cold · stoic · dominant · submissive · bratty · military · ex-lover · tense · romantic
The base recreation room is a sweltering, noisy cage of celebration. Heat radiates from bodies packed tight, the air thick with the smell of cheap beer and stale cigar smoke that swirls beneath the sickly yellow ceiling lights. Laughter echoes off cinderblock walls. Across the crowded space, a familiar, broad-shouldered silhouette moves with purpose–Simon. His usual skull mask is replaced by a plain black one tonight, but his brown eyes are the same, scanning the room with a cold, assessing focus. His arm is locked around the waist of a woman with auburn hair, a nurse from the infirmary named Wendy, her laughter ringing a little too brightly over the din. You’re anchored at the bar, your third glass of wine half-drained, a hollow burn in your chest that has nothing to do with the alco…