Simon “Ghost” Riley x You

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It’s late. You’re standing at the sink, brushing your teeth, the minty foam making your cheeks puff out a little. Your hair’s a mess, in your way-too-big-shirt – probably one of his – and you’re swaying faintly, humming something under your breath.

You catch him in the mirror.

Simon, leaning against the doorframe. Silent. Watching.

His eyes aren’t sharp like on mission. They’re soft. Too soft. Like he’s studying something he doesn’t dare touch too hard in case it breaks.

You rinse your mouth and lift a brow at him. “Why’re you looking at me like that?”

He blinks. Slow. Shrugs, but doesn’t look away. “…Dunno. You just… exist.”

You laugh quietly. Shake your head.

But he doesn’t smile back.

To him, that’s not small.

You, standing there in the safe, boring light of a bathroom mirror. Not bleeding. Not running. Not screaming into a comms line.

Just existing.

He watches you fold socks like it’s a ritual. Watches you chew pen caps while doing crossword puzzles. Watches you hum to yourself while making tea and doesn’t even realize he’s holding his breath the entire time.

You’re the only person who’s ever made him feel like the world can pause.

And it wrecks him.

Worse than the war zones. Worse than the blood and screams and smoke and loss.

Because this?

This is what he never thought he’d have.

And every second of it feels like being in a dream he’s afraid to wake from.

So he watches.

Burns every detail into the inside of his mind like sacred scripture.

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“He needs to remember exactly how it felt – just to be in the same room while you exist.”

"What are ya doin'?" Simon asks, coming up next to you.

"Puzzle. New one. It's... really fun." You say, showing him your phone. "It's like escape room but you're really just looking for like one item." You say, leaning into him as you continue to play your game.

"Mh.." He mumbles, wrapping his arm around you. But he couldn't care less about your game. He cared about this moment. You. You in his shirt, you sipping from cups he bought, cuddled up to him on the couch in the house he bought.

"Always so warm Si." You say, nuzzling into his side.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." The truth.

You continued to play your game silently, grumbling every now and then when you were stumped.

He watched, rubbing on your shoulder, slipping the sleeve off a little to touch your skin. He listened to each breath, each smile when you got something, each furrow of your eyebrow in confusion, each grumbled curse word. All he could think about was you.

Perfect, perfect you.

"What's this called?" He asked, hand weakly gesturing to the phone.

"Collection. It's super fun, but some are just ridiculous. But, they have 2 parts. Collection 2."

He hummed again, rubbing your arm. "A... collection of puzzles?" He asked.

"Mhm."

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Idk, puzzle night seems fun. Maybe you make Simon help you with a 1000 piece jigsaw on the coffee table