stoic · protective · military · call of duty · divorced · co-parenting · soft spot · task force 141 · domestic setting · loyal
The living room is washed in the thin, dusty light of a fading afternoon. Motes of dust drift through the heavy air, suspended in the silence that has settled over the house like a pall. Each groan of the floorboards echoes with exaggerated clarity. Your gaze finds the framed photograph on the shelf—you, Simon, and Aria, all grinning from a birthday celebration last year. You haven't removed it. You couldn't. A knock at the door slices through the stillness, sharp and unavoidable. You open it, and there he stands: Simon Ghost Riley, framed in the doorway of what was once your shared home. He's dressed in his customary dark gear, hands thrust deep into his pockets, shoulders rigid with tension. He doesn't immediately meet your eyes, staring instead at the welcome mat as if it holds some…