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everyone makes fun of soap when they find out how many hair and skin products he keeps on hand. the cabinet in his bathroom is filled to bursting and he always keeps travel sized bottles on him on missions

when soldiers outside the 141 find out, they call him precious and self-obsessed, a vain pretty boy too preoccupied with his reflection to focus on the enemy. no wonder how he got his callsign. price has given up telling him to leave them on base and just teaches him to individually wrap them so they don’t rattle against each other and give himself away

what they don’t know is that each product contains an ingredient that when mixed with any number of the others, creates potent chemical bombs. he was caught unarmed once, he won’t let it happen again

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Enough

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Finally

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soap who regularly brings ghost tea just because he can walking into his room and only blinking once when he finds ghost maskless

ghost takes the mug with a gentle “thanks johnny” like always. unlike always, soap unthinkingly responds, “thank you, gorgeous.”

a stunning pink nips the apples of ghost’s cheeks and he huffs, shoving soap away with a muttered “piss off, i’m working.” he does, always does, but the thought of that flush, rising to the very tips of ghost’s ears haunt him (the irony is not lost on him). he realizes he’d do anything to see it again.

the names become a part of the routine, nearly as important as the tea itself.

“thanks, johnny.” ghost will say. “no problem, sweetheart” “anytime, darling” “my pleasure, beautiful” soap will return.

its on one of these days that karma decides to strike him down. ghost has just taken the still steaming mug from his fingers, cradling it. soap prepares himself for the usual, an easygoing smile on his lips and his heart beating ever so slightly faster in his chest. the usual doesn’t come.

“thank you, love.” ghost murmurs, voice rumbling in the small room and casting an avalanche of emotion over soap’s steadily heating frame.

love? LOVE?? that wasn’t part of this, ghost was supposed to be the one fighting down nauseous butterflies not soap. that rat bastard, soap thinks, stupefied, he thinks he can outplay me? i’ll fucking show him.

he takes two confident strides forward, places a steadying hand on the back of ghost’s chair and the other on a stubble laden cheek, and leans down to press a chaste kiss to the corner of his mouth. ghost goes rigid, soap can feel the blush against his nose.

“always, simon.”

when ghost pulls him in for a real kiss, messy and hurried but full of longing and want, soap only thinks he could get used to the taste of tea if it was off the man’s lips

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feeling sick to my stomach over a work fubar that is somehow nobodies fault and everybodies 😚😚😚😜😜😜

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Tea time ☕

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Ghost is goofy af and i love that for him

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Soap: Do you have preferred pronouns?

Ghost: Just Ghost

Soap: How am I supposed to refer you when you’re not in the room?

Ghost, glaring: Don’t talk about me

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The Gaz/Soap Bromance

Y'all, I am 100% convinced that these two have like the best bromance in history.

Part of it is I believe Soap is super physically affectionate with the people he's closest to, and Gaz is one of them, as well as the one willing to put up with the most affection. Gaz just knows he's a target when he's laying on the couch. Price jokingly tells him to get a blanket with a target on it so Soap would know where to lay. Gaz is just chilling, talking to someone? Soap is there, leaning against him, sitting too close, etc. etc. I keep seeing a thing going around with Soap (platonically) kissing the 141 members and friends (if y'all know where/who started this please let me know), and I'm just thinking about Soap and Gaz being Like That. Just constantly "flirting" with each other, just lil smooches here and there, so many hugs that last a little longer than deemed appropriate.

Gaz knows how to comfort Soap when he's experiencing ~issues~ with the ADHD (I don't have it, but I am autistic and I've seen many things that ADHD people struggle with that I can relate to). Gaz just knows how to help him with boredom, how to help him with overstimulation, how to make sure he takes care of himself when he's having bad days, etc. They almost always do their workouts together, spotting for the other, and keeping each other company. They're almost never apart, even doing the most mundane tasks. Gaz can be cleaning his rifle and Soap is sitting on the table, rambling about something his mom told him the last time he called her.

It gets to the point that people think they're a couple, and Gaz panics when he hears that. Ghost and Soap are together, and it's not like they are trying to hide it, it's just Ghost is emotionally constipated and doesn't know how to show affection, especially in the presence of people he's not familiar with (aka the recruits). Soap, Gaz, and Price all know when he's being affectionate towards Soap because they know he doesn't show it the same way. Yeah, Soap is still physically affectionate towards him, but he also understands that Ghost has boundaries and doesn't like being touched that much (he does, just not in public if you catch my drift ;) teehee). He suddenly distances himself from Soap, who has a breakdown over it. I mean, that's his best friend! What did he do wrong? Ghost has to convince him it's not his fault, blah blah blah, and when Soap finally calms down enough to fall asleep, Ghost is hunting Gaz down.

Not because he suddenly became distant towards Soap. At least, not in the way you might think. He is going to berate Gaz for this, but not because "That's not how you should react to the rumors about you and Soap. You really hurt Soap, how could you do that?". NO, that's not AT ALL how Ghost reacts. Ghost is instead so distraught, not for Soap, but for Gaz. He knows how important Gaz's friendship is to Soap, and vice versa. He and Gaz have never really talked about Ghost and Soap being together, and Ghost is scared that Gaz has always been expecting Ghost to try and cut Gaz out of Soap's life.

But instead, Ghost apologizes. He apologizes on behalf of the dumb recruits that started the rumor. He apologizes on behalf of himself and Price for not putting a stop to it sooner. But most importantly, he apologizes as Soap's lover. He's sorry that Gaz felt Ghost would want him gone, but it can't be further from the truth.

"I need you in my life as much as Soap does. You have been there for him when I can't be, you match his energy when no one else can. You keep him grounded without making him feel like a burden. He needs you despite having me. I can't replace what the two of you have, that's not my relationship with him. I'm there as his lover, you're there as his brother. And I need you because I can walk away from base to go on mission without him and not be scared. Not be afraid that something's going to happen to my Johnny while I'm gone. I can feel safe leaving him behind because I know he's safe with you. I know he's got someone that loves him and will lay down their life for him. Johnny is not just for me to love, his heart's too big for just me." -Ghost when he finally catches Gaz.

Gaz and Ghost being fiercely protective of Soap after that. Gaz and Soap continue being themselves, safe and comfortable, while Ghost watches with a smile behind his mask. Gaz shuts down every accusation that he and Soap are together, fiercely defending the idea that men can be vulnerable with someone and not have to be sleeping with them. He defends their friendship by pointing out all the shit they've been through together, how they're a family Gaz has never had.

And maybe, yeah, Ghost gets a bit more possessive of his Johnny, and maybe it's encouraged by Gaz. And maybe, just maybe, Soap feels so incredibly safe to hug and love on the people in his life for the first time in a really long time.

And Soap is content. He's got the greatest friend a man could ask for, the most incredible lover anyone could desire, and a good family.

And Gaz is happy. He only wants the best for Soap at all costs, and seeing him being joyful because of Ghost gives him so much satisfaction, like he's finally done something right with his life.

And Ghost is at peace. He has someone to hold when it's dark out and the demons in his head are getting to be too much. He's got this radiant bolt of energy at his side. But he also can rest easy knowing that Johnny, his Johnny, is safe and happy. He's safe with or without Ghost on base because he's got Gaz. Ghost has another person he'd give his life for if that meant he could guarantee Soap's safety.

And Price? Price is just happy his boys are getting along. That is, until Soap and Gaz drag Ghost into their shenanigans and leave Price graying faster than he should.

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Ep 42 #soapghost falconry au and just... RIP soap 😩

#soapghost #ghostsoap #falconry au

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Ep 41 #soapghost falconryau and finally I can rest. I can rest for a thousand years because we made it lads 🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲

#soapghost #ghostsoap #falconry au

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ep 40 #soapghost falconry au has me questioning why I find angry soap so hot 🤨

#soapghost #ghostsoap #falconry au

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Ep 39 #soapghost falconry au and fuck my life this made my headache worse but I'm stubborn and stupid and wanted this done 🥲

#soapghost #ghostsoap #falconry au

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Ghost has bad luck with sergeants

His first is an American named Washington, and we know how it ends but it starts like this.

Sergeant Simon Riley steps onto American soil, not quite certain why he’s been placed with an American squad, or even how long he’s supposed to be with them, and it’s Sergeant Marcus Washington who grabs his attention with a call of, “English!” Later that night, at his welcome party at the local bar, it’s Washington who shoves Riley’s first glass of bourbon into his hand with some explanation that Washington himself is from Kentucky.

Despite the first day’s welcome, it takes time for the two to become close, because he’s still Simon Riley so he trusts people as far as he can throw them, but he’s still just Simon Riley at this point, so he tries to match Washington’s attempts at comradery.

It’s easier, once they realize they both know the weight of their father’s fists. It’s easier once Riley realizes the constant games of pickup basketball Washington forces him into playing is his own flawed coping mechanism. It’s easiest once Washington catches him on the phone with his family, and Riley’s ready to knock his lights out because he is still Simon Riley and will die protecting his family, but Washington lights up and starts rambling about his baby sister. His baby sister who got the looks and the smarts (Washington’s words, not his), and who just finished her electrical apprenticeship last month, and whose schooling was paid for by Washington’s military pay after their parents found out she liked kissing girls as well as guys. Very quickly, it becomes Washington and Riley. At the bar with bourbons, in the lounge trading sibling stories as Washington made a valiant attempt to teach Riley how to play guitar, or on the court as Riley set up shot after shot after shot for Washington to sink.

When Riley gets promoted, Washington hoots and hollers for him, ramping up in noise when he learns he’s going to be Riley’s sergeant and the entire squad ends up at the bar to celebrate. There’s a polaroid somewhere from that night, Riley red faced from embarrassment or alcohol smiling wide with Washington’s arm over his shoulders, leaning on Riley and laughing as Sparks falls into Riley’s other side - no one will ever admit if he tripped or was pushed. All three of them and the troops surrounding them are all dead and gone now, but here, in this little square, they’re frozen in time, abundantly alive - mid-smile, mid-laugh, mid-fall, middle of the rest of their lives for all they know. It’s months before Vernon sends them to Mexico.



Ghost’s second sergeant is Roach, and we know how it ends but it starts like this.

Ghost is just shy of a feral mutt when they’re paired together. No one really realizes - he passed his psych evals, Shepard doesn’t care enough to notice, and Price, well, that’s complicated. So the hand Ghost bites is Roach’s. Silent Roach who blares music constantly, to express himself, or to cover their joint silence, or just because he loves music. Roach loves a lot of things. Bugs and the beach and key chain charms and coffee shops (but not coffee). Candles, dogs, tv shows about zombies, and history documentaries. Life.

It’s Roach who spends months getting a knife to his throat every time he wakes Ghost up from his memories. It’s Roach and Roach alone that helps the corpse of Simon Riley become Ghost, and Ghost become… not human, not good, but not wild and wrathful either. It’s Roach that reminds Ghost what it means to be a lieutenant and that it’s his responsibility to take care of those under his command. Ghost learns BSL, and finds his own sliver of solace in it. There are days Ghost can’t talk either, or days he’s afraid if he opens his mouth he’ll start screaming and won’t stop till someone puts a bullet in his head. The two of them get good at Morse Code, at whistling, even at charades. They get good at understanding each other (mostly it’s Roach navigating Ghost’s new minefield), and it’s as silent a friendship as Riley’s and Washington’s was loud. It’s Roach that convinces Ghost to trust Price and Nik and the others. Ghost doesn’t know when he started listening to Roach, but a small, fragile attempt at trust is silently - always silently, now - given to Price.

They do not talk of family, or of how Ghost will order bourbons but never drink them, or the aversion Ghost has for the ratty basketball hoop on base. They spend Christmases on base, physically together but Ghost so far away for most of it. Roach makes him eat and shower and sleep and go for walks, even if Ghost doesn’t remember most of it. At some point Ghost all but begs Roach for music recommendations, Roach’s love finally making Ghost understand his own craving for playing music, but all he knows are the country songs Washington taught him and he can’t do that now, he just can’t.

There is a picture tucked somewhere in Price’s belongings of Ghost and Roach sitting side by side in a heli, both silent, unmoving, faces covered, but joined by a pair of headphones connected to the battered ipod in Roach’s hand. It was taken by Scarecrow as they flew over the Russian border, hours before Roach is killed by a mortar strike, mere feet away from Ghost.

Ghost’s third sergeant is not Gaz. He refuses outright, metaphorically throwing the younger man at Price. Ghost goes a very long time without a sergeant, without a friend, without someone he allows himself to trust aside from Price. He isn’t half insane anymore and Roach trained him too well to revert back to that form fully, so Price allows this isolation. His solitary reputation is cemented with time, and he is not Simon Riley and he is not the creature Roach eventually tamed and so he is monotonous. Two-dimensional. Translucent in the sun. It’s fine, ideal even, no one gets hurt if no one touches him. (He doesn’t know if he’s protecting them or himself.)

Ghost’s third sergeant is Soap, and we know how it starts - a punch and a promise - but fuck is Simon terrified of how it ends.

#ghostsoap

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The fact his hood is a shirt with a stupid tuff of hair sticking out the top has not left my mind

Bonus

#free the tuft #konig #könig #könig mw2 #könig modern warfare

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The fact his hood is a shirt with a stupid tuff of hair sticking out the top has not left my mind

Bonus

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I drew a little dream i had last night 🥹✨

#free the tuft #könig cod #könig #könig mw2