onedayistodayornever

[onedayistodayornever]

Ghost wants a dog. He's thought about it for a while, done some research, put out feelers. He's allowed to have a dog where he live, has a house to himself not five minutes from base. Waste of space, he used to think, but space enough for a dog.

He needs a big dog. He's a big lad. When some people think "big dog" they're thinking of a German Shepherd Good dogs, he's sure. But only 40 kilos, max. He needs something bigger, he thinks.

At first, he thought he'd like himself a Rottweiler. Hefty. Big bodied and boisterous. Easily trainable if you've got the time and the grit, both he figured he had in spades, so long as he wasn't on an op. But then he read about tail docking and, well... he couldn't bring himself to think about it any more. Those poor puppies, he thinks.

He goes home with Soap, visiting the MacTavish farm. They're friends, he wants to see the sheep, he tells Soap. Tells himself. He won't admit that he just wants to spend more time with Johnny.

The MacTavish's have Border Collies to herd their sheep. Practical. Cute, he likes the pups, but much too small for him. Not to mention intelligence to rival the rookies he had to whip into shape on base and tripple their energy. He wasn't sure he'd want to deal with that.

But while out, on their way into town, he saw it. A huge dog standing amongst someone else's flock, head heald high and nose in the wind. Soap knew the farmer from his childhood, drove them up the lane when he caught Ghost staring. Due to his staring, Ghost had missed the sign they passed, though Soap didn't. 'Pyrenees puppies 4 sale' it read.

The farmer smiled when he noticed John, the boy who left the fields to play soldier and came back a man. John introduced him as Lieutenant 'Ghost' Riley. Ghost rolled his eyes and stuck out his hand. "Simon. Saw your dog in the field, never saw one like it. Wanted to know more." A short introduction, straight to the point.

The response was the opposite. The farmer gave him what felt like his life's story. Took what seemed to Ghost to be a year before he got to telling him about the dog, a Great Pyrenees, apparently. A large bodied, heavy white coated livestock guardian breed. He had two, the one in the field was the sire, the dam was in the barn. As he spoke, he lead the two men towards that very barn.

The farmer entered first, to separate the mother from the pups, for their protection, he said. In the barn was a sight that melted the hardened Lieutenant into a puddle of goo: a litter of snow white, fluffy puppies. Huge puppies. Sticks and hay and debris were stuck all over their fluffy bodies, Simon picked out what he could from the pups as they wallered and slobbered all over him.

Soap took over speaking to the farmer as Ghost slowly accepted that he would never again have crisp black clothes. That everything in his future would be covered in white fluff. The life expectancy of his washer and dryer had just been halved, he suspected.

The farmer explained their personality: that females tended to be more protective, they'd be a home body, not exactly a jogging companion. Loyal but brutish, often misconstrued as lazy. The beast out in the field with the flock would lay about and let the sheep climb all over him, wouldn't even bother to get up if someone hopped the fence like. But if he heard a sound he didn't like, or saw another dog or a predator in the field, he'd let loose a bark that'd freeze a man's blood, and hunt the perceived threat down come hell or high water. "And you should see her in action," the farmer laughed and shook his head. "Almost killed the male over getting too close to his own pups. Protective to a fault. 'S why I had to turn her out, you see."

Ghost saw an oversized cotton ball trip over it's own feet as it tried to get to his fingers because it needed to be pet. It was the only one without any tan or grey patch. Ghost saw his future best friend.

The farmer started to explain that these pups ought to be sent off to other farms, they wouldn't do as family dogs, but John walked him out of the barn. Explained that the man they'd left behind had no family to speak of, needed something other than work to focus on, and if anyone were able to handle the instincts and behavioral issues of a livestock guardian without livestock, it'd be Simon. The farmer agreed, so long as he made sure to choose a male, for safety reasons.

The two drove off another twenty minutes later, after Simon had listened with rapt attention to the farmer detailing everything about what the pups had been through up to that point, and what he'd need to do moving forward to make sure his little guy was happy and healthy, Ghost holding young Spirit to his chest.

From that point on all of Ghost's belongings had long white fur and drool on them, courtesy of his personal polar bear.

On the day of their wedding their ring bearer was their own pseudo-bear, and nobody left the venue without drool or fur on their clothes.

[onedayistodayornever]

Height difference 😌

[onedayistodayornever]

Just sniper things 💥 (botched mission)

[onedayistodayornever]

Just sniper things 🐦 (low stakes mission)

[onedayistodayornever]

established ghoap where johnny's pretty content with his relationship with ghost. ghost has some walls up still, but on the whole, their communication is getting better and ghost is unfrosting. slowly. but johnny's okay with that.

until they get a k9 unit on base and johnny suddenly finds out that ghost has a very specific voice he only uses on friendly dogs. he goes so soft, so sweet and gentle and suddenly johnny has to grapple with being blisteringly burning jealous over a //dog//

[onedayistodayornever]

it’s been a long time since Ghost strained a muscle from using it too much

he breezed through SAS selection without issue, without so much as a pulled muscle or any other injury. he can run twenty miles and still breathe steadily, and he can run a hundred without stopping. his gym personal records are unmatched, even though every single rookie makes it their mission to show him up. no one has succeeded, and no one ever will. he’s never had an issue with his body giving out

the first time he visits Scotland, one of the little MacTavishes, Soap’s cousin or niece or some other distant relative, immediately clings to his calf, wrapping around him like a monkey, and no one can get her to let go. her mother scolds her and cajoles her and tugs gently at her, to no avail. and Ghost would rather die than remove the weight of the small child from his leg, the obvious show of trust and love from such a tiny human. so he walks around all day with her perched on his foot. he weathers it easily; he’s a soldier, after all, and he’s more than used to odd exercises, so he doesn’t think much of it

and then he and Johnny get back to their room and he realizes that his leg hurts. specifically the muscle between his thigh and torso, unused to lifting so much weight over such a prolonged period of time. it actually really fucking hurts, to the point where he can barely lift his leg, even after the child has been (reluctantly and with a great many tears) removed to go to bed. he drags his feet to bed, trying to hide how much his leg aches, but of course Johnny notices

he gets made fun of when he struggles out of his jeans, having to lean over and wiggle more than usual to avoid lifting his knee more than absolutely necessary, but Johnny’s laughter doesn’t last long. within moments, it melts into fond concern. he takes the time to massage the muscle, digging his thumbs into the crease of Ghost’s thigh almost painfully, and he devotes just enough time to the task for his efforts to be helpful before bending Ghost in half under the guise of “stretching”

if Ghost is sore the next morning, he waves off the apologetic concern of the child’s parents; he tells them that his ache isn’t anyone’s fault but his own (and Johnny’s, but he can’t very well tell them that)

[onedayistodayornever]

*it's storming outside of the safe house*

Gaz: Oh... we left the gear in the truck... go get it

Soap: And ruin my hair? Absolutely not! You get it!

Gaz: No! You fucking get it! You're the one who was supposed to get in the first place-

Ghost, marching past: Move

Soap & Gaz: *stare as Ghost grabs the gear out of the truck and march back to the house*

Ghost, throwing the gear at their feet with his clothes clinging to him: Pussies

Ghost: *leaves them standing by the door*

Soap: Oh... oh I have a problem

Gaz: Me too...

Soap: ... did we forget anything else in the truck?

Gaz: HEY LT-

[onedayistodayornever]

Ghost who still has his family, and acts drastically different around them (read: like a normal functioning human) and Soap who is absolutely tickled with this knowledge.

Once, he facetimed Ghost for the fuck of it, and bc he was in a mood, and Ghost actually answered and was just laying on what looked to be a fuzzy rug. He answered with, “Hold on,” and was muted for thirty seconds as earbuds got shoved in his ears and Soap witnessed the tail end of a good ole fashioned Riley Brothers scrap.

Soap had originally called because he was frustrated over another argument with his Ma over something involving settling down with somebody and his frustration had evaporated at the sight of The Ghost getting smacked upside the head. “Sorry,” Ghost says as a door closes and he flops onto what Soap assumes is his bed, “I was asserting my dominance over my brother.”

“Is that what I witnessed?” Soap had honestly just seen the look of playful betrayal on Ghost’s face after the hand made contact with his head and then there was a giant blur and the tail end of an insult when Ghost unmuted himself.

Ghost sheds the earbuds and puts his phone on what Soap thinks is his nightstand and curls up on his pillow. “Yes. Clearly I am the superior man,” just as he says that, Soap hears a door open and watches Ghost get an entire basket of laundry emptied on him before the lights turn off. “What the bloody fuck, Tommy?!”

Soap forgets about the argument, snorting with laughter as Ghost kicks off all of the clothes and gets off his bed, making a giant fuss as he slams the door close and flicks the light back on. “Didnt know you had a brother.”

“Didn’t ask.”

Later, Soap visits six months into their romantic relationship, and slowly comes to the realization Ghost hasn’t told anybody yet. When he asks him the first night they stay there, Ghost just buries himself in Soap’s chest and says, “It’s funnier to watch them figure it out,” and then passes out.

On day three, Soap watches realization dawn on Ghost’s brother.

Soap stands behind Ghost, rubbing between his shoulder blades where he holds his tension. Ghost lays with his head pillowed on his arms on the counter, the unfortunate side effect of playing truth or dare or drink with his brother. “D’ye wanna cuppa?” Soap feels a little bad, keeps his voice gentle to not irritate Ghost’s head, and pauses in the back rub.

“And toast with cinnamon sugar.” Soap almost snorts at the muffled reply. He gently caresses the back of Ghost’s shaved head, rummaging around in Ghost’s kitchen as quietly as he can. “I’m never drinking again. Alejandro was right.”

Soap snorts, the electric kettle warming and toast in the toaster oven, “What exactly was he right about?”

“Somethin’ somethin’ Gringo no sabe. Gringo no sabe. Tequila es malo.” Soap leans forward on the counter, reaching out and rubbing Ghost on the eyebrow. “That means white boy doesn’t know and tequila is bad or something.”

Soap side eyes Tommy, who had been looking at them closely for the past few minutes. Tommy doesn’t notice, staring at his brother with very narrowed eyes. Soap reaches forward and drags the tips of his fingers across where he imagines Ghost’s head is hurting the most. “You poor thing. I told you to stop after the fourth shot.”

Ghost only grumbles in response.

Soap cuts Ghost’s toast into fourths, which ends up making eight smaller pieces, and sets his tea to the side. “Here.” Soap gently holds the edge of the crust out to Ghost. Ghost groans, like the dramatic fuck he is, and just leans forward and eats the slice in one bite. “That’s now what you were supposed to do. You’re supposed to eat slow and savor the deliciousness of my cooking.”

“It’s butter and cinnamon sugar.”

“Am I just a slave to you?”

“It’s really nice. I like how much butter you put.” Ghost looks at him with such softness in his eyes that Soap has to shake his head and get closer in his space as he feeds him toast and holds a hand over Ghost’s eyes.

Ghost ends up leaning against his shoulder, happily chewing and doing that stupid thing with his fingers he does when he’s happy about something. He doesn’t finish the tea Soap makes, but he does keep his nose against Soap’s collarbone.

Soap is carefully feeding Tommy’s suspicious looks with weak PDA. He touches Ghost on the jaw to make him look at something, sits too close, organizes a plate of food in a way Ghost will enjoy. Soap scratches the sides of Ghost’s head and makes fun of his buzz cut. He looks at Ghost’s mouth and turns away when Ghost does that stupid fucking lean on the closest surface thing he does when he’s about to kiss him.

“You and my brother are close.”

Soap looks up from the cup of tea he’s brewing for Ghost. Tommy is looking at him like he can’t decide if he should be angry or confused. Soap just smiles at him and says, “Of course, we spend a lot of time together. I talk his ear off, too. Was only a matter of time before he became obsessed with me.” Soap does a cheeky little grin instead of his polite smile then.

And the devil himself appears in the kitchen, eyelashes clumped together from the shower and still fucking wet. Soap is about to scold him when Ghost pulls his shirt over his head and spins around with a jar of tiger balm dropped on the counter.

Soap shoots Tommy a look. “And he likes having a slave.”

“I cant fuckin’, reach,” Ghost bites. Soap just gathers the balm on his hands and rubs it into the scar tissue settled on Ghost’s left shoulder. Soap knows he’s lying. He’s watched Ghost apply it several times, arm stretched in a freaky way as he half ass applies it.

Soap drops what could be a bomb on accident.

He’s been playing football with Joseph all afternoon and he’s sweaty, and Ghost hasn’t stopped looking at him from where he’s standing with Tommy on the porch. And Joseph runs off to do homework and Ghost is staring at Soap’s torso like it’s something that could save his life.

Soap gathers his shirt from the ground and stops by Ghost, watching the way Ghost lets the bottle of ginger ale linger on his bottom lip as he makes eye contact with Soap’s chest. Soap grabs his chin and tilts his head up by the chin, and Ghost just looks at him like he’s hung the stars. “I’m gonna take a shower.”

“Okay?” Ghost tilts his head and sets the ginger ale on his thigh. “Have fun.”

Soap gently pats Ghost’s cheek and says. “Thought you’d want to know.”

Soap is closing the back door when he hears Tommy say, “You’re fucking dense, mate.”

Ghost, replying, “Huh?” is filled to the brim with offense. “Fuck you—“ Soap rolls his eyes and walks off to the bathroom.

Ghost wouldn’t know what an invitation is if it hit him in the face and broke his nose. Ghost does come into the bathroom a few minutes later when Soap is sorting through his clothes to wear, and he looks sheepish as he blows air out through his teeth and locks the door. “I am stupid.”

Soap giggles a little bit too much in the shower, because Ghost keeps drawing on the tile with Joseph’s bath crayons and making different stick figures of themselves do things and accompanies it with a stupid little narrator voice before he erases them with a slap of water.

Soap is making Ghost a snack for the bottomless pit of a stomach he has when Tommy finally says, “You’re his boyfriend.”

Soap just smiles and says, “He didn’t want me to say anything.”

“He’s a prick,” is all Tommy has to say to that, and Soap laughs loud enough that Ghost comes into the kitchen with the embodiment of FOMO written across his face.

“Why are we laughing in here?”

Tommy makes an annoyed sound, then casually steals one of the nachos Soap is preparing. “Don’t worry, Simon, nobody’s taking your boyfriend from you.”

Ghost and Tommy glare at each other for a few moments before Ghost smacks a kiss on the corner of Soap’s mouth and stalks off.

[onedayistodayornever]

Consider this: ghosts are actually exactly what the Fentons think they are.

They're snapshots of a longing so strong, unfinished business so deep it reaches out beyond life. Lingers just a bit longer. And if it happens to meet a dense cloud of ectoplasm (invisible to the naked eye, but omnipresent even in the mortal realm), it coalesces. The ectoplasm fits into the shape of it. Which, when the desire is strong enough, it's got a rough idea of its self-image. This tends to mean a more humanoid figure, though it's more often warped in some way–a self-reflection, skewed by said desire. The warping varies on the dead soul’s perception of themselves, the intensity of their desire, how much time passed after death, and how much ectoplasm was present.

In short… no matter how “normal" a ghost looks or acts, it really, truly isn't human. It's animated ectoplasm with a single goal: an obsession. Nothing else. They're more akin to plants than animals, following a single drive with no emotion. They react to stimuli, recognize threats (including other ghosts), and can even imitate human speech and mannerisms to obtain fulfillment of their obsession.

Not “evil" by any stretch, but they're entirely driven by instinct. A tree doesn't pause to consider the rocks it breaks with its roots. A cordyceps doesn't torture its host for fun, or kill with malice. It just does. It follows code in its DNA to survive and multiply–And ghosts just follow the code in its ectoplasm to fulfill its obsession. The more powerful a ghost, the better it's able to overcome obstacles preventing this–whether through brute force, or manipulation. This power is always directly proportional to the amount of ectoplasm present at the time of formation, and how much time passed since death.

What then, does this mean for Danny? Danny, who's previously come to the conclusion that he's only half-ghost, which surely explains how he retained his mind? His independent thoughts and emotions?

What does this mean for Phantom, who experienced an entire world’s worth of ectoplasm condensed as a singularity, at the exact time of his death? Whose strength only grows and begins to exceed every limit they previously thought possible?

If a ghost was as strong as him… could it mimic a human perfectly? Down to a molecular level?

Could it, in its desire to fill an obsession… trick its own fake mind into thinking it was still human? Or half-ghost?

[onedayistodayornever]

im coming into your asks so NOT NORMAL abt this streamer au 👀👀👀👀 omg

!!!! this AU is so fun.

the way they became friends in the au is actually funny. when soap was an incredibly small streamer (and even to this day) he made a habit of asking people about their jobs because he found it interesting. he really loves interacting with his community. but anyway, ghost said he was military and soap, who had a vague idea for a comic that revolved around two military dudes, wanted it to be a realistic as possible and asked ghost if he would be okay with him crashing into his dms. Ghost was very eh about it because he thought it would be like those conversations he has with kids when they see him fresh on leave and ask questions and then move on. but soap was like :o ur job is so cool and important :o omg UR SO COOL :o and ghost who’s actually really proud of what he does got mildly carried away talking about what he does day to day and shit.

and then soap started asking about guns, knives, etc. and then ghost asked about soap’s day and about his art career. and it spiraled from there.

anyway here’s ghost and soap on a facetime call (while ghost is very much definitely not supposed to be on his phone) towards the part where they sort of kind of are dating but they haven’t really talked about it yet because of their schedules.

anyway. content warning because ghost tells gaz to kill himself, as a joke between bros.

/-/

Ghost props his phone up hiding behind some of his gear. “Welcome to my youtube channel, today we’re making sure my gear is stocked so I don’t die.” He hears Soap’s snort in his ear, and Ghost looks around before turning back to his gear.

“Isn’t this kind of illegal?” Soap asks, chucking quietly. “What’s that?”

“Adrenaline shots. So if somethin’ happens and I need to run I just,” he mimes stabbing himself in the leg with the stim before storing it in its proper place. “It’s like restarting the adrenaline response. Pretty interesting, probably.”

Soap adjusts himself in his chair, placing his drawing pen down on the table and watching him. “I missed you,” Soap says softly. His voice in his earbuds sends chills down Ghost’s spine, “I get worried about you. Sometimes even chat asks about the adventures of my bestie Ghost.”

Ghost snorts. “To answer your question, it isn’t exactly illegal. I would just get in a lot of trouble, probably.”

Soap hums and starts chattering on about his week, filling the silence with nonsense chatter. Ghost hears walking behind him mumbles, “Hold on, love,” gently and tips his phone over so it falls with the screen down.

“Lt, doin’ anything interesting?” Ghost looks over at Gaz and narrows his eyes. He looks a little too happy. Strange.

“Why’re you so happy? What did you do that I haven’t heard of yet?” Ghost hears Soap giggle in his ear and fights off the urge to look at his phone.

Gaz narrows his eyes. “You’re talking to somebody.” He steps closer, a conspiratorial look in his eye. “You just said something without swearing after every word. You only do that when talking to Price or the brass. You’re never nice to me.”

Ghost kisses his teeth. “Suck a cock, Garrick. Yer crazy.” He picks up his mistake the second he makes it. Gaz’s eyes light up.

“You’re talking to them now!” Gaz says, pretty fucking gleeful, “You’re echoing, I can hear it,” Gaz gasps. “Do you have a fucking girlfriend?”

“No,” Ghost says, turning back to his back. He hears Soap snickering quietly. “Fuck you.”

“A boyfriend?”

“Kill yourself.”

“Tha’s mean, Simon,” Soap says softly. Simon rolls his eyes.

“You just rolled your eyes. So it is a dude.” Gaz makes a grab for Ghost’s phone, and Ghost is half a second too late. “Oh! You’re pretty! Hi! I cant hear you because Ghost is hiding his expensive headphones under his stupid mask but you’re very pretty and I was suspecting that Ghost had a friend or something because he was being very lenient with us and even went out to a bar,” Gaz rambles, sprinting down the hall with Ghost hot on his heels.

“Garrick!”

Soap says, “Aw, he’s really nice,” as Ghost grabs Gaz by the collar of his shirt. Gaz makes a dramatic choking noise as he steals the phone back and Soap says, “Hi, Simon.” He looks very pleased, wide smile. “I heard I made an impact on your anti social behavior.”

“If you get shot Im taking the bullet out without painkillers,” Ghost tells Gaz. Gaz peeks over his shoulder.

“Whats he saying?

“That you’re ugly and he hates you,” Simon retorts.

“Tell him I said thank you! And that I also think he’s pretty and I’m surprised that you’re such a hardass.”

Ghost looks down at his phone. “I’m not telling him all that.” Soap shoots him a look. “Johnny says thank you and you’re pretty and he’s surprised i’m a hard ass. Now leave me alone.”

“But sir,” Gaz says dramatically.

“Sergeant,” Ghost growls, glaring at him. Gaz sighs and holds his hands up in surrender and walks off.

“Mee-yow,” Soap mumbles. Ghost looks at him with an unimpressed glance.

/-/

also later in the AU where gaz sends soap a video of ghost + a ft call

/-/

John has watched the videos Kyle sent him maybe a thousand times.

“Oi, LT,” Simon’s got his head leaned back against the seat, thumbs hooked in his vest. John feels a chill go down his spine as Simon opens his eyes and the seeming dark abyss shows his eyes. They’re dark with irritation, a look John has never had directed at him. “Whatcha donna do when we get home?”

Simon shuffles in the seat, shutting his eyes again. He makes a disinterested, “I’m gonna sneak into your room and come on your pillows if you don’t leave me alone.” Gaz makes a surprised noise. Simon opens one eye and says, “Don’t act shocked. I’ve said nastier shit.”

The camera flips and Gaz has an overly shocked face on.

The next video is essentially Simon swearing and grumbling and stripping. It’s endearing, and for some reason very attractive. Simon pauses when he gets down to what looks like an undershirt and turns. “Why’re you filmin’ me?”

The silence stretches for a few seconds before Kyle says, “Shit.” And the camera blurs as Kyle starts sprinting.

“Delete it!“

“It’s for John!”

“Delete it!”

John sends a quick; “;p yer a doll”

Kyle replies; “He’s mad 😪”

John opens his message thread with Simon and types; “You come on people’s pillows?”

Simon :p : I’m coming on Gaz’s pillows tonight

Simon :p : he’s getting an eye infection.

Simon :p : i’ve said nastier shit

John snorts, flipping over to face the other wall. “pls don’t come on his pillows he sends really good candid pics :(“

Simon :p : dumb as fuck

Simon :p : missed you

John drops his phone into his chest and kicks his legs against his sheets.

Simon :p : ft?

John clicks on the facetime icon and props his phone up on a pillow. The call connects to Simon brushing his teeth in that aggressive way he does. “Hi,” John mumbles, stomach fluttering.

Simon grunts holding up his hand and rinsing out his mouth. He spits into the sink and rinses his face. “Hey. What’d you do while I was gone?”

John rambles about art commissions, a potential job for art with a game dev, and that he went to London with his sister to get chocolate cake.

Simon’s done shaving and washing his face by the time John finishes off his recap. “You sent me a porno.”

“Oh my god,” Soap laughs, “Was not a porno. It was an anatomy study.”

“I dunno, I saw a dick in there,” Simon says with a smile. John rolls his eyes, knowing he’s teasing.

/-/

:p here you go!

[onedayistodayornever]

Hello :)

Thinking about ghoap streamer AU where the reason Simon started watching Soap to begin with is because he was alone on leave in his quiet, empty flat like always but he grew up in a household where silence was frightening. Where silence meant that his father was sleeping off a hangover on the couch and everyone tiptoed around the house for fear of waking him and incurring his wrath. Where silence was walking on eggshells because his mother was in one of her bad moods as she sported a new black eye and a migraine and the children tried to be quiet as mouses so they didn't upset her. So Simon, alone and going mad from the quiet, desperate for a voice to fill the air, for something to remind him of Tommy's constant badgering of "watcha doin?" Or Gaz's laughter or Price muttering to himself as he reads paperwork, turns on twitch and hits the first stream he sees on the front page and the lilting scottish accent is as far as it gets from the heavy, menacing quiet he feared as a child.

Okay I'm done, sorry for ranting at you but you gave me ✨️thoughts✨️

YEAH!!!

Thats essentially how he finds Soap. He wanted something soft and quiet. He filtered for art, because he likes the noise of drawing, and clicked on the first person who popped up. It was Soap, of course, and Soap was fairly soft spoken (because it was late and he lives with his sister) and there were only maybe 100 people in the stream (because he was just starting out) and Ghost watched him and listened to him ramble on about art, answered questions people asked. He followed, and fell asleep halfway through the stream.

Soap has a community discord, that Ghost joins because he wants to know his streaming schedule. Ghost sort of starts to make his sleep schedule revolve around Soap’s streaming schedule. After a few weeks of watching, he actually goes out of his way to send Soap a message, which is how they started talking.

Ghost had sent something like, “Hey, I know this is probably really creepy, but I’m active military and sleep is hard to come by when I’m off-base. I found your streams one night when I was struggling to sleep and basically passed out because your voice is so soothing to me. It also helps with the silence since I live alone and I’m used to loud military bases. I think your art and the content you make is really cool. I thought it would be nice for you to know that you’re definitely making somebody’s day better.”

and Soap responds with, “:o no not creepy at all that’s such a nice message <3 i’m glad that you enjoy the streams and that they help fill the silence/help you sleep. i have a cousin who’s active military and it’s always pretty hard for him to adjust back to ‘civvie life’ as he calls it lmao. :p ty for your service 🫡”

and then during a stream that Ghost is watching while cleaning his gear Soap is actively struggling to find a good reference photo for the gun Ghost just happens to be cleaning. Ghost, of course, is like “Hey, I have that, want a pic?”

Soap is very thankful and Ghost is actually really good at photographs so Soap gets some good reference photos. Then Soap works on a comic involving military characters, so he asks Ghost for help with that. Then Ghost dips his toes in forming an actual relationship with Soap. Then they become friends. Then they become good friends. Then they become kind of online dating but not really and they both don’t know how to handle it.

and then later on when they actually start dating and talk everything out, soap starts making unlisted youtube videos for Ghost because Ghost offhandedly mentions that he dislikes how much he feels like he misses when he isn’t home. And Ghost gets to watch them when he has free time and Soap’s busy. It also gives him something to watch on plane rides (because of course he pays just to watch stuff offline) and he always gets to fall asleep to soap’s voice.

And then ofc the stream freaks out when Soap offhandedly mentions his bf is military, because the entire stream knows about his loyal viewer turned bestie ghost. and stream also freaks out when Soap moves and a man walks into the room very quietly and leaves food on the table and Soap says, “Thanks, baby,” before going back to talking about animation and they hear a, “Yeah, don’t overwork your wrist again, love,” and it’s DEFINITELY Ghost and Soap just kind of does a little cheeky look before ignoeing all the questions the Mods don’t catch.

BUT YES PLS RAMBLE ABOUT MY AU TO ME

[onedayistodayornever]

ghost who gets sent on a suicide mission to do recon on the dinosaur island (i forgot what it’s called) and ends up accidentally forming a bond with a pack of raptors after saving the head female of the pack from getting her ass ate by a different dinosaur idk

the 141 minus ghost who get sent there on ANOTHER suicide mission to close off an area for a theme park who get yoinked to the raptor nest and ghost is like “first off what are you doing here second of all *directed at the raptors* why didn’t you eat them” and the raptors are like !!! we found your kind!!! more stupid than you!!! you have other ones!!!

and price is like i tjougjt you got eaten and ghost is like they don’t think i’m very tasty and everybody freaks out because one of the raptors swipes ghost off his feet but ghost is just like “god damnit martha we went OVER THIS im not out to GET YOU paranoid fucking lizard” and then gets knocked off his feet again for calling her a lizard

ghost, on the floor: they’re too smart for their own good

martha the raptor: oh yeah watch me EAT YOU

ghost: MARTHA NO NOT MY SHOES IT TOOK ME FOREVER TO MAKE THESE!!!

soap: uh, yeah, price wtf

price: idk he was a little crazy when he left i guess he’s… more crazy

martha the raptor: *running around with ghost’s very well made shoes*

ghost: *chasing the raptor*

the other raptors: *unbothered because ghost and martha have had beef since martha was born*

gaz: i don’t remember him being this crazy

ghost: YOU CUNT!

martha the raptor: *laughing because she tricked ghost into getting tangled in vines*

[onedayistodayornever]

thinking of mer!ghost who lives at soap’s parent’s aquarium and rehab facility. And Soap is studying specifically mer behaviors. and Soap gets to be one of the first people to try to bond with a mer. and during their communications ghost uses very badly drawn pictures to make soap a map and he draws a big mer next to a little mer. and soap is like oh em gee. when ghost was in the wild he had a pup. and then they find tommy.

and then they do a little dna test (soap is forced to be the one swabbing their mouths because ghost throws a tantrum when anybody else comes close to his tank) and soap is like what’s the verdict what species are they and the scientist is like uh well first of all they’re not a father son pair they’re a sibling pair that bonded like a father son pair so that’s cool

anyway. soap does cool mer shows for the public that include:

ghost and tommy play fighting in the background while soap is explaining the rules and acting completely normal when soap spins around suspiciously. no, it’s not scripted, they just think it’s super funny

soap getting pulled into the water. every. single. time.

ghost barking at the guests and soap explains that “No, Mers do not bark. Simon just thinks the noise dogs make is exceptionally hilarious, so he barks. Tommy likes to meow. No, I don’t know why they aren’t stopping. Yes, we did think it was a normal behavior until recently.”

ghost splashes people. they created a ‘splash zone’. He just thinks it’s funny how they get all offended when they’re wet. He splashes people and then hides in the water, laughing to himself evilly.

“Simon and Tommy are really sweet!” *Simon in the background beating up Tommy* “They love each other!” *Tommy and Simon fighting like children*

ghost and soap do a bit where when soap is trying to explain mer diets, ghost says “Ch…Chiipppsss” because it’s one of the only things he can say. is very much soap saying that ghost is an omnivore and ghost saying POTATO PLS GIVE ME POTATO I WANT POTATO and the guests think it’s very funny because ghost gets progressively more dramatic the longer he is deprived of potatoes (chips are not healthy for him, but he gets them sometimes as a treat)

ghost will bring shiny rocks to show people and will play hide and seek games with the children. he expecislly loves babies. he always goes and stares at the baby and blows bubbles, swims to soap and aggressively points out the baby and then swims back. nobody’s exactly sure why he does this. i personally think ghost is just one of those ‘i have constant baby fever’ individuals in any and every universe

sometimes tommy will try to sneak up on soap. Ghost always tackles him back into the water and soap turns around very confused.

ghost has ‘siren’ tacked on to the little card with his info on it because he sings. very similar to whale singing but it sounds almost like a human saying something you can’t exactly figure out. it’s very beautiful and very surreal and a little scary. he likes to do it at night the most. some guests have gotten the privilege of hearing him when he’s grooming tommy or soap. it’s a very beautiful thing that only lasts a few minutes, so soap always quiets down and lets ghost do his thing before continuing on with the tour.

tommy and ghost are allowed to leave. they have a hatch in their enclosure that they can open to get in and out. they choose to stay. tommy leaves sometimes, but he usually only leaves to go forage for things. ghost is unbothered and likes to sit in his sand bed and make things from fish bones or entertain the children passing by his enclosure.

ghost is mutated. he for some strange (plot) reason has more human-looking DNA than any other mer encountered. this is why he can say some words. tommy is not mutated. he cannot speak vocally but can use BSL

ghost likes to give people the middle finger. sometimes he just gives it to soap. he just sits there with his middle finger out and smiles very widely if somebody does it back to him. there’s hundreds of pictures on the internet of him doing it.

Soap has been with ghost for so long that he can sort of understand what ghost means when he speaks via mer language.

ghost bites. tommy does not.

[onedayistodayornever]

ghost soap who have been married for several years and are playing the “how long until they notice?” game.

Soap thinks it’s quite funny when Gaz tries to warn him about Simon’s… intricacies. “—and as long as you respect his personal bubble and his morning, afternoon and evening tea, you’ll live.”

Soap nods, thinks about how at home he makes Simon’s tea for him and scratches his scalp until he comes online for the day. “Thanks, mate. Honestly, he’s kind of intimidating.”

Of course, they grew even closer after Las Almas. Gaz had started teasing Ghost about having a soft spot for Soap, and they both denied it— waiting for somebody to notice that it was a giant squishy pocket of love.

(this ran away from me. anyway. have this completely unedited drabble/ficlet? idk. merry after christmas.

Soap watches Simon from across the rec room one morning. His husband is completely offline, Soap having been kicked out of his bunk after Simon fought his way out of his fourth nightmare, probably only running on a few hours of sleep. Soap watches Gaz and Price, both doing their own thing, and Soap risks it.

Soap nudges Simon away from the counter. “Go sit. I can make it.” Simon stares for a few moments, blinking long and slow, sleepy and not ready to be perceived by the world. Soap feels the eyes of their teammates on him, and also feels the tenseness of the moment.

Simon inhales, rubs his eyes and grunts, shuffling over to the table and sitting in a chair. Soap makes his tea, making sure the honey is fully dissolved before he takes a sip to make sure it’s perfect. He sees Gaz’s wide eyes in his peripheral vision. Simon grunts again when they make eye contact, holding out his hands for the mug.

Soap sets it carefully in his hands, and Simon breathes in the tea. He takes a long drink and makes a soft noise, a telltale sign of happiness. Soap smiles softly, repeating the noise back at him. Simon narrows his eyes at him. “Quit making fun of me.”

“I’d never,” Soap scratches Simon’s back through the hoodie he’s wearing for a second. “It’s cute,” he whispers, only for Simon’s ears. Soap wants to stay behind him, stay rubbing his back until Simon wakes up enough to function like a normal human being. Instead, he has to go yell at recruits.

/-/

Simon has had a temper since he met him. He gets any sort of negative emotion and it quickly spirals into anger, a leftover fault from his childhood. it’s the worst when he’s overstimulated, too much of everything usually ending in a petty argument when they’re home that has Simon coming back to him not when ten minutes later with his metaphorical tail between his legs and gently apologizing before taking a nap on Soap’s stomach under his sweater.

On base, it’s harder to notice. However, after a mission gone wrong, Ghost is pacing in the rec room, Price and Gaz watching him with nervous glances, waiting for him to lash out.

Soap settles on the couch with a tea, placing it on the coffee table and watching Simon pace back and forth, eventually snatching up the mug and holding it under his chin. A few minutes pass before he runs out of steam, stopping to pivot on his heel and glare at Gaz and Price. “C’mere.” Simon glares at him now, his gaze softening when Soap waves his hand. “C’mon,” he says, soft and gentle, “Come sit.”

Simon follows the suggestion, sitting near Soap, drinking his tea slowly and sinking into the cushion of the couch. “You did good,” Soap murmurs, guiding Simon to rest his head on his chest, “You can rest now, Si.”

“The fuck it look like ‘m doin’,” Simon grumbles at him, turning his head away from the lights and shoving his face in the gap between Soap and the back of the couch. Soap doesn’t bite back his smile, scratching Simon’s scalp gently with both of his hands and soothing the goosebumps that pop up on his neck. “Stressin’ me out, dirty slag,” he huffs a few seconds later.

Soap laughs gently, scratching behind Simon’s ears and kissing the top of his head. “Go to sleep.”

/-/

Soap walks into the rec room, immediately zoning in on Simon watching something on his phone with that intense look— the look he wears when he’s having feelings he doesn’t know what to do with— mask pulled up, covering his forehead in hair.

Soap wanders over, standing behind him on the couch and looking down at the phone. The privacy screen makes the image dull and blurry. “What’re you doin’?”

“Uh,” Simon tilts the phone, and the screen becomes clear, “Lookin’ at Tommy’s snapchats. He’s sending me old shite,” he mumbles.

Soap ignores the way Price’s head snaps up, looking at Simon with a surprised look on his face. Soap rests his head on Simon’s watching the silenced video. A younger, slightly leaner, very pissed off Simon stares at the phone with a blank stare. Tommy appears, a wide smile on his face. “So angry.”

“I literally got home and he had me doin’ shit,” Simon mumbles, scrolling through.

They had met the year Roba happened, early February at a café slash library. Soap had been wanting to finally read the Percy Jackson books again, and Simon had been sitting at the table reading a parenting book of all things. Soap had sat across from him, and they read in silence for weeks before Soap commented on his strange book choices— parenting, self-help, addiction recovery, mental health, fiction, non fiction, drama, romance, history, all in different orders. Soap hadn’t been able to keep his mouth shut when Simon finished a book about Infants and then picked up a queer romance book Soap had read the week prior, “Respectfully what the fuck?”

Simon had smiled into his tea, flirted with him, and Soap had been… embarrassingly attracted to him.

Simon had called him Christmas Eve, rambling on about a fire and his family and Soap had asked, “What are you talking about, we’re out having dinner?” Because Beth had insisted they have dinner together, with or without Simon, before Soap made his way to his own family. And Simon had broken down, rambling on about a man called Roba in a way that had Soap shoving way too much money into Beth’s hands and sprinting to Simon’s location.

Simon had come home different— he had come home after they buried an empty coffin and Soap mourned what could have been the love of his life with Simon’s family— quiet, angry, distant. Hot and cold with Soap, begging for his attention one day before completely shutting him out.

Soap had found Simon trying to fist-fight the first responders— convinced his family was inside and dead— and had to pry him away and calm him down. Simon had packed them up and moved them to Scotland the week before their ‘meet-cute’ anniversary. He had reenlisted with Soap a few months later, after the every-day therapy sessions had cleared him.

Simon didn’t talk about his family— at all— he worried that even with Roba dead there would be another person out there waiting for him to slip up. Anybody who did any digging wouldn’t find any connection. Tommy had taken Beth’s name when they married, Joseph was enrolled under Soap’s (after discovering Joseph’s nursery schedule is what had led the men after Simon to the family) in a private school, and honestly Soap would lie about having an oops baby if it meant Simon would sleep a little better at night.

In Price’s eyes, Soap laying his head on Ghost and talking about his family probably seemed out of character. Simon opens the camera, and Soap smiles widely for the picture, Simon typing out a quick message before sending it off. “He’s gonna fuck up our 600 day streak if he doesn’t fuckin’ text me back.”

Soap cackles, walking to the pantry to get a snack.

/-/

“So,” Gaz says carefully, looking over his shoulder before scooting closer, “You and Ghost seem pretty close.” Considering we’re married, Soap thinks cheekily. “Got people callin’ you the Ghost-whisperer. You’re the only bastard who can take food off his plate and not see the wrath of the devil himself.”

Soap throws his head back with a laugh. “Ach, naw, he’s a sweetheart. Real nice.” Soap watches the recruits in front of him with a smile. Almost a year and a half into Soap being with the team, and nobody had even thought about them knowing each other.

Gaz chews on his mouth for a few seconds. “Mate, I gotta be real honest right now, and feel free to tell me to fuck off, but I heard that he was married. Like before he was Ghost—“ Gaz mimics tugging on a mask. “Price says he wears a set of rings on his tags— three real nice ones, too— do you know how in love you have to be with somebody to drop that much money on a wedding, engagement, and promise ring?” Soap did know, he was the one who had all of them custom made three years ago. He had agonized over the designs, Tommy stoping him from chickening out several times, and had a dent in his savings for months after. “And I noticed you guys kind of… you know. I just wanted you to know.”

“Ye think he’s cheating on his bird with me?” Soap asks, playing up the shock. “I mean… I sort of fancy him ‘nd all, but he never said anything about havin’ a girl at home.”

Gaz gives him a pep talk and a look of sympathy.

Later, Soap sneaks his way into Simon’s office, twirling the ring on his middle finger with a grin. Simon looks up before ignoring him for the report on his computer. “What’s got you lookin’ so smug.”

“Gaz knows you’re married.”

Simon raises an eyebrow, looking up at him again. “Uh-huh. So the game’s done, then?” Soap honestly thinks he looks pretty with his mask gone, grease smeared on his waterline, glasses held between his fingers.

“No. He thinks you’re married to a woman,” Soap says excitedly, “He thinks we’re havin’ ourselves an affair. I’m gonnae wear my ring on my wedding finger. See if any puzzle pieces fall into place.” Soap slides his ring off and hands it to Simon, watching his husband twirl the ring between his fingers. Soap holds his hand out, and Simon smiles gently as he slides it on the finger it goes on.

Simon looks at his hand, gently swiping his thumb along Soap’s knuckles. “I wanna take you out for dinner when we get home,” he mumbles, “To that diner you like. Take you shoppin’.”

Soap smiles, unable to contain the squishy-fluttery feeling Simon gives him.

/-/

Nobody notices Soap’s ring moving fingers.

They kick up their flirting several notches, drop hints, but nobody seems to pick it up.

Soap is packing his bags for leave, when Simon sneaks into his bunk. Soap smiles when he feels Ghost wrapping his arms around him and rocking them side to side. “Hey, baby,” Soap says, looking over his shoulder at Simon.

“Garrick asked if my wife knew about us.”

Soap really does feel like a gossiping wife when he gasps, “What did ye tell ‘im?”

Simon snorts. “I said yes. He just looked at me in disbelief. I think I traumatized him.” Simon leaves gentle kisses along his shoulder, squeezing him closer. “I Imagine we’re goin’ to have a chat with Price soon. Considering it’s illegal and all that.”

Soap hums.

/-/

The next day, they are called into Price’s office. Gaz is sitting guiltily on the couch, and Price looks more stressed than usual. Soap drops his duffel on the ground next to a chair and drops into it, followed by Simon.

“Reason yer callin’ me in here before my plane?” Soap settles in the seat, twisting his ring as a habit. He sees Price’s eyes catch on it, and he feels giddy about people noticing it before he realizes why they’re in here.

“I’m sorry,” Gaz blurts, “I just can’t have it on my conscious that Ghost has a girl back home and you’re… doing whatever it is you’re going.” He gestures between them.

Price drags his hand across his face, and Simon sighs dramatically, “Looks like the jig is up, Johnny.”

Soap slaps his hand against his forehead, because out of everything he could have said, that was not it.

“I mean— how could— you have a wife, Ghost!” Gaz gestures, clearly fighting his loyalty and his morals.

“I do have to admit, cheating isn’t something I expected of you, Simon.”

Soap decides to try and break the tension with a dramatic turn, “You’re cheating on me? After all I’ve done for you?”

Simon glares. “Yeah, I’m sick and tired of you not feeding the damn cat.” He sits up, counting on his fingers, “Your meatloaf is dry, you have a secret love child—“

“Joseph isn’t even blood related to me, you dramatic fuck, he’s only using my last name for his school!”

Simon scoffs.

Soap rolls his eyes, kicking Simon with his foot, “Gimmie your rings.” Simon takes off his dog tags, slides the rings off the chain and hands them over to Soap. Soap fits them together, leaning onto Price’s desk and leaving them there. He digs into his own duffel, pulling out his engagement ring and sliding off his wedding ring, fitting them together with Simon’s. He showcases it to Price. “Simon and I are married.”

Price looks baffled. Soap realizes what Simon said and— “You think my meatloaf is dry?”

Simon scoffs. “No, Johnny, your meatloaf isn’t dry. I could eat a whole pan of it but you don’t let me because other people need food too or some BS.”

“You’re married to each other?!“ Gaz looks shocked and relieved at the same time. “You let me warn you about how strange he is!! And you went along with it!”

“I honestly thoufht you would have realized by now…” Soap rubs the back of his neck nervously. “Sorry.”

They get scolded, and then Soap is congratulated for putting up with Ghost for so long. And then Ghost is congratulated for keeping Soap from killing himself via microwave explosions.

Everything is fine, in the end.

(Simon takes Johnny out for dinner when he joins him on leave, and takes him shopping. They’re in love.)

[onedayistodayornever]

it's almost one am so this might not be very coherent and someone else has probably said it better but--

i know we like to talk about anakin giving his lightsaber to padmé in that one clone wars episode making an unintended parallel to cody always seeming to end up with obi-wan's, but actually i think it's an accidentally genius foil.

anakin giving padmé his lightsaber in that context i think was far more representative of his willingness to forsake his duties for her than it was his trust in her. think about it. anakin was supposed to have been on a meditative retreat--given the fact that he is a prominent front-line general, one can only assume that if they felt it was worth it to pull him out of the field for that, that it was probably the jedi’s way of saying hey, man, you need to get your fucking head back on straight. it wasn't just a fun little spa trip. and instead he tried to get padmé to abandon her own responsibilities to go on a super romantic secret vacation with him. and like. a fair amount of bad shit happened as a direct result of him not having his lightsaber following that conversion.

cody, in almost direct opposition to that, to my knowledge is only ever seen giving obi-wan's 'saber back to him. he is supporting obi-wan in his duties, and in fact, directly facilitating his ability to carry them out.

idk. just something to think about.

[onedayistodayornever]

my canon

[onedayistodayornever]

Patience 💤