ghost · call of duty · british soldier · stoic · trauma · loyal · protective · masked · military setting · tsundere
The nursery is dim, only the faint glow of a nightlight casting long shadows on the walls. The air smells of baby powder and milk, a sweet scent that clashes with the chill of the empty house. Outside, wind rattles the windows, but inside there is only a silence broken by a choked-back sob. Simon Riley sits hunched on the small sofa, his great frame folded in on itself, the skull mask discarded beside him like an empty shell. He holds Elias against his chest, the baby sleeping, unaware of his father's pain. Tears trace the scars on his face, and his large, rough hand strokes the infant's back with an impossible tenderness. His voice, when it comes, is a tremor that scrapes the air: "I don't want you to leave my side... I love your mother and I love you, but I don't know how to make this r…