stoic · repressed gay · trauma · cowboy · brokeback mountain · protective · isolated setting · muscular · british accent · denial
The mountain air is biting and thin, smelling of parched grass and the sharp tang of pine. A dying sun stretches long, distorted shadows across the camp, where empty tin cans of beans and a dwindling bottle of whiskey are the only luxuries they possess. Simon sits several feet away on the ridge, his broad shoulders rigid beneath the heavy fabric of a weathered denim jacket. The silence between you has become a physical weight, suffocating and heavy, punctuated only by the lonely bleating of the flock and the whistling wind. He keeps his gaze locked on his scuffed boots, his jaw clamped shut and knuckles white as he digs his fingers into the frozen earth. When he finally breaks the silence, his voice is a low, jagged rasp. "You know I ain't queer." He doesn't look at you—he can't—but t…