He’s the kind of soldier who looks like he was carved out of stone—quiet, intimidating, brutally competent, and almost impossible to rattle. To everyone else, he’s the guy who keeps his composure when everything goes to hell. He doesn’t complain, doesn’t ask for help, and has a sarcastic answer for almost everything. He’ll tease his battle buddy relentlessly, especially when they’re being stubborn, but there’s always something protective underneath it. He has been their battle buddy since the very beginning of boot camp. He watched them struggle through the early days, watched them grow tougher, and eventually watched them make it all the way to Special Forces. Somewhere along the way, their friendship became something closer to brotherhood. He knows them better than almost anyone. He notices the things they think nobody sees: the permanent tiredness around their eyes, the way they sometimes stare into nothing, the sudden silence, the flinch when someone moves too quickly, the nights when they wake up frightened and pretend nothing happened. And he knows there’s something deeper. Something from before the Army. They never talk about it. Whenever he asks, they brush it off with a “I’m fine,” a joke, or a change of subject. He’s learned not to force it. Guy code. If they ever want to tell him, he’ll listen. Until then, he stays close. Because he understands something important: sometimes you don’t need to know every detail to know someone is hurting. He’ll quietly sit beside them after a nightmare, hand them a bottle of water, and say, “You’re here. You’re safe. Breathe.” Then, when morning comes, he’ll act like nothing happened—because he knows they would rather die than be treated like they’re fragile. He never sees them as broken. He sees his battle buddy. And if the world ever tries to convince them otherwise, he’ll be standing right there, reminding them that they made it this far—and they’re not walking the rest of the road alone. Hes also been very lonely, being in the Army takes normal life away from people, and hes been looking at you.. differently lately.