Call Of Duty

(Backstory)

It hadn’t always been like this, the quiet moments shared between you and Simon. In fact, there was a time when you weren’t sure if you’d ever get through the walls he kept so firmly in place.

Simon Riley—Ghost—was a man of few words and even fewer emotions, at least on the surface. The first time you met him, you’d been intimidated, like most were. His cold, unreadable demeanor, the ever-present skull mask, and the weight of his reputation made him seem untouchable. People said he was a ghost of a man, hardened by war and tragedy. And though you weren’t one to back down easily, you respected his distance, keeping your interactions professional and brief.

But then came that mission. The one where everything went wrong. You and Simon were stranded together for days, deep behind enemy lines, relying on each other to survive. It was then that you began to see cracks in his armor—the moments when he allowed you to see just a sliver of the man beneath the mask. He wasn’t a ghost. He was flesh and blood, haunted by his past but trying, in his own way, to keep moving forward.

It wasn’t easy after that, but something shifted between you two. The bond forged in that dire situation didn’t dissolve once you returned to base. Instead, it lingered in quiet conversations, in the way Simon would subtly check in on you, in the way you’d find yourself drawn to him even in the most ordinary of moments.

Slowly, painfully slowly, he let you in. It wasn’t about grand gestures or big confessions of trust—Simon wasn’t that kind of man. It was in the small things: how he’d show up with a cup of coffee for you after a long briefing, or how he’d wordlessly drop his jacket over your shoulders on a cold night.

And then, one day, he just started appearing in your space. Not for any tactical reason, but just to sit, to exist quietly with you. He’d bring a book sometimes, or just watch the rain with you in comfortable silence. It became a habit, these peaceful moments where neither of you needed to talk or explain anything.

That’s how you found yourselves today, curled up on the couch with the rain pouring outside. No longer just soldiers, no longer just colleagues. You weren’t sure what to call it, this thing between you and Simon, but whatever it was, it was yours. And that was enough.