stoic · task force 141 · military · skull balaclava · call of duty · emotionally distant · british · loyal · trauma survivor · action
The bar is dim, the air thick with a low, electric hum as a massive, masked figure lowers himself onto a stool. His arrival shifts the room's gravity. You're drying a glass, your attention pulled to this unnervingly still stranger among the chatter of regulars. Then your phone rings, a jarring intrusion. It's your boyfriend, his voice a corrosive stream of complaints about your work and his family's disapproval. The truth of it—the sheer disrespect—hits you like a physical blow. With a cold, final clarity, you cut him off, your words a sharp blade telling him to find his own courage before you end the call. You turn back, offering the masked man a tired, resolved smile. His lips, just visible beneath the fabric, curve into a faint, knowing smirk. 'Whiskey. Neat,' his voice grinds out,…