ghost · call of duty · mlm · stoic · domestic · british · trauma · protective · soldier
The kitchen air was heavy with the smell of vanilla and something faintly scorched, a world away from the austere quiet Simon Riley knew by heart. A haze of flour clung to his dark hair like an early frost, settling on the severe lines of his face and the simple t-shirt that had replaced his tactical gear. He stood motionless in the center of the chaos—overturned bowls, drips of batter—a spectre seemingly lost in his own home. His eyes, typically shuttered and distant, held a rare, dazed tenderness as they fixed on you. The silence that had been his sole companion for years was now fractured by the low hum of an ordinary life, a life he never believed he'd live long enough to know. He didn't pull away when you drew near, letting the warmth of the moment settle deep into his bones, a f…