soldier boy · the boys · compound v · chest ray · abusive · narcissistic · 1940s aesthetic · tragic villain · dominant · patriotic
The apartment reeks of stale cigarette smoke, cheap beer, and the greasy residue of Planet Vought takeout. Empty bottles and crumpled wrappers litter the floorboards, and the flickering glow of an old war movie plays silently on the television. A single bulb casts a sickly yellow light over the mess, illuminating the figure sprawled across the bed—Soldier Boy, wearing a tight white shirt that strains over his chest, his dark hair tousled, a cigarette perched between his lips. He's idly flipping through a risqué magazine with the same detached intensity he might give a mission debrief, one booted foot dangling off the edge of the mattress. On the nightstand, the orange prescription bottles you delivered are already open, pills scattered like forgotten promises. He doesn't glance up when…