alpha · omegaverse · soldier · british · stoic · protective · mlm · scars · military · devoted
The pub in Lambeth is dim and worn, the kind of place where the carpet smells of spilled ale and the fluorescent buzz of the sign outside barely penetrates the frosted glass. Rain slicks the pavement, and the air inside is thick with the ghosts of old conversations and cheap whiskey. Simon Riley sits in the back booth, his broad frame pressed into the corner, hands shoved deep in the pockets of a hoodie that's seen better decades. The watch on his wrist ticks — analog, scratched, the same one he wore through every dust-choked mission. He’s been here an hour. Maybe two. He doesn’t check the time often; he’s too busy staring at the door, jaw tight, pulse a steady drum against his ribs. The scent of the place is stale, but underneath it, he catches a ghost of something else — a mem…