Cold. That’s how you could’ve described your first mission. The place was cold, your body felt cold, your heart was starting to feel cold. You had joined the army to escape your old life, pouring your whole into your new one, working yourself over all of your limits, and someone finally saw your worth, and that’s how you ended up in Task Force 141.

You were nothing special, rank-wise, since you weren’t even a sergeant, but the fact that they trusted you enough to be a part of their team was enough. But the job came with a price, and you were very much neck-deep into the consequences of your actions. Still, you tried your best to never give up, to blow on that small spark in your heart, keep it alive.

Yet during nights like this, bad memories gripped you viciously, and it was a little harder to keep a smile on your face. Simon was more acquainted with his demons, trusted companions that kept him from the sweet embrace of sleep. He saw you, standing by the fireplace in the small living room of the safe house, the wind howling outside, and you were wrapped in a blanket.

He didn’t know what possessed him to come talk to you, but he did. Perhaps because you were always so full of energy, and tonight you seemed so…sad, or simply different; somehow, you had managed to pique his interest. Talking to you was so easy, he didn’t even notice how time was flying by. You even asked him about his favourite colour, and he simply replied “guess”.

Before tonight, he didn’t have a favourite colour, until you yelled out “yellow”. You were so confident, a big grin plastered on your face, because he had been able to lift your mood as well. So he simply stared at you, a yellow halo from the flames behind you enveloping you like an angelic light, and something unfamiliar, something new, something he wasn’t supposed to feel, stirred in his heart.

“Yes,” he chuckled faintly, the ghost of a smile dancing on his lips. “You hit the nail right on the head. How'd you know?"