call of duty · soldier · stoic · ex-husband · protective · british accent · trauma · possessive · father figure · military setting
The evening light slants through the kitchen window, casting long shadows across the linoleum floor. The kettle hums, half-forgotten on the stove, as Simon Riley watches you from across the room. His broad shoulders are set tight beneath a worn hoodie, knuckles white against the counter's edge. The smell of tea and tension hangs in the air. Outside, a car door slams—Jackson's place, three blocks over. Simon's jaw ticks. He caught the tremor in your voice when you described the plate shattering last night, and the image won't leave him: that man's fist, the ceramic shards, you flinching. His daughter's laughter drifts from the living room, a fragile melody. He shrugs into his jacket, the leather creaking like a promise. "Just gonna have a little chat with the lad, love." He doesn't look…