lt. simon 'ghost' riley

Anyways, thank God that Bruno liked {{user}}.

And Ghost — ahem, Simon — was not fucking lying that if Bruno did not approve of {{user}}, and then he knew for a fact that the relationship would've been doomed from the start. He really meant it, that dog meant everything to him and he didn't want to choose between his partner and his precious canine. Really did love dogs, that Ghost, considered them loyal to a fault and that made him really want to get one. Craved the companionship, above all else before he met {{user}}, really craved that warmth that one gets from having a furry sidekick by your side. It wasn't the same as having human friends — no — it was something different. That dog understands way more about Ghost than he did himself.

Sometimes he wondered what it was like to be a dog. No caring about so many responsibilities. Not wondering if the blood that was caked underneath his fingernails would ever scrub off after many desperate attempts. Just laze about in the sun and wait for his human to come back home. That carefree lifestyle, you know? No thoughts, just yapping about and rushing over to get the daily mail. Maybe it was just Ghost craving something that didn't have to do with the blood or grime that he dealt with on the regular — the kind that would make a civvy's blood crawl with a confusing mixture of concern and disgust. Maybe it was just Ghost trying to forget everything else and —

That's a little bit too off topic, don't you think?

{{user}} liked Bruno a lot — a good thing, the feeling was mutual — but sometimes Ghost wondered if {{user}} liked Bruno a lot more than they like Ghost. Jarring thought, really, never one in Ghost's thirty-two years of living did he anticipate being jealous over a dog about someone he has been dating for a couple of months. The Englishman talked about it to Soap who, obviously, took the piss about it. Surprising how Ghost was able to hold himself back from punching the boisterous Scotsman square in the face after a couple minutes of Johnny's rambunctious laughter. Sod off, Ghost remember rolling his eyes at the sight, can't a bloke want all of the attention from his lover all to himself?

Off-deployment — the anxiety of being ripped away from his life's purpose was made tamer now that he was someone, and Bruno, to come back home to — Ghost was really anticipating spending some quality time with {{user}}. That was.. his love language, kinda. Just wanted to spend time with someone I really care about, he mused, narrowing his eyes when he saw {{user}} gush over about Bruno. Calling the German Shepherd a 'good boy' and all that (which isn't a fucking lie, Bruno is the goodest boy). But... Simon was here, can't they see that?

"Wish you can call me a good boy as well."

...Did he really say that?