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cherryatombomb · 2 years ago

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Idiot's Guide to Dating by Simon Riley

John "Soap" MacTavish x Simon "Ghost" Riley

this is part six, the final chapter!! read on ao3, or on tumblr - read the others parts here - part one, part two, part three, part four, part five. no warnings apply! this is wholehearted fluff, baby.

The Ghost didn’t get giddy. He was a trained soldier who had slaughtered many people, and who could kill without even a second thought. There was no reason for him to get giddy – there was only room for mindless killing. He was a wolf, kept on a leash that he could pull free from if he chose to, but for now, remained complacent.

Simon Riley, however, very much so did get fucking giddy, apparently.

It felt so stupid, how excited he was for this date. He’d barely been able to focus the entire day, distracted by Johnny’s eager smile, or how his lips felt against his, or, god forbid, his accent and how much he liked it. Never had he been so pleased about his reputation for being quiet, and hostile when interrupted, because it did allow him to stew in his thoughts. A conscious effort was made to not walk around with a smile, because the mask did hide it, but the happy look in his eyes was not lost, and he refused to lose some of his reputation by acting like a fool.

It was a close thing, however. Every time he ran into Soap, it took everything within him to not smile (and sometimes, he just couldn’t bring himself to resist).

Never had he been so grateful for a relatively quiet and quick day, and soon, he was waiting in his room for Johnny. That had been a challenge in of itself, because he then had to think of an outfit to wear, and he didn’t… know what you wore on dates?

People wore fancy clothes, but it was also just Soap.

Would Soap want him to get dressed up, or would he just want him as he was?

He allowed himself a moment to flop onto his bed, bury his head into his pillow, and let out a frustrated groan. Dating was so much more complicated than he thought it would be. Even with his incredible plan finished, all that was revealed was that there was so much more to it than he’d thought.

After regaining his wits, he walked over to his wardrobe. There wasn’t… much in variety, admittedly. Before this, he hadn’t ever really needed it. Most of his clothes were practical, some there just for comfort, like the long hoodies he’d had for years and years, now. An old, frayed hoodie didn’t seem quite like dating clothes, as tempting as the comfort sounded. Then again, nor did the shirts, mostly there for practicality, used for missions. Once again, he’d never regretted just having normal clothes before now.

Resisting the urge to go and yell into his pillow once more, he rooted around in his wardrobe, determined to find something. Surely, he had some ‘date outfit’, tucked away somewhere.

Miracles were real, apparently, because he found exactly what he was looking for before. Tucked away into the corner of his wardrobe, forgotten and old, was a simple black button-up. To most people, it probably wasn’t the most formal thing, but for him, it was just about perfect.

Quickly, he shucked his shirt and put it on, uncovering the mirror in his bathroom just to peer at himself with it on. He looked… nice? It was clear he was unused to looking this way, his shoulders a little tensed up, uncomfortable, but the shirt fit him well. It wasn’t too tight, but it was tight enough that his muscles were shown off, and it fit well around his arms. When he rolled up the sleeves, his tattoos complimented it, oddly enough.

With one half of the outfit down, he only had the other half to go.

Another longing shot was sent at the pillow.

For his bottom half, it didn’t take as long, which he was thrilled about. He settled for a simple pair of black jeans – he knew the Scot was going to mock him for being all grim and dark, but he had no idea how to match an outfit, in his defense, and if he spent any longer trying to find the right clothes, Soap would arrive.

The finishing touch on the outfit was the shoes, which were simple boots because he didn’t really own any normal shoes. Of course, there was the mask, too – he put a simple face mask in his jean pocket, in case he felt comfortable enough wearing that. For now, he still wore the balaclava, but he had a feeling Johnny wouldn’t mind that.

It was a lucky thing he finished getting dressed when he did, as Johnny arrived mere moments later, knocking on his door, and drawing him from his thoughts. He waited for him to answer, not stepping in. The subtle sign of respect was appreciated.

Stepping over to the door, he felt his heart racing, like a kid with his first crush – and, for once, he didn’t shove that feeling away. That feeling increased tenfold when he opened the door.

There Johnny stood, in all his usual glory, but so much better, like this. His mohawk was slicked back, and he wore a simple white shirt, one that clung tight to him, and showed off his muscles. He wore black jeans – fuck, they looked like skinny jeans, and they showed off muscled thighs, too. Then, he wore simple trainers.

It took everything within Simon not to pull him into his room then and there. Fuck the date, they could be doing something far more interesting-

No. He was going to do this right. Johnny deserved that.

“Lookin’ good, Lt,” Johnny grinned, widely, not hiding the way his eyes scanned him up and down.

“Simon.”

“Eh?”

“Call me Simon tonight?” He hadn’t even met to say the words, and Simon had no idea where they came from, but he refused to take it back.

“Okay, Simon,” The pleased smile that quirked Johnny’s lips made Simon immediately want to crumble. It was so unfair, how nice he looked. How handsome he was. He was the perfect mix of handsome and pretty, and he regretted not doing this sooner.

“C’mon,” Simon carefully nudged his way past Soap, then, deciding they should get a start on the evening before he just ended up staring at Johnny in his room the whole night. Whilst that still sounded nice, he wanted it to be perfect. For Soap’s sake.

Through the halls, he led him, pleased he’d picked this time for it. There wasn’t anybody around, thanks to most people being in the canteen, and it meant that they weren’t forced to deal with any conversation. It was great. Soap rambled as they walked, and Simon simply allowed himself to enjoy the sound of his voice. He allowed him to take charge of the conversation, occasionally offering input, but mostly letting him talk. Soap had a nice voice, and he may never admit that, but he had an inkling he already knew that.

They ended up outside, and Johnny blinked as he led them to the garage, surprised to be taken off base, but not against it, necessarily. That surprise was only furthered when Simon stopped at a motorbike and was taking out two helmets.

Amusement danced across Simon’s features at the dumbfounded expression upon his features, putting his own helmet on, before offering one to Johnny.

“You - ah – motorbike?” He asked, smartly.

“I motorbike,” Simon answered, simply because he was an asshole. “Can drive in your car, if you want. Don’t have one on base,”

“No!” Soap scrambled to say, “This is perfect! I just… I’ve never… been on one?”

Ghost was thankful his mask covered up the grin that split his lips. Johnny had been a lot of his firsts, entirely by accident – first boyfriend, first date, the first person he’d put this much effort into caring for, etc – it only made him that much more thrilled to give him a first, too. It was only fair, of course.

He moved closer, pleased at the way Johnny instinctively stilled, and helped put his own helmet on. Part of it was an excuse to get closer to him, but part of it was simply to make sure it was on correctly. “Might mess up your hair, sorry,”

“Knew you liked my hair,”

A huff escaped Ghost, but he didn’t deny it. When he finished putting the helmet on, he pulled back and gave him a little pat on the head. He returned to the saddlebag and pulled out two leather jackets – okay, maybe he’d planned this out in advance during the day, but in his defense, he wanted it to be perfect. He was confident in his skills as a driver – at least on a motorbike, cars were a different story – but he wanted Soap to be as safe as possible.

That and, well, a base part of him roared in delight at the thought of Johnny wearing his clothes.

Once both wore their jackets, he got onto the bike and patted behind him. Soap stared at him, for a moment, before he could see the formations of a smile curling his lips. He settled behind him, and wrapped his arms around his waist, settling close – far closer than anybody other than Soap would dare.

Ensuring the other knew that it was fine, he patted his hands, before switching the bike on, smiling privately as he heard the roar of the engine. Despite the loudness of it, it reassured him, somehow.

As he began to drive, he felt Soap tense, clearly a little anxious, so he made sure not to go too fast, not wanting to push it. The further they drove, however, the more relaxed he got, until, as they drove down an empty road, Johnny let his head tilt back, and he let out a pleased whoop.

Simon pushed it a bit more, after that, but not too fast, not wanting to risk anything. He simply wanted Johnny to enjoy himself, and it became clear that he was.

They did arrive at their destination reasonably soon, though, and Simon could feel when the other realized where they were going, as his arms tightened around him excitedly. That giddy feeling from earlier arose once more, tenfold.

He parked up, and as soon as the rumble of the engine stopped, Johnny was excitedly talking. “Simon Riley, you sweet bastard! I knew you were already, but fuck, this is adorable! C’mon! I wanna go!” He stood up off the bike, and Simon let out a quiet laugh before joining him.

Soap’s excited rambling continued as they took their helmets and jackets off, storing them away once more. Once done, Simon began to lead him toward their date location for the night.

When he’d been beginning the list, he’d scoured the internet for ideas of where to go. Most of them had been cliché in a way that made him uncomfortable – restaurants and things of the like. This had the perfect mix of people, but alone time; it was a fair. One of those that traveled around the country, setting up at different times, and when he’d given it some thought, he’d decided that it was perfect.

The music was a little bit overstimulating, but Johnny’s enthusiasm made up for just about everything else, honestly. He would go into war for that smile – though was happy that he didn’t have to, for now.

Before they got too close, Simon slipped his balaclava off and switched it out for a simple face mask. It only covered the lower half of his face, and usually, it would overwhelm him beyond measure – and, in fairness, it did, initially. That discomfort was immediately assuaged when he reached closer and pressed his hand into Johnny’s. Like this, he could take on the world.

The simple action was enough for Soap to pause his rambling to look over at him, and the love that shone in his eyes when he spotted the switch of masks was enough to reaffirm his decision entirely. His pupils blew a little wider, and the grin turned into a fond smile, and, shit, it was taking everything within Simon not to kiss the shit out of him right then and there.

“Keep going, MacTavish,” There was a joking warning tone in Simon’s voice, though it was very clear he didn’t mean it. It made Soap chuckle, so he decided it was entirely worth it.

They spent a lot longer at the fair than Simon ever intended, but he adored every single moment. He insisted on paying for everything, claiming that it was his date idea, and Johnny only relented when he said that next time, he would be paying. He would allow anything for a second date, so of course he nodded his assent.

Soap insisted they go around each shitty fairground ride, and Simon, certain, now, he couldn’t deny him anything, agreed. He found out that Soap had an affinity for the waltzer, but also loved the twister, mostly because he was flung into Simon’s side, every time.

Hell, he even insisted they do some of the kid’s attractions – things like hook-a-duck – after Simon offhandedly mentioned that he had never been to the fair before. It had been a little embarrassing, especially when she eyed Simon with clear confusion at the man with a skull mask intently focused on winning his partner a prize.

It was so worth it when he got him a stupid little teddy bear, because Soap’s face lit up, and he’d give him the world if he asked, just to get him to look like that.

Hours flew by, and surprisingly, Simon loved all of it. It was only towards the end that he started to get uncomfortable, but he pushed through it, for Johnny’s sake. It wasn’t too much longer until he felt the same way, though, and they found some food before they found a spot to settle down in. They both grabbed a cheeseburger each and found some of those warm doughnuts that Soap informed him were a staple of the fair. He took his word for it, but he told him they would be buying some anyway.

They found a spot to settle down in, a place away from the main park area, and though it was getting dark, they were illuminated enough to be comfortable. The grass was a little wet, making it a little uncomfortable, but he felt too good to care much about it. They were far enough away from people that he felt content taking his mask off, knowing that nobody could probably see them – that and, well, he had to eat. Even he couldn’t figure out how to eat through the mask.

This time, they settled into a comfortable silence, and Simon moved to wrap an arm around his shoulder and hold him. Everything felt perfect – he slotted into his side perfectly, like he was made for it.

Maybe he was…

Once they finished eating their burgers, they moved on to their doughnuts, and – oh, shit, Johnny was right. These were fucking perfect. And now, the taste would remind him of a perfect moment. Simon Riley was a secret sap, apparently. Or, more likely, it was just one of many things Soap brought out for him.

Halfway through eating, Simon gasped, suddenly remembering something. He checked his phone, then smiled in excitement.

“There are fireworks in two minutes,” he mumbled in Johnny’s ear, careful to let him know. Given how loud they were, and what they sounded like, it was only fair he knew.

Once more, Simon realized just how much he would do to see Soap smile like that again. It reached his eyes, making them crinkle in the corners prettily, and they showed off white teeth, and his hair was a little scruffy thanks to the rides they’d been on, and – well, shit, he couldn’t resist kissing him, now.

One of his hands reached up to cup the smaller man’s cheek, and he leaned down to kiss him once more. He tasted of burgers, doughnuts, and sugar, and it was entirely perfect. His eyes fell shut, and he did his best to commit the taste of Johnny into his brain. He’d never get enough of this – to be honest, he thought he might be addicted.

Might as well keep it up, just to figure out the answer, right?

When he pulled back, it was only because his lungs were begging for oxygen, and though he would happily drown in Soap, he didn’t think the other would allow him that. It was the perfect time to do so, though, because, as soon as he did, the fireworks started up. It made him startle, then relax, immediately, and both turned to look at them.

Unable to resist, and more than happy to indulge, Simon once more tugged Johnny into his side. His hand moved to hold his, and at that moment, he decided that maybe the world wasn’t so bad.

Both were quiet as they watched, though Simon’s eyes were fixed on the fireworks – Johnny's eyes were fixed on him. For a man who had lived the life he did, it took a startling amount of time for him to realize what he was doing.

“Hm?” Simon asked, suddenly feeling a little confused.

“I love you,”

Simon’s heart stopped, and his eyes went wide.

“Shite! I mean – fuck, I really like you, and you don’t have to say anything back, and – I don’t wanna ruin whatever this is, I’m sorry, Simon, I-”

The word vomit was cut off by lips on his, once more. Johnny had gone tense, but slowly but surely relaxed into the kiss yet again.

“It’s okay,” the words didn’t feel like enough, but he knew he wasn’t ready yet to say it back. One day, he would. But for now, the words just couldn’t come out of his mouth.

It seemed, as usual, that Johnny understood his silent meaning, and smiled softly at him. “You don’t have to say it back, I just want you to know. I love you, Simon Riley,” he said, pressing a kiss to his cheek, and settling back in so they could watch the fireworks.

Simon hesitated, then squeezed his hand three times, and rested his head on top of his. Only one thought had crossed his mind, at that moment – he'd officially and thoroughly dated the shit out of John MacTavish. He knew he could do it.

#simon ghost riley #john soap mactavish #soapghost #ghostsoap #ghoap #call of duty #Idiot's Guide to Dating by Simon Riley #im a little sad to finish it LMAO #i have a sequel planned #but still #this is my baby #my little child #writing this was so fun #and also made me giddy asf LOL #i hope u all enjoyed it as much as i did

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offorestsongs · 1 month ago

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OC INTRODUCTION ❣ ELIOTT EMBERS

BASIC INFORMATION

full name ✒️ Eliott Embers nicknames ✒️ ― species ✒️ human height ✒️ 182 cm age ✒️ 17 y/o birthday ✒️ 30.06 gender ✒️ cis male (he/him) sexuality ✒️ gay hometown ✒️ Queendom of Roses dorm ✒️ Cendrea (my Cinderella fandorm) class ✒️ N/A club ✒️ Home Economics favorite subject ✒️ animal linguistics dominant hand ✒️ left talent ✒️ doing house chores quickly hobby ✒️ watching tv shows, writing, collecting rocks favorite food ✒️ pumpkin soup least favorite food ✒️ anything made out of eggs pet peeve ✒️ people making a mess after he cleaned twisted from ✒️ Cinderella

PERSONALITY

Eliott is, first and foremost, good at finding the good side in almost every situation. His family treating him like a servant? Well, at least he's gaining a lot of skills that may be useful to him in adult life! His step-brother is fighting with him again? Maybe he can use their fights as an inspiration for dialogue in his next fanfic! Hope is the only thing he has, and he holds onto it as tightly as he can.

At home, where making himself be too noticed would probably do him more harm than good, Eliott is quiet and obedient ― he knows when to put his head down and bite his tongue, keeping the complaining to himself, and when to exit the scene. Away from home, though, he transforms completely. He's cheerful and full of energy. Even if he can sometimes be a bit awkward when talking to others, he's still very friendly (sometimes to the point of not knowing when to stop talking) and loves meeting new people. To make up for having to be quiet and calm at home, he often indulges in a bit of harmless chaos. He jokes around a lot, tends to pull little harmless pranks on people, and is not above a little rule breaking if he knows he won't get into too much trouble for it.

Amongst other Royal Sword Academy he has a reputation of being always willing to help others, though Eliott himself is not exactly proud of it ― he's not sure how much of it is the natural goodness of his heart, and how much is just a habit of agreeing to other people's demands without even thinking.

A dreamer at heart; he spends most of his time fantasising about the life he will lead once he moves out of his house or, better yet, completely strange worlds. Often times, he gets lost in his own fantasies, making him seem a little airheaded.

Signature Spell -> A Dream, A Wish ; It allows him to bring to life things he had written about, within certain limitations. For the thing to came out looking good and actually function as intended, he needs to describe it in as much detail as possible, and the bigger, more complicated the thing, the more magic it requires. Most of the things disappear after a some amount of time.

BACKSTORY

A leftover child ― that's what Eliott calls himself, usually when trying to make a joke about his situation. He never knew his mother; she died in childbirth. His father, trying to give his son a good life, remarried quickly, not noticing that his new wife seemed to be more concerned with his money than his son.

After Eliott's father died too while Eliott was still a young boy, his step-mother sold their house and their family moved into a more prestigious part of the town. His step-mother didn't hold too much affection for the son of her late husband, either leaving Eliott to take care of himself, or pushing him around to do whatever needed to be done at the house, and clearly favouring her biological child.

Growing up, Eliott quickly found ways to escape his situation. Sometimes ― quite literary, as he would start to spend more and more time at his friends' houses, his absence often unnoticed by his step-mother. Other times, he would escape into the world of fiction, devouring one tv show after another or, even better yet, discussing his favorite shows with people online.

RELATIONSHIPS

Grace Celestique [OC] ― Eliott's vice-housewarden and his senior, they basically adopted Eliott the moment they saw him. Eliot can see that despite Grace's usual silliness, they can often be pretty mature and he trusts them with helping him run the dorm well. He often comes to Grace for advice, and even without that, the two of them hang out a lot ― they simply compliment each other's chaotic energy quite well. Duncan Lawerence [OC] ― Eliott's freshman year roommate. At first Eliott was afraid that the two of them wouldn't get along, considering how cold and aloof Duncan was acting. Luckily, the two of them quickly bonded over their favorite tv show and now not only is Duncan a part of Eliott's closest friend group, the two of them have also co-authored a few fanfiction together. Allan Embers [OC] ― Eliott's younger step-brother. To say that the two of them never got along would be an understatement. Eliott was always jealous of Allan getting all the attention and support, while Allan, being the spoiled child, would often treat Eliott horribly just for the sake of it. Growing up, the two of them would either constantly fight or ignore each other for days. Now, with Eliott going to RSA and Allan going to NRC, their relationship seems more strained than ever. They simply don't talk to eachother at all, and during every interschool event, Allan seems to be avoiding his brother like the plague. Eliott isn't sure why Allan suddenly stopped picking on him and started to just ignore him the whole time, but he chooses to think of it as a blessing. That way, he can have some peace. Trey Clover ― Growing up in the same neighbourgood, the two of them quickly became friends. Not only did they spend hours playing together, Eliott would spend most of his free time at the Clover's house, adoring the atmosphere there. He very much sees Trey as an older brother figure, and even if they can't spend as much time together now, they still keep in contact and meet up as often, as they can. Che'nya ― The two of them are childhood friends as well, and they grew even closer after they both got into RSA and if Eliott is not spending time with the friends from his dorm, he's usually always with Che'nya. Separately, Eliott is almost a model student, but together with Che'nya, they're the staff's biggest headache, as Che'nya often happily enables Eliott's mischief seeking behaviours. ♡ Riddle Rosehearts ― They're both childhood friends and neighbours, as the new house Eliott's family moved into was next to the Rosehearts' house, with the windows to the boys' bedrooms being opposite eachother. Eliott would often see Riddle through the window and grew curious about the boy, readily taking the first chance to befriend him. Despite how different their temperaments were, they quickly grew close ― when they couldn't see each other anymore, they would exchange letters through their windows. Eliott didn't understand why after some time their friendship suddenly stopped altogether, with Riddle ignoring his letters, but he assumed he must have done something to make the boy upset. He missed his friend, but there was nothing he could've done about it, and with enough of his own problems, he didn't have the time to dwell on it. They only rekindled their friendship after Riddle's overblot; they slowly learn how to be friends again, often meeting up on the weekends or after school, if Riddle has the time.

TRIVIA

he's the housewarden of Cendrea. he took the position at the beginning of his sophomore year, after being chosen by a popular vote by his dorm mates at the end of the previous school year

Eliott is a passionate ― and a quite prolific ― fanfiction writer. he specialises in writing long-winded modern AUs for fantasy shows that may be bittersweet, but still always have a happy ending. he's not particularly shy about this interest of his and will happily show his works to whoever asks about it

his dream career is becoming a children's books author

while he is good at doing all the various house chores, he doesn't especially enjoy them

not only does he feed the mice living in his house, he also gives them names and talks to them as if they are his friends ― he's been doing it since he was a child

he has an old shoebox that he keeps under his desk, full of the rocks he collected on his walks

most of the time he stays at RSA during the winter and summer breaks

he doesn't like eggs because when he was younger, he often had to cook for himself and eggs were the easiest thing he could cook in different ways, so now he says after eating them so often, he got bored of them

he likes to wear baggy/oversized clothes

dividers. intro template by @/ai-kan1. coffin icon template by @/moonyasnow. taglist (ask to be added <3): @thehollowwriter @tixdixl @scint1llat3 @s-t-y-x

#twisted wonderland #twst #twisted wonderland oc #twst oc #royal sword academy #royal sword academy oc #rsa oc #oc x canon #💌 lore #��️ eliott #woooooo!!! i finished all of this ealier than i expected!!! congrats me!!!#its funny because eliott and his ship with riddle live in my head a lot actually #and i have a whole backlog of writing for them #i just never post about them or about just eliott #mostly because i just really didnt like eliott's design #it was just so??? random????#past me had NO idea what i was doing #but i really like this one #ive decided to move some of the more overt cinderella references to his dorm uniform #which i'll post sometime soon #i just gave him the little pins on his sweater #also i decided to just. not give him the rsa uniform coat as i fucking /hate/ drawing it #so im just not going to do it <3 #also ive ironed out some of the details about his character in general #not many major changes just kinda shuffled the importance of some stuff and changed some details a little #and now i really happy with him :D #also ive decided to make him even more tall #just to annoy riddle lmao #and YES i do love sad childhood best friends to lovers what about it

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