Chapter Text
It took Ghost longer than normal to realize what was happening. To be fair, he’s only ever had to worry about himself, and maybe Price every once and a while. Another point in Ghost's favor; he really knows nothing about shifters.
It starts very simple, normal even.
There were times when Ghost and Soap would be lying in bed, doing nothing but enjoying each other's presence. Ghost would have his mask off, comfortable enough with the Scot to let that part of himself be bare. While he was comfortable enough, sometimes some things would just get too much. Light on his face, air blowing a certain way, anything. He still wasn't used to not wearing the mask almost 24/7, so not having the pressure of the fabric over his face was a new feeling. When this happened, when sensation got too much, and Ghost would wish he had his mask on, Soap would somehow just know. He would reach over to the nightstand where the mask was, and hand it over to Ghost.
The first time this happened, Ghost had been too afraid to ask for the mask. What if Soap thought he wasn’t good enough, what if he thought that Ghost didn't feel safe enough, and that offended him? He must have zoned out slightly because he came back to a half-asleep Soap shoving the balaclava onto Ghost's chest.
“’S ‘ere.” Was all Soap mumbled before he was back to being fully asleep. Ghost couldn’t have been more confused. How in the world did Soap know that he wanted the mask? I must have tensed, he decided, being too tired to think about it more, especially with the adorable sleeping Soap in his arms.
~~~~
The next time it happened, Ghost wasn't paying attention either, but for different reasons.
He was sitting in the common area, only there because Soap was sitting at a table close to him, talking to some of the other soldiers on base. They were laughing at whatever Soap had just said, and one of them was leaning just a bit too close. Ghost snuffed out his annoyance, since he could still see the hickeys left on Soap's neck from the other night.
Soap seemed to sense his stare, turning around to look at him with a pink tint to his face. The Scot turned back just as quickly, chuckling at something one of the others said.
Ghost was there only because Soap dragged him to the common area. He was never one to socialize, but Soap needed his dosage of people interaction for the day, and Ghost had not yet learned how to say no to the man.
Another person entered the room, the door slamming back into its frame a little too hard. Anyone normal (aka human) wouldn’t notice, but with his enhanced hearing the sound rang like a bell through his ears. Ghost saw Soap flinch as well, but the man hid it better than Ghost did. As much as he tried to breathe his way through it, the sudden loud noise affected him more than he had realized. He was breathing heavily, hands clenched in his cargo pants.
Fuck.
Fuck sudden loud noises and stupid PTSD. Ghost unsuccessfully tried to remember the breathing exercises he had been taught. In for four, hold for four, out for four, hold for four, repeat.
It wasn't working, his harsh breaths starting to become more like panting.
“-ost… Simon…” Who was talking to him?
“Common, ‘m right here.” Soap?
“L.T., look at me, there ya go.” The Sergeant was in front of him, crouched down to be at eye level with Ghost.
“Hey, there ye are,” Soap said, smiling. He took Ghost by the hand, pulling him to stand up and walk out of the room. Ghost didn't even notice if there were still people, solely focused on the way Soap's hand in his grounded him.
Soap led him out of the common area, towards an empty hallway. “Ye good Simon?”
Ghost took a second to collect himself. He took a few deep breaths through his mask, wishing he was somewhere more secluded where he could take it off. “Yeah… yeah, sorry.”
“Don’t apologize, not your fault,” Soap murmured. “Let's go back tae yer room, give ye a chance tae settle down.”
Ghost walked down the hallway after Soap, not even considering how the Sergent knew he was overwhelmed.
~~~~
The instances became more frequent and were such simple things that Ghost would have missed them.
The 141 were doing a mission debrief, it had just been info gathering, in and out and no one had seen them. Price stood near the front of the room, next to a computer giving him whatever information he needed for the debrief. Gaz and Soap were standing close together, leaning in to whisper different jokes every once and a while. Ghost, as usual, was standing in the corner, back to a wall and eyes on everything.
The mission had been simple, Ghost was on overwatch while Soap and Gaz went in to secure the information. Nothing had gone amiss, so why was Ghost feeling like he wanted to rip out someone's throat? Specifically, Gaz's throat was his target, the man was standing too close to Soap, to his mate-
What.
Soap whipped his head over to face Ghost, saving him from trying to figure out what that thought was. The Scot walked over to Ghost, not even saying anything to Gaz, who just scoffed and rolled his eyes when he realized where Soap was going.
Soap pushed his shoulder into Ghosts, “You solid L.T.?” He asked.
“Affirm, need anything Sergent?” The feeling of wanting to maim someone had significantly lessened now that Soap was next to him.
Soap shot him a smile. “No, Sir.”
They spent the rest of the debrief touching from thigh to shoulder, and if Ghost shot Gaz a few murderous gazes, that was for him to know.
~~~~
He was working in his office, simple mindless paperwork that he really wished he didn’t have to be doing. The fluorescent lights were flickered above him, giving him a headache. Ghost's rank as Lieutenant got him a lot of extra perks, but he wasn’t allowed to request different lighting in his office. As much as he wanted to be done with his paperwork and leave the terribly lit office, Price needed it to complete his own mission report, and Ghost wasn’t one to hold anything up. He still had a couple of pages to do, but damn the headache was really getting to him.
The door to his office slid open almost silently, Ghost looked up to see who it was, really to be pissed at them for entering his office unannounced.
“Hey, Simon.” It was just Soap. Ghost softened at the name, Soap only called him Simon when they were alone, saying that it was too special to be shared with anyone else. The Scot was carefully carrying a mug in both hands, he set it down on the table in front of Ghost.
“You look way too happy, what did you do?” Ghost asked, not bothering to look down at the new addition to his desk.
“Made ye tea,” Soap responded, looking proud of himself. “Oh! and-“ He fished around in his back pocket for a moment before pulling out a small plastic bag with two pills in it. “Brought ye some pain meds too.”
Ghost looked at him questionably, he wasn’t one to admit he needed help, so no one had ever been told that he got headaches from the lights in his office. “What for, Sergent?”
“Ay ken the lights bother ye in here,” Soap responded, avoiding eye contact. Ghost frowned, hidden behind the mask, maybe Soap was just more observant than he thought?
“Thanks.” He huffed, just now taking in the scent of the Earl Gray tea Soap that had placed in front of him. He raised his eyebrows, since when did Soap know that Earl Gray tea was his favorite?