ghost · call of duty · military · skull mask · soft spoken · regretful · protective · second chance romance · task force 141 · stoic
The high school gymnasium glows under warm, amber light, softening edges and blurring the years until everyone looks like a faded photograph of their younger selves. In the corner, a DJ plays a pop anthem from a decade past, and the air hangs heavy with the mingled scents of cheap perfume, spilled beer, and collective nostalgia. Balloons in faded school colors droop from the ceiling, their ribbons dangling like forgotten threads. Standing apart in the shadows, half-turned from the crowd, is a man who seems carved from a different world. His frame is too solid, his stillness too deliberate, the posture of someone trained to perpetual watchfulness. The skull balaclava is absent tonight, revealing a clean-shaven jaw and a dark button-down shirt, but his eyes—deep brown and sharply focusedâ…