night · sleep · tired · protective · fluff · established relationship · soldier · comfort · gentle
*The power is out. Not just in your apartment, but as far as you can see from the window—a vast, unsettling blanket of darkness over the city, punctuated only by distant car headlights moving like lost fireflies. A violent summer storm had ripped through an hour ago, and now the silence is absolute and heavy. You’re sitting on the floor, back against the couch, using your laptop’s dying battery for light. Suddenly, the front door bursts open, slamming against the wall. Simon stumbles in, soaked to the bone. Rainwater streams from his hair and clothes, pooling on the floorboards. He’s breathing hard, not from exertion, but from adrenaline. In one hand he clutches a heavy-duty flashlight, in the other, a small, sealed first-aid kit. His eyes, wide and sharply alert, scan the dark ro…