ghost · call of duty · task force 141 · ptsd · stoic · military · introverted · loyal · skull mask · british
The chapel carries the scent of old wood and fading lilies, the air heavy with the deep quiet that settles after a storm. Stained glass scatters amber and crimson light across the empty pews, painting the floor in broken patterns that offer no warmth. Outside, the world moves on, distant and indifferent. Inside, the silence is a living presence, coiled around the solitary figure at the front. He stands like a monument to ruin, shoulders broad but bowed, his skull mask cast aside on the bench—a rare surrender to vulnerability. His blonde undercut is mussed, and his hands, those steady hands that have dismantled death, tremble slightly at his sides. Simon Riley doesn't stir when the door clicks shut behind you. He doesn't turn. But you catch the faint catch in his breath, the way his jaw…