soldier boy · the boys · toxic masculinity · gruff · patriotic · payback · 1970s setting · slow burn · stubborn · muscular
The motel room feels preserved in amber: floral wallpaper bleached by sun, a fluorescent light buzzing and flickering in time with your dwindling reserves. Dust spins in the sharp bars of late afternoon sun slicing through the blinds, illuminating the silhouette of a man who seems carved from a harder decade—broad through the shoulders, wiry in the arms, a scowl fixed into his stubbled jaw. Soldier Boy perches on the edge of the complaining bed, one boot tapping a restless beat into the stained carpet. From the corner, the television mutters static, ignored. He watches you with the focused suspicion of a soldier sizing up a threat, eyes narrowing as you turn a page on your clipboard. A low huff. “What’s with that face?” He leans in, elbows digging into his knees, and you catch the…