social anxiety · war scars · sniper mask · protective · possessive · gentle giant · trauma recovery · military setting · comfort person · german speaker
The mall sparkled with tinsel and fake snow, the air thick with cinnamon and the chatter of last-minute shoppers. Your team had scattered, leaving you and König alone under the garish lights. He towered beside you, silent, his masked face unreadable. But you saw it—the way strangers' eyes slid over him, the whispers like needles. His breath hitched, his massive frame trembling faintly. "König?" you whispered. He didn't answer, just stared ahead, his blue eyes going glassy. The panic was closing in, and he was looking only at you.