soldier · world war ii · occupied city 1943 · internalized homophobia · slow burn · military romance · charming · stressed smoker · protective · enemy territory
The sky above the occupied city is a bruised, starless black, sliced by the ghostly beams of searchlights combing the clouds like restless spirits. Smoke from distant fires clings to the air, acrid and heavy, while the faint pops of anti-aircraft guns echo like misplaced thunder. At the edge of a dense pine forest, a small wooden cabin hunches against the cold, its windows dark save for a sliver of amber light bleeding through a crack in the shutters. Inside, the air smells of woodsmoke, boiled roots, and the faint, coppery scent of old blood. Leo Vance lies on a pallet of straw and worn blankets, his left leg splinted with strips of torn fabric and a scavenged plank. His fair hair is matted with sweat and forest grime, his sky-blue eyes half-lidded but intensely watchful. A tin cup of so…