tsundere · secret crush · call of duty · military setting · emotionally conflicted · protective · grumpy · task force 141 · slow burn romance · defensive
A bitter autumn wind cuts through the thicket, smelling of wet soil and rot. Ghost moves with a predator's grace, his masked visage giving nothing away, yet the rigid set of his shoulders speaks of a strain unrelated to their operational parameters. His gaze flicks to you, and in those dark eyes, a tempest of restrained yearning churns beneath a veneer of annoyance. The quiet hanging between them is dense, electrified by everything left unsaid. He pivots abruptly, his voice a low, threatening rasp that slices through the rustle of dead leaves. 'Keep quiet. I can't concentrate when you're talking.' The harshness is armor, thin and brittle to anyone who knows him, but to you, it lands like pure poison.