#Riley words

[too-raph]

Tagged by @tum-tigger in the '9 people you'd like to get to know better' game - thanks bestie! 8'D

1. Top 3 ships: So. This is hard to answer atm. Bc the only food my brainworms want lately is Cheongsan/Gwinam AoUAD, and absolutely nothing else. Also in the rankings recently: Batarou OPM and SouAi Free!, strangely enough. Could list endless honorable mentions like HisoIllu and Nashuu HxH, Josuyasu and BruAbba JJBA, Kuwameshi YYH, etc. etc., but my brain is hard to grab these days

2. First ship: I've often mistakenly answered BruAbba JJBA for this, bc they're the first ship that dragged me around by the hair and they single-handedly got me back into writing - BUT my first ever ship was actually LietPol Hetalia.

3. Last song: Nocturnal animals by ZICO feat. Zior Park.......genuinely cannot get over how well their voices go together...........need to lie on the floor about it....

4. Last movie: It was an Alvin and the Chipmunks Halloween special. Super scary stuff. Y'know.

5. Currently reading: Picked up the Alice in Borderland manga the other day, got one chapter deep, so far. :') ...Tbh I've got an entire stack of books waiting that I bought recently bc I'm trying to get back into reading, but I'm not in the middle of anything atm, shamefully enough

6. Currently watching: Miraculous Brothers and also Happy Ending Romance. A more serious drama and a shorter, lighter one, to balance out, 8'D. And bc I often run out of time after work/before bed for hour-long eps. Miraculous Brothers is like...shockingly good so far, a real fun ride, I wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I am. Only about halfway through, so we'll see what happens. Happy Ending Romance, tho. I'm having fun. But also. Leo VIXX plays the role of unsavory, possessive ex, so every time he's onscreen my brain shuts down and goes "Wow. Pretty." on a loop, and then every time he spouts some toxic bullshit to the sad-eyed protag, I am like why is such a soothing melodic voice saying such harsh things....who cast him for this......genius stuff..... I am also sloooowly rewatching AoUAD. Ofc.

7. Currently consuming: WATER!!!!

8. Currently craving: Some motivation/inspiration/energy/time to write. Emotional stability and Flamin' Hot Funyuns also.

Gonna tag @fandork, @anticiajk, and @eq-kou, if any of you want! (No pressure ofc,,,)

[whendidmythoughtsgocrazy]

Love should calm the storm inside of you, not provoke it.

k.b. // drowning, resurfacing: notes on heartbreak & healing by frankie riley

[bi-writes]

idk just thinking about seeing your lieutenant for the first time, this big giant dog of a man, and thinking to yourself, "hmmm yeah, i'm gonna make that thing mine." (18+)

like. i'm thinking about seeing him walk into the room for the first time. fresh off an op, still in all his gear. he's angry cause he's been awake off and on for 40 hours at this point, and he sinks down into a chair in the mess hall, and your eyes bug cause the chair fucking bends with his weight.

and you're just like "omg omg omg holy shit" cause this fucking brute is just huge and beefy, and you had no idea this was your type until you watched his hand curl around a cup and make it look miniature. and you're wondering like "fuck i bet those holsters are custom made" cause you don't think you've ever seen them stretch that far around someone's thigh.

ughghghghgh, and he's dumb as shit, too, or maybe he's just fucking blind. you give him every hint in the book, every indication of how you feel other than pasting a giant neon sign on your forehead that says "fuck me."

you wear the tightest cargo pants you can get. you let the buttons on your shirts go low whenever he's near. you make excuses to see him late, delivering him paperwork in the middle of the night, meeting him out for a smoke (and he's never seen you smoke anything), shuffling your way in front of him in line so you can bump into him and graze your ass against his front. he even catches you this way--even curls his hand around your waist and steadies you before letting you go impatiently.

fuck, bending over in front of him, the obnoxious giggling, the excuses to dangle your tits in his face. you want this man underneath you, on top of you, tangled around you and suffocating you with those enormous arms, and he barely side-glances at you whenever you're in his vicinity, and it's infuriating.

what do you have to do to reel this thing in? how many bones do you have to give him?

how many times do i have to flash my bra at you for you to fuck me over your desk?!

you can't eat another cherry in front of him. you can't drop more sauce onto your cleavage. you cannot come out of the showers in just a towel in front of him anymore because you're going to lose your fucking mind--

you even made out with his beloved little sergeant, his favorite little know-it-all that can't stop blowing shit up. that blue-eyed, insufferable, yapper of a scot that kisses all wet, with teeth, who pants like a puppy when he asks if he can 'ave a taste of y'r bonnie cunt, please, please, please--

and you say yes, because maybe he'll finally fucking shut up if you drown him between your thighs and never let him come up for air.

face down, ass up, cargos around your ankles, hips pushing past against that puppy's stubble as he devours you on his knees. his big hands spread your ass for him, and his thumbs flick over your folds as he opens you up, a cackle leaving him before he opens his mouth wide and kisses your pussy all sloppy and uncoordinated.

when the door swings open and hits the wall with a bang, the puppy tries to leave. he tries to move, but you reach back and grip his mohawk, scowling as you shove his face back where it belongs as your lieutenant stands at the door and heaves with anger.

"uh uh," you snap, and your sergeant on his knees whines, his blue eyes a little foggy and wet as he blinks up at you. but he complies, his tongue slurping, and you flutter your lashes at your lieutenant as you keep johnny muzzled in your cunt. "sorry, lieutenant. is this your office? must've read the sign wrong."

you reel from the contact. a big hand grips you by the hair, slamming you down against his desk, and you choke as you try and gasp for air. like a good boy, johnny settles where he is, shoving his tongue down your hole and moaning low when he realizes you're dripping down his chin now that his lieutenant has you.

"y'think this is funny, eh?" ghost mutters in your ear. "y'think i don't know wot y'r doin'? think i 'aven't caught on, think i 'aven't noticed wot a fuckin' insatiable bloody pain in my arse you've been ever since y'got 'ere?!"

you whimper, relaxing against the desk, and ghost tugs at your hair again, shaking his head.

"oi! y'don't get to be stupid just because y'r gettin' y'r cunny played with," ghost snaps. "y'r a right headache."

you laugh, getting up to your elbows, your eyes rolling to the back of your head as ghost scruffs johnny by the base of his mohawk and cups your pussy with one big hand. you gasp, leaning your head back, because finally, yes, it's all i want, please, please, please--

"'f you wanted to be my pet so bad," ghost murmurs, fitting himself behind you, leaning over your shoulder as he spits into your ear, "all ya had to do was fuckin' ask, swee'eart."

when your eyes open, ghost hums, clicking his tongue under the mask.

"use y'r words," he growls. "be a good girl, and say wot it is y'want."

"want you," you whine, and he sighs deeply, closing his eyes, and you drown out the sounds of johnny sputtering at your feet as ghost bends you at the hip a little more, arching your back.

"mmm...tha'sit. was tha' so hard?"

[konigsblog]

simon riley with a voice kink for you...

he absolutely loses it when you're talking to him on the phone about whatever; maybe something related to your friends, that they done something really funny, perhaps you're just checking on him, gradually getting suspicious of his voice as it turns more aggressive, desperate, deranged and higher. he's so fucking hard, listening to you ramble, and ramble for hours whilst he teases his sensitive tip, smearing pearly beads of cum over his dick as he drags out his growing orgasm.

don't ask him why he sounds nervous and shakey, beginning to get more hoarse, otherwise he'll cum all over his phone and all over his calloused fingers ...

when you're finally home, you learn more about this fantasy to do with your voice. sitting on his lap, jerking his big, fat cock off while speaking to him and that soft voice. it makes him feel even hotter when you're nonchalant, paying no mind as you pump and stroke him at an agonisingly slow pace.

he's not even submissive during this, just aggressive and hot, a smirk on his face when he throws his head back, your lips sucking hickeys and pressing kisses into his throat, speaking between kisses... :(

god, dollface... look at the things you're doing to him. leaving him a complete, utter mess as he spurts thick cum all over his chest and muscular abdomen, twitching in your hand when you giggle about his sensitivity.

[who-is-riley]

or at least it went something like that

[tiredmamaissy]

Oh nothing, just thinking about an accidental creampie with Simon Riley and him turning into a forceful breeding. 😇 mdni!!

Your thighs are on fire but it doesn’t stop you from riding his fat cock. Your pussy is so wet and sloppy it stains his thighs every time you ram him back inside. Your mind is cloudy and you’re high on hormones. It’s the first you’ve felt this way in months.

“‘m ovulating, lieutenant.” You confess through a desperate whisper when you feel him twitch inside you.

His eyes widen as they search yours with haste, trying to find your bluff. Bluff that you didn’t actually have the balls to come off the pill and fuck him raw. He made you swear to take your pill everyday. And he knows you can’t ovulate when you’re on it.

“Fuck. Get off.” He grunts gruffly, glancing down at the slimy, sticky mess you're making on him.

“But ‘m gonna cum—gonna cum. Gonna c-cum on your cock, ghost.”

Your pouting, pushing hard enough to shove the crown of his cock past your cervix. You grind into him in a frenzy, chasing your orgasm like you need it to breathe. He feels you tighten around him and your little fingers dig into his shoulders.

“I said get off, private.” He growls deep, fighting hard to keep himself composed.

But the feeling of your fertile little pussy pulsing on his cock makes him to lose control. You go to lift yourself off him once you finish, only for him to grab your hips and force you back down onto his cock, hard.

“Fuckin’ hell—” He groans gutturally, flooding your cunt with his hot seed.

“Simon…fuck!” You whimper from how deep he is, trying to wriggle out his unrelenting grasp.

“Is that what you wanted? Wanted me to breed you?” He rasps, driving his throbbing cock even deeper inside. “Then you better take it, love.”

[dollsghost]

simon eats it sloppy.

through the mask, slobbering on his hands and knees like the mutt he truly is; like his only salvation is the ichor that drips between your thighs. like your cunt is the only thing that could save his wretched, blackened soul. he wants to roll in the tang that'll stay on the back of his tongue for weeks into deployment, that'll stay soaked into the fabric of his balaclava because fok no he isn't washing it before he leaves (he'll nearly tears the thing to shreds when he can no longer smell you on it).

large, calloused palms scratch over the sensitive skin of your quads and inner thighs as he opens you up for him, watches your folds part like that of a carnation (love, devotion, distinction, fascination) as he pushes your knees up to your chest. drags his tongue all over you, the creases where your vulva and thighs meet and gets you shaking before he's even touched your clit. before he's even taken the mask off. brushes his thumb over the little bud reverently, fondly. he thinks the way your thighs tremble in response is the most precious fucking thing.

and when he finally breaks watching you drip onto the cushions below, he's feral. rabid. barely gets the damned mask up to free his mouth before he's on you again, slurping up your slick and sucking your clit into his mouth. the suction is heavenly after so much teasing, and if his tongue finds its way to your ass too, that's his business. your toes curl in the air where your feet dangle uselessly, panties you're sure that simon will pocket later still around one ankle.

simon's relentless when he's like this, a dog chasing after it's favorite toy. he won't let up, won't even palm over his cock until you're at least three climaxes deep from his mouth alone. totally pussydrunk and ready for more.

[rusticfurnace]

sore

[doeidawn]

18+ mdni

“possessive ghost” this and “possessive ghost” that. i think that man gets off when his partner is possessive. the idea that you want and crave him just kinda makes him lose it.

the way you’d kiss along the calloused and scarred lines that etch his skin and and mutter “mine”, breathy and hot each time, has him melting against you. he’s putty in your hands anytime you tell him exactly what you need. he’s always good to you, because he’s yours.

he could have you pinned under his weight, your ankles resting on his shoulders or your legs around his waist, but it’s only because he knows it’s what you want. his rough hands hold your hips as his slam against you so his cock can hit deeper with each thrust. he stretches you so deliciously, your slick walls hugging every inch of him as he ruts into you.

he’s worked up because you’re clawing at his skin, moaning in his ear, panting into the air about how much you need him; how no one can give you what he does; how his cock is yours and yours alone.

he’s never selfish and impatient during sex, your pleasure was always first and foremost. but when you’re pulling him closer and muttering in his ear—feels so fuckin’ good, si. fuckin’ me so good with that cock…s’all mine, isn’t it?—his resolve completely shatters. he can’t last long when you stake your claim on him like that. and he cums hard, groaning while his cock twitches as he fills you with his thick cum. he holds you tight, hissing through gritted teeth as your walls milk him for all he’s worth. yeah…all f’you. i’m all yours.

[wispscribbles]

Ghost who's gone prematurely grey due to his lovely past (and Soap who doesn't mind)

[too-raph]

tbh I love this new icon, I just want to constantly rb things here to see my icon,

[lemonwrap]

Ghost who watched his parents tear each other apart in a loveless marriage and now thinks marriage is a waste of time vs Soap who watched his parents flourish in a loving marriage and wants nothing more than to marry Ghost to show his devotion

[tojisun]

simon’s not used to this—the boundless devotion shining in your eyes. how, when you are lost, you look onto him for guidance; for a tether; for a warm hand on your back as he wades you through the shifting tides.

simon’s not used to being the one to receive such loyalty, unyielding and whole. because he had been so used to being the one on his knees; the dog who heels; the mutt that is leashed.

he’s not used to being the divine; the one being worshipped; the one with its priestess.

but here you are, in front of him, shaking, faithful. eyes wet with tears, yes, but chin tipped up. waiting for his blessing. his gift. his passion.

simon croons, cupping your cheek and swiping just underneath your eye. like this, he feels untouchable. like a magnanimous entity. like the only one who is worthy of you.

“i know, i know,” he says. “i’ve got you, sweetheart. i’ve got you.”

you nuzzle your cheek into his palm, mewling, breaths hitching, and so, so putty. so trusting. so reverent of him.

simon’s lip trembles because how could someone ever make him feel bigger than he truly is? how could someone love him so much that he feels like he is soaring up above?

how could someone see his scars and his anger, and still find comfort in his chaos?

(this must be why prometheus stole the embers of the fire and offered it to the humans—because isn’t it so addicting to be needed?)

[konigsblog]

sleeping beside simon riley... 💤

simon is prone to reoccurring and horrifying nightmares that leave chills running down his spine, despite not being easily scared and desensitised. it could be a saddening and traumatising nightmare about his deceased family members or about something that he'd seen on the frontline, the gory and bloody sight of his teammates bodies, wounded with a bullet through their heart.

to simon, you're his coping mechanism, what soothes and relaxes him. it's not just your softness with him or your gentleness to approaching certain topics, but the sound of your heartbeat rhythm, your loving heart thumping against your ribs. his calloused hands dig into your flesh and hold you still while he breathes out shakily, attempting to calm himself down while tears form in his glistening waterline.

other times, simon finds comfort with your hands wrapped tightly around his lengthy shaft, stroking him while reassuring him that it'll all be alright, to take deep breaths while you roll your thumb over his leaking tip. it weeps and oozes creamy fluids from the head of his meaty, swollen cock, leaving his breathing heavy and his eyes half-lidded, tears staining his fair skin with his body jerking and twitching at your soft words and touch.

[ghcstao3]

never having loved someone like he does soap before, ghost expects their first kiss to be the way it’s always described in books, the way it’s always shown on tv, the way it has never been with the few other people he’s been with intimately. he expects some big revelation, euphoria, an insatiable need for more.

he expects something to change about him, expects he’ll suddenly have the sexual urges he thinks he’s meant to, that he believes he hadn’t yet been incited to have just because he hadn’t met the right person.

but there’s isn’t any of that. there’s isn’t anything at all, really—no sparks flying, no fireworks. his heart doesn’t skip a beat, nor does his stomach flip. it’s just… a kiss.

ghost thinks he must be broken.

because he does love soap, he’d be a liar for saying otherwise. he fantasizes about a future with the sergeant, one beyond the plan they both had for themselves to work until they die. he likes when soap touches him, likes that soap isn’t afraid to be physical like everyone else, thinks he could be intimate with soap if he really tried.

except he now realizes that he doesn’t really want to be intimate. not like that, anyway. ghost loves the thought of kisses without heat behind them, loves the thought of curling up in bed together on rainy days. he loves the idea of always having soap within reach, of soap plastering himself to ghost’s back as he cooks, of ghost tangling his fingers in soap’s mohawk. domesticity is something he finds he craves to have with no one but soap, but any thought beyond that… he doesn’t think it’s revulsion he feels, but it still leaves a bad taste in his mouth.

but it’s hard to admit to soap he probably shouldn’t pursue this, because ghost couldn’t give him what he needs. what he surely wants. not now, probably not ever, and he understands if it’s a dealbreaker—but soap just gets this odd look on his face, a disbelieving, amused sort of half-smile like ghost had just told him the most outlandish thing.

“i don’t care about sex, if that’s what you mean,” soap tells him. “i want you, simon.”

ghost heart hammers in his chest. “but what if—“

“no what ifs.” soap’s thumbs draw soft lines across ghost’s cheeks. ghost sags at the touch, melts into soap’s warmth. “i mean it. i’m happy if you’re happy.”

“yeah?”

soap smiles bright. “yeah.”

the assurance doesn’t quite soothe all of ghost’s worries, but he’s glad to know he might at least have a fighting chance to love soap just as he wants to.

[forestshadow-wolf]

Soap having to emergency fill in for a demo guy on a mission. He wasn't on demo for this one, he was needed on sniper along with Ghost and Gaz to cover price and the ground team and demo team he was leading. The goal was the blow the entire location skyhigh, but it wouldn't be an easy job. Not with the high amount of enemy soldiers, or the sheer mass and density of the building making it so that they would need to plant charges from the inside as well as the outside.

The demo guy goes down inside while soap, gaz, and ghost can't see them. They'd been keeping the outside backup at bay when price's voice fed through the radio.

"Soap. Our demo guy is KIA, need you down here NOW!"

"Aye, Sir. On my way." The urgency in the man's voice told him that they were running low on time (not that he didn't already know that. He was counting seconds. Always was.) He abandoned his sniper with little fineness, Ghost or Gaz would get it for him.

Ghost and Gaz covered him on his way down. He shucked his gloves on the way, throwing them carelessly to the ground, didn't bother going for cover, they were on a very real time limit with the fixed timer on the charges. It wasn't an ideal situation, and ordinarily they wouldn't have such a thing, but just the night before they'd caught someone tampering with the explosives. It had fucked up the wiring, and the closest to good they he could fix it was a fixed timer because he couldn't get them to communicate with the detonator anymore.

The actual inside of the building was large. Much more winding and dense than breifing said it would be. That was a problem. A big, huge, major problem. Because now they didn't have enough power to blow it all.

And it turns out to be an even bigger problem because when he got to price he realizes that the amount of explosives they had brought wasn't going to be enough in the first place.

"Shit." He hadn't been included in the demo planning, it hadn't been necessary. But now he sees that it was, because whatever calculations had been done were wrong. Even being off by .01 of anything was near fatal with the stuff they were working with.

"What? What's wrong?" Price was even more urgent now.

"There's not enough." He said, setting the first one he picked up, it was further from the last one that had been set before him than he'd have liked.

"Can you make it work?" Price says in, what soap always called, his captain voice. Soap pauses for a moment after that, running mental calculations.

"Maybe?" He wasn't entirely confident to be completely honest, "we'd have to go back and re-do all the ones that have already been set." He curses internally, mentally smiting whoever didn't include him in the demo meeting.

Price sent a soldier off to go collect the set charges, but soap only let them off with very clear instructions on how to do so.

Soap sent price and the rest of the soldiers off without him to finish collecting the data they had been looking for. He worked in silence for a while. If he was lucky (he doubts), it the soldier that price sent off came back with more charges than soap expected, he would be able to just barely make it stretch.

He wasn't so lucky. He sent the soldier after price. He flipped his radio on.

"Ghost, go to channel 2." He switches his own radio to channel 2.

"You solid, Johnny?"

"There's not enough." He was not panicking. Soap doesn't panic. And definitely not on the field. If he did it would be in the dead of night where nobody could find him.

"What's not?" Ghost was calm, solid as a rock. Soap liked that, won't deny needing a win, even if it was as small as Ghost being his normal self.

"Charges." He moves up the hall to work on the next one, "whoever did the calculations did a bang up job, there's barely enough to stretch from the original plan, and the inside is a lot bigger than we thought. Fucking bullshit."

"You weren't workin' with demo on this?" Ghost sounded confused, "I was given an optional attendance." Ah, that explained it. And- GOD-FUCKING-DAMNIT.

"Nae. At this point it seems more like a big fuckin' joke that I'm nae in on, than it does a tactical operation." Soap was seething, it was like the gods had something personal against him, but he kept his head.

"Seems like they all hate you, Johnny." Ghost hummed cheekily. Soap couldn't help the chuckle he let out. Leave it up to Ghost to still be a bastard despite it all.

"Awh, c'mon, L.T. you'd never let them all hate me now would ya?"

"Well, I don't completely hate you if it make you feel better." He could hear Ghost's smirk even through the radio.

"Aye, sir, gets me all warm and fuzzy inside, I'll buy you a drink to keep in your good graces after this."

"Assuming you live."

"Assuming I live." Soap parroted

"Can you make it work?"

"No. Not unless you've got some secret magic powers I dinnae know about, sir." He grumbled.

"Not for you, sergeant." Ghost told him. Bastard.

"Bastard." He huffed, amused.

"You still workin' on it?"

"Aye, I'm gonna blow the supports. If it goes right- better hope that it does- it'll bring the whole top crashin' down." He imitated the well-loved sound of the boom and crash he was hoping for, "if the brass wants it gone though, they'll have to send someone back. Hopefully someone competent this time." He was already halfway through the charges, and that was with a generous amount of spacing that he didn't like too much, but it would do, he had to get around to the other side of the building. He glanced at the timer, seven minutesticking down, he'd have to move fast if he wanted to get out in time, his thumb flipped his comms unit to channel the main channel.

"Price, keep an eye on the time." They all had their watches set to the timer so they could keep track. He switched back to channel 2 as soon as he got an affirmative. "Ghost, mind me at the two minute mark, aye?"

"Copy that." Came the steady manc accented response.

"Ya'know what's on my bucket list, L.T.?"

"What?"

"One day I want an OP that goes smooth start to finish."

"A steep ask."

"I felt inspired." He could hear the shrug in his own voice, and there was a breathy laugh in his ear.

Usually he's excellent at keeping track of his time, but this time he was still running minor calculations to every charge he set, making sure they were in the best spot possible. Which meant that when Ghost interrupted his mutterings with a tense "two minutes, Sargeant.", he had only just started on the last quarter of the explosives he had left.

"Shit." He chewed on his lip, using precious seconds to think. He could see the stairs to the exit at the end of the hallway, maybe 200 yards away, but there was still had 6 charges left. Fuckit, no more time for thinking, his gut's never let him down so far, he trusts that it won't this time either. "You see Price? Is he out?"

He wired the charge in his hands in two paces, placed it in six, started on the next.

"Negative. I've got no visual. I need you out of that building, now, Johnny." Ghost went silent after that, but soap was too busy to worry about that.

Shit.

He was almost halfway down the hall when he placed the next charge. Three charges left. The next charge went on in seven paces. The last two went up on either side of the stairs. His lungs burned as he took the steps two at a time. A glance at his watch showed 48 seconds left. The stairs seemed to go on forever. He would not be making it to a safe distance, he'd be lucky to get out of the building.

"I've got Price, Need eyes on you, now." Ghost sounded in his ear. He had not enough air in his lungs to respond, squeezing every cell of blood of its oxygen to keep himself moving.

10 seconds, he could see the door, it was big, and green, and had one of those push bar handles.

9 seconds, his foot slipped, his knee met the unforgiving corner of concrete, and his ankle twisted.

8 seconds, he caught himself.

7 seconds, pain lit up in his ankle. He kept going

6 seconds, he'd halved the distance to the door

5, he could see himself reaching the door already

4, he had an arm out to catch the push bar

3, he made contact

2, fresh air hit his face

1, he was running. It was like every molecule knew what was coming, like every building block of space was waiting for it. He could feel the charge it in every fiber of his being.

0, he dove for the ground, tucking himself in, harms coming up over his head. He didn't even feel it before it all slammed into him like a freight train. But he knew it was coming, knew it like a sixth sense, knew it like knowing the sky was blue without even looking up.

His ears rang. He hadn't realized before. The ringing in his ears was intense, almost overwhelming. Every thing hurt when he uncurled. His fands were stiff whe he flexed them, it looked like he was piloting a robot instead of his own body, he felt it all but from a distance. The world was bathed in gray. His mouth was dry, it tasted bitter as he smacked his lips together.

Something...

There was something... wrong? Or- he needed to do something? He flexed his fingers again. The world looked frozen. Like even the trees were looking at him, whispering that he was dead. Maybe he was, he couldn't be sure. Uncoordinated movements managed to wobble himself to standing. His back. Something on his back. It hurt. But he couldn't feel it. A hand went to his throbbing, and he stumbled a few step before he collapsed. He was tired. He was breathing but he couldn't feel it in his lungs, knew his chest was moving with it though. Maybe he wasn't breathing. He couldn't feel it. He should breathe, he focused on that. But he was so tired. Maybe too tired. Maybe he didn't need to breathe all that bad. He could just.. he was.. everything hurt. He wasn't breathing, except for his moving chest. It's okay. He'll just.. close his eyes. He'll try breathing again when he woke up again. When everything hurt less. It'll hurt less.

---

It didn't hurt less when he woke up again. It hurt more. A lot more actually. He felt his mouth open with out his command, sound left but he didn't hear it. And he couldn't tell if the incessant, ear-blinding ringing was him or if the world around him had gobe silent in lieu of the ringing.

It was a moment before he realized his eyes were open. The world was still covered in gray powder. Ghost's mask comes into view, it moves like he's speaking, but he's not making any sound. Soap thinks about telling him as much, to turn on his voice, but the world hurts, or maybe he hurts, and either way, it's easier to just close his eyes.

---

A hand smacks his face, he see brown eyes first, gaz's mouth is moving.

A glimpse of green rushing past, but black invades and he lets it happen.

The next thing he blinks and there's white, swishing, lots of it. Coats he realizes. Doctor's. A lot of them. He turns his head, it saps his strength, and the last thing he sees before his eyes close are mouths moving in muted shouts.

He blinks again and he's greeted with blinding white. He's moving. Not with his own two legs. It's fast. It makes him sick. He feels frantic hands on him and then his mouth opens, he feels contents leave him. And then he's being rolled back over. It's too much. He welcomes the dark of unconsciousness again.

---

He wakes slowly, there's a thin stream of air that chills his nose, he can feel cords on him but it would take more effort than it's worth to rip them off, uncomfortable as they were. So a hospital. If it wasn't obvious that was here he was, then it could be the plastic guard rails, or that he could see the edge of a very hospital-esq desk right outside the cracked open hospital-esq door where white flourenscent hospital-esq light leaked through.

It's dark when he opens his eyes. Not terribly so, there's a window that lets in moonlight, but dark enough that his eyes don't burn. There's a figure in the corner of his eye, and when he turns it's Ghost. Slumped down, arms crossed, sleeping. He's wearing one of the balaclavas with the narly faded skull, and the eye black he usually wears looks rubbed off, but not washed off, he can still see evidence of its remains. He looks tired, sporting a twin pair of eye bags the size of a small island, and the line of his shoulders is tenser than usual. He wonders when he got familiar enough with the man to notice his "regular tenseness", but he doesn't dwell.

His throat itches with dryness like he's swallowed a bunch of cotton balls. He's fairly certain he did not do that. There's a glass of what looks like water (or some mysterious other clear liquid) on the swinging side table, he reaches for it, but his movements are uncoordinated, limbs reluctant to listen to his demands. His hand swings a little too far and it knocks the glass to the floor. He watches it shatter, cringing in anticipation of the loud sound, but the sound is muted and far away, like he's listening through a pane of plexiglass. Ghost shoots up in a panic, looking for the danger. He does a quick double take when he sees soap's eyes open, then he notices the shattered reamins of his would-be drink.

Soap can only give him an apologetic look for disturbing his sleep that he looked like he desperately needed. Ghost walks over to him, and it looks like he's talking, but it sounds muffled, again like listening through plexiglass, or like he poured thick ink into his ears. That's not good. He can feel his mouth split into a displeased look. This is very not good. Bad, even.

Ghost leans over him, one of his big hands rests on his chest, he puts a little pressure then lets off. He does it again. And again. In a steady rhythm that soap can't help but follow.

A nurse walks in, and Ghost backs off leaving soap feel a little unteathered, but he's nolonger panicking. The nurse talks but everything is underwater, and someone's poured glue in his ears. He can't help the nervous look at ghost while the nurse keeps on, ghost holds his gaze steady. And then she's gone.

Ghost tries to speak, then he pauses, holds up a finger as if to tell him to wait, and then slips out of the room.

Great. Absolutely perfect. He's gone deaf. Well, that definitely seems like that would be the sort of thing that gets labled as "career ending", a cateer that he was damn good at. Did they even complete the mission he was on? He didn't even know if it was a success. Or even if he'd gotten any one killed. He hoped not. And to top it all off, Ghost had gone. He rationalized that Ghost had clearly meant that he was coming back. And when he did, he'd explain everything. It would be fine. So fine. Completely fine. Aside from the fact that he's probably kicked from the military.

Ghost slipped back into the room, carrying a small whiteboard, and a marker. He'd wrote something on it before turning it to face soap. It was nothing long, just two words. Quick and lethal. "Burst eardrums" oh...

"Recovery?" He felt the words in his chest when he said them, but he wasn't sure how loud he was being.

"Full recovery. Few weeks" he wrote. Soap found he likes the way he wrote. It was a simple scribble.

"The mission?"

"Success. Few casualties. Demo was KIA. Few others"

It was a bitter win, but it was often best not to dwell on it.

"You look like you got run over by a minivan three times." He says with a cheeky smile. One that always gets him a long-suffering sigh. One that he could see but not hear this time.

"Not the one in the bed." Ghost scribbled, and gave him a pointed look. It only served to make his smile toothier before a yawn broke it. Either exhaustion, or pain medication, or a combination of the two wanted to make him sleep, and he wasn't inclined to agree until ghost pushed him down gently, and scribbled "sleep" in black ink.

The morning after was better. Still inky and underwater, but less panicked. Ghost had stayed as well. Gave him a long list of injuries ontop of his missing hearing.

By the end of the week his hearing had improved a bit, words no longer blended into a blur of tv static. And he's told by Ghost that the doctor said it looked like he'd be back a full hearing in the next three weeks or so.

The second week was when the boredom really hit. It he concentrated hard enough he could parse out syllables, some distinct sounds. Nothing very quiet. But the world made sound again. And he'd taken to pestering ghost to wheeling him around the halls since he wasn't allowed to leave. Not until his hearing was back, and he started on PT.

The third week wqs much the same, aside from starting physical therapy. PT sessions weren'tanythingnew to any of them, but it was always a pain in the ass. But the fourth week, he had full sign off that his hearing was back up to 100%, and he's successfully made good progress on his PT sessions, so he was getting discharged, and sent home on medical leave.

Apparently Ghost had followed right behind him, taking leave of his own. And he declared that he was taking soap to his own flat. Soap didn't much and to protest, but he did to hear the amused tone in Ghost's voice when he bickered with the man.