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Soap pauses, fist frozen just inches from knocking on Price's door. He couldn’t even be sure the Captain would be able to help him with this, but as far as he knew, the man was the only other person Ghost trusted.
It was his best bet, but… did he need to bother Price about it? Was it somehow betraying Ghost’s trust to talk to the Captain about the gift?
“Soap, either come in, or fuck off. Quit standin’ in my doorway,” came a gruff voice from behind the door, making Soap jump before he hastily enters, closing the door to the man's office behind him. Price is closing a manilla folder and leaning back in his chair, sighing. “What do you need?”
“I don’t– I–” he takes a breath, and opens his hand, showing Price what lies inside his palm. “It– Ghost gave me a gold chain necklace and I don’t– What do I do?? Do– what does it mean?? I don’t know what Ghost is, so–”
Price’s mouth falls open, and he stares at the necklace in Soap’s hand. After a few beats of silence, the Captain managed to pick his jaw up off the floor, and he sat up, leaning forward on his elbows on his desk.
“I’m not gonna tell you what he is, that’s his to share,” Price starts. “But I will tell you, first of all, it isn’t a proposal of some kind, don’t worry. You also don’t owe him your soul or something of the sort. I’ll also give you some advice. You protect that necklace with your life, don’t wear it unless you’re ready for Ghost to get ten times clingier than you ever thought possible, and once you get your head out of your arse like the Lieutenant apparently has, and you feel like making a move, give him something durable and shiny, preferably something pretty and/or metal.”
Soap opens and closes his mouth, unsure of how to respond. He looks at the necklace in hand and then back up at Price.
“So he’s…” Soap pauses. “He’s flirting?”
Price sighs and nods, seemingly done with the conversation, and motioning Soap to leave.
“That’s all I’ll say, the rest is up to you two muppets. Now, leave me to finish my paperwork.” Soap gives a curt nod and leaves the office in a daze.
Ghost. Lieutenant Simon Riley, The Ghost, is flirting with him. And if he wants to reciprocate he should… wear the necklace and give him something in return. Something pretty, metal, shiny, and durable.
Soap barely had to think about his decision before he takes the necklace and puts it around his neck, before he goes to his room to find some old rings he used to wear.
It took some digging, but he found the rings. Two plain silver ones, one black with intricate carvings and embedded with small red stones.
Now he just had to work up the courage to go find Ghost and give him the rings and have a talk about what it all really means to them both.
Super simple, totally.
He’s saved from his own spiraling mind as he begins to wear a path into the floor of his room by a quiet knock on his door. He doesn’t think twice before he opens it, and comes face to face with the very Lieutenant he was just overthinking about. How convenient.
The man looks… objectively nervous, picking at the skin around his nails. He’s wearing a black hoodie and sweats, unusually casual for how he normally dressed. He pauses his fidgeting momentarily, staring at Soap’s neck and, assumedly, the necklace.
“You’re wearing my necklace,” he states quietly. Soap swallows nervously and tries his best to seem confident.
“Yeah, and I, uh,” he clears his throat and holds out his hand. “I got you these. Price gave me some, uh, advice. Nothing invasive, don’t worry! Didn’t tell me what you are or anything, just, uh advice and… yeah.”
Ghost gently plucks the rings from Soap’s hand, inspecting them with wide eyes.
“And you– you understand what you’re doing, wearing the- the necklace and giving me these?” he asks, looking up to stare into Soap’s eyes with what the Scotsman could only describe as hope.
“I, uh, yeah. I think so, at least, Price– said it was akin to, er, flirting, so–” he smiles sheepishly and looks back at Ghost, who still has stars in his eyes.
“... Come to my room. Now,” Ghost orders, grabbing Soap’s wrist and pulling him out of his doorway and down the hall, barely giving him time to close the door behind him.
“Wh– okay!” he stumbles after the taller man, trying to keep up with his long strides without tripping. Soap’s blushing, he can tell by the distinct burning of his face. He’s never seen Ghost’s room before. No one has. At least, no one still alive anyway.
Ghost unlocks his door with one hand, the other still gripping Soap’s wrist tightly, and pushes his way into the dark room, shoving Soap in and locking the door behind him. Now, Soap isn’t one to jump to conclusions, but he definitely started blushing harder when the door locked.
The room is pitch black, and Soap can’t see a thing, waiting for his eyes to adjust.
“So, what are we doi–” Ghost interrupts him by shoving him toward the back right corner of the room.
“Sit. On my bed. We are taking a nap.” Soap blinks, and before he can question anything, he’s falling onto a bed covered in… jewelry? Coins? And other majority metal objects.
The cogs in his head are turning as Ghost shoves him to lay close to the wall and curls around him protectively, and Soap hears the clinks of the Lieutenant depositing the rings into the pile of things as they shift in the bed.
Ghost pulls Soap’s face to his chest and lays a protective arm over his side, entangling their legs as Soap’s brain catches up and he puts his arm over Ghost’s side and begins shifting to get comfortable.
Soap knows, he swears, it’s on the tip of his tongue what Ghost is. He has all the puzzle pieces, he’s just trying to fit them together to make the picture now. And he’s so close, on the precipice of connecting the dots, when Ghost speaks up.
“I’m a dragon. ‘S why I’m so… protective of my things. Why I gave you the necklace. And, uh, why we’re here. Having a nap. On my hoard.” The dots connect, the puzzle pieces fit together, and several things click in Soap’s head.
“That’s– actually, ah’m surprised I didnae figure it out sooner,” he jokes quietly. “Was wonderin’ why ye looked at me like I hung the damn stars when ah gave you that bullet casing back in Lithuania a few weeks ago.”
Ghost huffs, squeezing Soap’s waist gently, and Soap picks up the distinct scent of smoke, wondering again how he didn’t figure it out when in retrospect it was so obvious.
“Still have it. It’s in my bed somewhere, we’re prob’ly layin’ on it,” Ghost mutters, amused. Soap smiles softly, tracing circles on Ghost’s back with his thumb. “Also, I am very possessive, fair warning. Tell me if it gets too much, can’t promise I won’t still be upset, but I can respect boundaries no matter how pissed off I am. You also should probably bring some of your clothes and other necessities to my room, I’ll probably drag you here most nights.”
Soap hums.
“Honestly, don’t go attacking innocent people and it’s probably fine. I’m–” he chews his lip, figuring it’s only fair to tell Ghost what he is now that he knows of Ghost’s being a dragon. “I’m a werewolf, so, ah get pretty territorial myself. Remember that time Gaz tried goin’ off tae find a lass to go home with at the bar and ah, uh, sorta accidentally-on-purpose cockblocked him?”
Ghost laughs, chest shaking.
“Figured as much. You smell like wet dog after you shower, and you have a certain knack for retrieving things,” Soap flushes.
“Away ‘nd bile yer heid!” Ghost chuckles, burying his face in Soap’s hair.
“Never said it was a bad thing, Johnny.” Soap huffs, smiling.
“Shut up, ye damn sap,” he mutters into Ghost’s shirt. Ghost chuckles again, and the vibrations travel through his chest to Soap’s head.
“Fine, only because we should probably get to sleep if we actually want to nap before we have things to do,” Ghost murmurs, rubbing his cheek along the top of Soap’s head. Soap just hums, feeling the pull of sleep creep in the longer he lays in the dark, pressed close to Ghost.
They’d have other things to discuss later, labels for their budding relationship, boundaries, fraternizing rules and how they most definitely were not allow to be dating, etc. But for now, they were curled up on Ghost’s bed, surrounded by his hoard, and they could just relax in each other's arms and sleep.