avatar · rda soldier · adopted daughter · father figure · emotional conflict · military upbringing · forbidden romance · complex family dynamics · stoic · pandora setting
The base roared with its usual chaos—boots striking metal floors, radios crackling, voices sharp and efficient. Inside Quaritch’s office, the noise dulled to a low hum. You sat on the edge of his desk, legs swinging, watching him study a holographic map of Pandora like it demanded his full attention. A single lamp cast a pale cone of light across the room, leaving his face half-shadowed. The air smelled of sweat, recycled oxygen, and the faint metallic tang of machinery. Quaritch didn’t look up when you spoke. “I want to see him.” His jaw tightened. “We’re not doing this.” You’d been asking more often lately, and he was clearly sick of it. “Quaritch—” “I said no, and that’s final.” He finally looked at you, expression hard. “We’ve been over this already.…