Another COD Blog

Soap is dead

Gaz is missing

Price went rogue and is being hunted down while he’s teamed up with Valeria

And Ghost has gone back to being a lone wolf on a mission to hunt down Price, dead or alive

The tragic part would be that Roach lost his team and his friends, and now he’ll have to do everything he can to recover whoever he can while dealing with the grief of what he lost, what he was, and what he could have been. All while the world around him is falling apart right before his eyes

The funny thing is that the most chaotic member of 141 will become the voice of reason and the only thing keeping everything from going to hell in the process

Ghost knows it's a just a simulation, that he's hooked into the virtual reality system to keep his mind and body relaxed for the ship to get into position and perform the star-jump. He should take the time do some training, familiarize himself with new weaponry, open the general links to meet the new guys who will be on his team and learn how they'll all operate as a team.

Instead, he's locked away behind three passcodes, indulging himself and praying no one is paying attention to his VR logs.

"C'mon, Lieutenant." The simulation of Kyle's voice is as mean as the hand fisted in Simon's hair. "Better make it count if you're never gonna suck my cock for real."

He’s painting their faces with a pained groan, staring at the ceiling because if he looks down to see their mouths open, tongues out and coated in him, he’s going to have a heart attack

After several very loud declarations of, "Get it right roon ye."

The occasional, "Christ, the only baws he plays wae are hus ain."

And shots after every goal, Kyle's both drunk and delighted to be included in the celebrations when Scotland wins the match, everyone inside seems willing to talk to the strangers around them about the match. He even gets a "Yer no bad fir a wee Englishman" from an older gentleman who buys him and Johnny a pint when he clocks them as military.

Later, Kyle will forever treasure a blurry video on his phone of himself, Johnny, and the countless faces of people he'll never meet again, roaring along to 500 Miles, all various stages of drunk and red in the face. It should be embarrassing, clinging to a stranger's shoulder and belting out tunes while slightly off tune, but Kyle will always remember the smile on Johnny's face and the light in his eyes.

He thinks a lot about the way Johnny's hands stilled on his own as the man passed over a cigarette outside, the way he hooked a finger around Kyle's pinkie just to keep contact between them.

doing anything but showering

“there’s no picture.” “never.”

Some gaz doodles!!

He's not untouchable, nor is he ill-tempered. But he never corrects anything he hears about himself, no matter how outlandish or violent the stories are. Something about never interrupting your enemy when they make a mistake.

He's aware of the belief that he's held on a short leash by his captain, only without the man, does he realise no one had considered what sort of man it takes to acquire the hold of that leash.

For all Ghost is scary, Captain Price is terrifying. Without the Captain, Price has no boundaries, no limits, and no one by his side to consider before he acts.

The widespread assumption was that the Captain was the man to rein him in; that's exactly why he's the man to subdue John when he goes off the deep end.

Simon hates him, with a complexity that most can't understand. He knows Price; he knows the frustration of a man told to stick to the book and follow orders from men who sit behind desks and twiddle their thumbs. He knows John; he knows the ache of a man whose knees have taken the brunt of his falls and the man who needs to be drawn out of his own head by someone he trusts with his wrists pinned and his legs spread.

But he wasn't the only one who lost a team member; he isn't the one being scrutinised for the actions of a man unhinged. He doesn't seem to care for those he left in his wake, who mistakenly thought him a man they could rely on.

if we’re talking their canon selves, i see soap being both an overachiever and also failing a few classes; maths, science, shop, phys ed are all things he applies himself to, he enjoys them and craves knowledge in a way that challenges his teachers. but on the flip side if he isn’t interested in a subject he struggles hardcore; it’s not that he doesn’t know how to do them but it’s all so slippery in his head, he can’t keep it all straight, can’t remember all the things he’s supposed to when his brain is occupied with all the things he’d rather be thinking about

he already knows what he wants to do with his life, is counting done the days to graduation so he can finally get started; he sees all this as the interim. he’s good with people, has as many mates as anyone else, but he doesn’t have friends, not when he knows he’s going to leave them all behind, and other than the odd unserious crush and low stakes snog, he isn’t interested in dating for the same reason; he thinks it would be cruel to lead someone on like that. everyone thinks they’re his best friend and he’s big on sports but not the culture so while he’ll play and train like he’s pregaming basic, he doesn’t hang out with the jocks; he hangs out with everyone so by value, he spends time with no one

ghost drops out the second he can. he’s a kid who had to grow up too fast and he just thinks the whole thing is pointless and the second he’s old enough to work, he was out. he didn’t like any class but he prefers the practical ones, the ones he actually thinks he’ll take into his life, so shop and maths are the only ones he pays any attention to. teachers have tried to get him more involved, to believe that school can be more than training for a career, but he has no interest in clubs or after school activities either; he isn’t pretentious about it, he doesn’t think he’s above it or above making friends, he just knows there’s nothing for him to relate to. he isn’t like other kids, they find him off-putting and he finds them immature even if he knows he’s the problem, not them

i also have a hc that ghost was never taught how to read until he got to school bc his dad didn’t give a shit and his mum is either not in the picture (i have her dying in childbirth a lot sorry unnamed ghost mum) or she’s a drug user to try and cope with the abuse and can’t give any more to ghost than she already does, so he struggles with illiteracy for most of his life. he can’t read in his head until his mid 20’s and he can only hide it in the military bc he has a very specific set of words he has to know. the shame of that makes him even less inclined to care about school bc he doesn’t want anyone to know and he ends up wagging every english lesson from yr 5 onwards

if they went to school together i think it would have to be something random that brings them together, i don’t see them seeking each other out. maybe the teachers try sitting soap next to ghost hoping he’ll be able to pull him out of his shell since he’s so personable but bc he only cares about surface level conversation, ghost pretty much immediately dismisses him. both of them fly under the radar in different ways, soap by being around everyone but known by no one and ghost not interacting with anyone

i think the only thing that would change that is if they find out they both want to join the military. ghost would be very sceptical of it bc why would a guy as popular and well liked as soap want to join the military but it triggers soap’s trap card bc he has no one else to talk to about it so he spends the next half an hour rambling about all the prep he’s doing so he’s ready for basic, from his workout routine to his diet. that dedication is so different to how soap presents himself that it intrigues ghost enough to look a little deeper and they eventually start working out together outside of school which leads to a friendship

Thoughts:

-ghost not being able to read but doing his damnedest to try and teach Tommy is both heart breaking so so deliciously good

-I always hc soap has a very very good home life, something to look forward to when he’s homesick, with a handful of sisters and he’s the only boy

-I do think if he met someone like Simon I don’t think he’d know how to react to a home life so extremely different. I think for soap at first he might think it’s a joke, like either Simon is too serious or making things up to be dramatic . Then some how he sees it or hears it or sees bruises on Simon and it all clicks.

I think him coming from such a happy home would trigger some sort worry or determination to help and asks his parents or the school for help. They do a welfare check and things get wayyyy wayyyy worse for Simon before they ever get better. I feel like it’s one of those things where Simon trusted soap with this information and then soap tried to do something nice

soap genuinely thinking he’s doing something good in telling his parents and calling social services bc that’s what you’re supposed to do, they’re supposed to help people; they’ll get simon out of there and everything will be alright. simon won’t be hurting anymore

he never even considers that he could be making things worse

the argument they have when he finally sees ghost again is explosive; ghost is pissed at him and soap doesn’t understand why, they were supposed to help, how could it have been bad to call them? just for ghost to tell him there was never a chance of him bring taken from his dad, that he’s an evil bastard but he’s a conniving evil bastard and he isn’t a fucking idiot; he was never going to let simon go, never going to lose the person he has complete control over, and it was simon who took the fall for involving the government in his business

soap didn’t help him, he was feeling selfish and guilty and if he had just fucking talked to him first, he could have told him all this and it never would’ve happened

instead, he took something he told him in private, something he’s never told anyone else, and he blabbed about it the first chance he had

“thanks for nothing, john”

—price when you banish him to the couch, he could be one of two ways—mature and forces you to talk it out nicely or toxic, flat out refuses, and fucks you back to your senses. the first way, when the words spill from your mouth, his shoulders slumped with dejection as he steps from the room. no point in arguing when you're worked up. after stewing in your anger for thirty or so minutes, he returns—armed with food—and talks it out with you. the other way, he flat out refuses to sleep on the couch. i could see him manipulating you with the "I paid for that bed, and I'll sleep in it." you're stubborn, muttering something about you sleeping on the couch then, which is how you end up getting your brains fucked out.

—soap I imagine soap just pushed your buttons way too much that day. you know how he is sometimes—over the top, hyper, and an all-around instigator. he was looking for a reaction, and he found it—just not the one he wanted. immediately pouts, acting like a dejected child before he goes on to try and convince you to change your mind. real annoying about it too, doesn't give up until you're at your breaking point.

—kyle the only one that I see actually accept his banishment with stride. he knows he made you upset, respects the boundary you placed with him and doesn't take it to heart. there's also a big possibility that, by the end of the night, you end up talking it out anyways like mature adults. he knows you needed to get it out of your system, and you serving punishment to him did just that.

—simon the second the words leave your mouth, he shuts down. you see the moment he deflates, doesn't try to reconcile, and just accepts it. he doesn't want to upset you further or make you more mad than you already are. simon doesn't respond well to domestic conflict. the second his back hits the cushions? he's tossing and turning. he barely fits the couch to begin with, and you both learn you need each other to sleep—bonded like a pair of cats.

He has no idea what the mini flags in your pencil holder mean, only recognizes the rainbow one. Price tried to stay away from that sort of stuff, only way to stay alive, and now all his information comes to him through osmosis of talking with the sergeants.

Which is how you come into the office one day to find a small box on your desk, no note or anything. Price had told you he'd left you "something for the constitution, eh?" When you passed him in the hall. Could this be it?

You open the box and—

"PRoud of wHo you Are!"

A small cake, decorated with rainbow frosting, the words look messy and done in a gel icing you one might buy separately. The image of price being too embarrassed to ask the workers to add words because he wasn't sure what to say comes to mind, followed quickly by him bent over the cake piping on messy lines.

It's horribly tacky. It's the nicest thing anyone on base has done for you.

You're not exactly quiet about who you are, and that decision can be felt everyday withe the way your coworkers act. So this? Now?

You both meet in a mer sanctuary, you having been rescued from an aquarium going bankrupt and ghost under treatment for a boating strike. You've never seen another mer before, but the strange creature in your tank undeniably is one, that much you instincts tell you.

But....but he's so big, bigger than anything you've seen before! You doubt he could ever comfortably fit in your tank! Just looking at him makes your fins flutter nervously, hiding in the rocks on the shelf built into the pool.

He keeps peeking into your cave, chirping and churring in a way that makes your instincts perk but you don't really understand. Safety? Pod? You don't know.

Meanwhile, ghost is losing his mind.

This strange mer is too damn small, and he keeps trying to ask "are you okay? I'm safe, did they hurt you?" But all it does is squeak like a pup and hide!

Ghost can't fit into the tiny cave with the mer, and his instincts are already freaking out because he's separated from his pod! He needs to protect the weird pup!

....how the hell the workers intend to care for you when ghost is at risk of drowning anyone who tries, they have no idea.

You're a lone survivor in the apocalypse, group having been picked thin from well...everything. zombies are one thing but humans are another.

Maybe ghost thinks he recognizes you, some intern that used to work on base, or at least close enough. You're defenseless to this monster as he drags you further into the abandoned apartment complex he seemed to call home. He? It? You're not sure.

The days are long of it simply following you everywhere, he doesn't try to restrict your movement around his...territory? Happy to let you roam, watch you scavenge for food.

Nights are...worse.

The monster forces you into his den, a pile of clothes covered in old blood. Some items he holds often, a blue cap, a boonie hat. Sometimes it puts them on you, wraps you up in all three arms. Grumbles and Gurgles in your ear, not sleeping but playing at it.

The hand never strays lower that your waistband but...surely it won't stay like that.

What will you do then? ...would you run?

It's frustrating, yet expected and unsurprising.

"Remind me to pick up a pack of cigarettes later, after listening to that I'll need them."

Kyle's joke wasn't bad, in fact, he's funnier than most men who try to banter over comms. Not that she'd ever admit that, she refuses to encourage him.

"Thought you were quitting for the wife's sake?"

There's no judgement in Kyle's tone, no thinly veiled disgust at the idea of her having a same sex partner. Not that she'd expect it from him, Kyle has no qualms about being ordered or advised by a woman and that's typically a good sign but she knows from experience that it's never a definite.

"What she doesn't know can't hurt her, and if she does know then I'll be dishing out for a damn good anniversary gift, sergeant."