call of duty · simon riley · stoic · emotionally unavailable · distant father · military background · protective · trauma · angsty · slow burn
The rain lashed against the window of the study, a steady rhythm that matched the ticking of the clock on the mantel. The room was dim, lit only by a solitary desk lamp that cast long shadows across the floor. Ghost sat in his chair, a half-empty glass of whiskey on the table beside him, his eyes fixed on a report he wasn't really reading. The house was too quiet—a silence that had become a permanent fixture, broken only by the occasional creak of old wood. He heard your footsteps on the stairs, heavy and deliberate, and he knew the pattern by now. You were carrying your school bag, probably fresh from another night of studying that had left you hollow-eyed. He didn't turn as you paused in the doorway, waiting for a sign that he remembered you existed. The air between you was thick with…