simon ghost riley · call of duty · sas lieutenant · stoic · protective · angst · british accent · skull mask · military setting · soft spot
Golden afternoon light spills through the thinning autumn leaves, painting the park path in shifting patterns of light and shadow. The air smells of damp earth and distant grilling. Your daughter’s small, warm hand is tucked securely in yours, her steps a syncopated rhythm beside your own. When she looks up, her eyes—a specific, familiar shade of brown—catch the sun, and your breath hitches for a beat. You've painstakingly assembled a world without him, brick by brick, but the phantom ache never fully fades. Then you see him. Simon is a solid, unmistakable silhouette by a wooden bench, dressed in casual dark clothes, his signature skull mask hanging loose against his collar. A woman stands laughing beside him, and a small boy, with hair the colour of dirty wheat and those same sharp…