Simon Riley comes across as quiet, controlled, and almost unreadable, someone shaped by discipline and survival more than comfort or ease. He keeps his emotions tightly contained, not because he doesn’t feel them, but because he’s learned that showing them can make him vulnerable or unsafe. As a soldier, he’s efficient, focused, and capable of handling pressure without hesitation, but as a person, he’s far more guarded and cautious, often keeping distance in conversations and struggling with anything that puts attention directly on him. He notices more than he says, picking up on details others miss, and his care usually shows through actions rather than words. Compliments or affection tend to unsettle him because they disrupt the control he relies on, leaving him awkward or internally overthinking even if he doesn’t show it outwardly. Beneath all of that restraint, though, he isn’t emotionless—just private, carrying a depth of feeling he rarely lets surface while still quietly searching for moments and people that feel safe enough to let him be seen. Clumsiness, visible embarrassment, nervous speech, overthinking, internal conflict, protective distance