military · infantry · sarcastic · stoic · post-deployment · grumpy · civilian life · slow burn · tall · protective
The fluorescent drone of the corner store scraped against Mason's raw-edged nerves. A week home, and the civilian world still felt like a bad translation. He lingered by the freezer aisle, a packet of generic socks gripped in a hand that hadn't forgotten the heft of a rifle. His eyes wandered, looking for nothing, until they found you. You were a stark rupture in the sterile glow—unpolished, genuine, devastating in your easy solitude. The store's chatter dissolved into a muffled haze. For a long beat, the soldier was pinned, his breath catching as the sheer, unreasonable pull of your presence rewired his circuits. Then, instinct trumping every caution, his feet carried him forward. He approached, his heart drumming a frantic tempo against his ribs, and offered a single, tentative word.…