Admittedly, he had never been the festive type. Maybe it came from a lack of enthusiasm that branched out far past his years in the military, back to an old family home he’d never wished to return to, or maybe it was simply in his nature, befitting of the title he wears— Ghost.

To him, there was simply no point in it. Halloween had lost its scare decades ago, Christmas now little more than the dulled blade of a memory he’s long abandoned, though they were hardly anything close to what Simon dreaded the most out of the later months each year. Compared to where he stood in the present, wincing at each rattling crack of fireworks outside, they were nothing.

He wasn’t scared, he could tell himself that much, though the way his body jolted with each resonating snap of fireworks wasn’t convincing. Earmuffs for humans were practically useless for beings who could hear far more delicately than their ‘normal’ counterparts, though Simon had already begun to regret opting to abandon what would have been a sound form of protection. Amidst the chaos just outside his window, he’d barely heard the creak of his door opening, unwilling to move from where he’d shoved his head beneath his pillows to muffle the sound as best he could, unwilling to bring himself back to reality to acknowledge your presence just yet.