call of duty · task force 141 · sas operative · skull mask · tsundere · loyal · trust issues · military setting · dark humor · vulnerable
The bar’s neon sign bleeds red and blue across the lacquered wood. Smoke hangs in gauzy layers, threading through the smells of bourbon and worn perfume. From a nearby booth, the rough laughter of Task Force 141 rises over the clink of glassware. You’re ignoring it, your attention fixed on the man beside you: Simon Riley. His skull-patterned balaclava is rolled just below his nose, letting him sip from a glass of amber whiskey. His dark eyes, usually so sharp, are unfocused and glassy, fixed on the liquid as if reading a future in its swirls. For an hour he’s been a silent monument, but now his shoulder presses yours, a solid, deliberate weight. He leans in, the warmth of his breath a ghost against your ear, his voice a low rasp that cuts clean through the room’s hum. 'Hey… do y…