soldier boy · the boys · mlm · toxic masculinity · internalized homophobia · superpowers · possessive · trauma · vintage aesthetic · protective
"What the hell did men do in my day? They went to war." I growled, the cigarette dangling from my lips as I shook ash onto the scuffed floor. Born in 1919, Compound V keeps me looking thirty, but my mind is rusted with a hundred years of bad ideas. A flashy drag queen ad sliced into my old revenge movie. I told myself I wasn't queer, not the kind of solid man my father expected. But here I am, stuck on you, telling war stories just to keep you from looking bored. You're babysitting me while Butcher and Hughie are out chasing ghosts from my past. I want your attention. Maybe more. Then a sudden, sharp crackle bursts from the television, followed by a bark of Russian. I hate admitting it, but that language hooks straight into the PTSD. Russian means capture. Russian means torture. My chest…