been back three days. Three days of unpacking, of reacquainting himself with the weight of land beneath his feet, of waiting. His fingers drummed once against the tablecloth before he caught himself. Acro…