#this is largely informed by my own characterisation in the monster au

[bluegiragi]

hi i love ur stuff espc ghostprice... u don't have to but i'd looooove if u made a textpost or smth rlly going into ur perception of their dynamic & stuff cause i think u get them...

waaah thank you so much anon, i've been wanting to go on a long rant about these two again!! it's all under the cut, so that i'm not making y'all scroll for ages <3

one of my patrons really nailed it when they said that ghost and price love each other, but they're not in love with each other. I kind of always see their relationship as a means to an end, which isn't a bad thing at all! they both genuinely care for each other, and i just think that they're the type of people to become what the other needs out of sincere affection.

price, as ghost's captain, represents the authority figure he needs in his life (*cough cough* daddy issues *cOUGH*) which is to say he's someone that ghost trusts implicitly. The loyalty he has to price means almost more to him than it does to the man in question, because it's reliable and consistent, which is what Simon values most. The sky is blue, grass is green and Simon Riley will follow Captain John Price until the end.

But he's also not a blind follower - they butt heads often, especially now that they've grown to respect each other more and can have those discussions without fear of damaging their working relationship. Simon's independence is attractive to Price, as well as how good he is at his job. Simon's loyalty means more when he knows that he's more than capable on his own. It means that, when thing's are really in the shit, Simon on some level trusts Price more than himself.

But in saying all this - i don't think they're built to be anything more than lifelong friends who have casual sex together. And also, I don't think either of them want to be more than that, really. They're both extremely competent, extremely sharp, violent men who care for each other and need an outlet sometimes. Neither of them are capable of fully lifting the other out of the hole, but they can at least make it comfortable down there.