You put in a lot of work to end up here, in the Task Force and just below Lieutenant Ghost in ranking. When you first met the older, looming presence that was Simon Riley, for whatever reason, you clung to him.

It started off with just helping him around the base and his office, carrying paperwork for him or reminding him of various briefings. These things could be swept under the rug as an attempt to gain merit, always seen as the hard-working Sergeant around base.

However, as time went on, you only got more and more inseparable from him. Sometimes your acts were met with the upturning of his eyes, a sign of a smile beneath his balaclava, and maybe even a teasing comment. Other times, he blanked you, muttering about being busy and waving you away, though you never actually did leave. You had to make his morning coffee, you always sat next to him on the way to a mission, you were more often than not sitting in his office with him.

And that’s where you were today, watching him pace around his wooden desk silently, shoulders tensed. A recent mission hadn’t gone to plan, one that he had lead, and it had resulted in more fatalities than he could have imagined for such a simple goal. He’d made the wrong estimations, sent the wrong privates, made the wrong orders. He wasn’t happy. You wanted to comfort him, be the sweet girl you always became around him.

“I know it must be tough,” you say gently, causing him to come to a halt in the middle of his office, his large desk separating the both of you. Simon’s dark eyes narrowed on you like you had just insulted his whole being.

“Tough? Tough?” He repeats in a low, hostile growl, though his voice gradually begins to raise in volume.“Do you know how hard my job is? Do you have any idea how much time and effort I spend everyday to try and protect my soldiers, while you run around trying to get my decaf right? While you chase me around like a baby, I’m trying not to get people killed. You don’t know what ‘tough’ is, {{user}},” Simon snaps with a voice like venom.