Missed a spot, Lt
in which rookie!reader helps Ghost find the right skincare to get rid off the stains from the eye paint he uses
cw: fluff, tf141 cameos, platonic/romantic, very silly and fluffy
————
“We’re going Tesco, c’mon.”
The door shuts behind him as he disappears into the bathroom with muffled grumbles echoing around the room. Sure, you did go with him grocery shopping every now and then, but you didn't have anything to buy right now. Plus, you were on the third day of your period and Soap’s training course had you knocked out.
It’s a few moment later when he comes out, surgical mask in place and a black cap covering his head as he stands over your bed. “What are you doing? Come on.”
You’re sprawled like a starfish, eyes barely closed as you stare up at the ceiling. “Body hurts, don't wanna.” You wait for the door to shut again as he leaves without you, but instead you feel two hands on your legs dragging you off of the bed.
“Hey!”
————-
You follow him through the aisles, occasionally stopping to grab a thing or two to add to your own basket. “So why did you suddenly want to go shopping anyway? Didn't we go a few days ago?”
The shelves of chocolates are full for once, probably because everyone is mourning the fact they melt so fast in the summer heat. Oh well, at least you can grab some ice cream instead— if that’s not bare already. You turn to face him where he’s checking something on his phone, walking over to sneak a Haribo bag into his basket.
“Lt you got a bit of—“ His eyes lock onto your frozen finger on his cheek, as if realising what you had just done before instantly recoiling it back to your side. “Think you forgot to remove all your paint.” You manage to stammer out, cheeks burning hot as you look away.
“It won't come off.” He grumbles himself, turning away from you almost like he’s embarrassed himself.
“Oh, so that’s why we’re here.” You have to hold in your giggle, because it was quite comical that he couldn't remove it from his face, and also it explains all his annoyed cursing in the bathroom earlier. “Alright, let’s go to the skincare section then.”
—————
After chomping down the cookie you got from the bakery, you start unpacking the cotton pads and micellar water he bought, as well as the brand new cleanser. Just in case it wasn't enough. He’s standing in the bathroom, since you insisted on helping him, keeping his eyes fixated on the mirror and his arms crossed over his chest.
“Mm okay, so first you’re gonna wash your face.” You swallow down the last bite, and place the bottles down on the counter, the tap running as he follows your instructions. “Okay, now a bit of this micellar water on a cotton pad..” You hold it between your index and thumb, reaching up like you had before to do it yourself before pausing.
“Go on.” He sighs and you grin, swiping it across his face until most of the paint comes off. Unfortunately some bits are still a little stubborn. “Hm, okay, guess this cleanser will have to be done too.” You pump two blobs of the liquid into your hands, rubbing them to create the foamy result before smiling up at him.
He rolls his eyes before reluctantly letting you lather it across his face, ignoring the way your thumbs rub it gently across his cheeks and minding his eyes. He rinses it off after, checking his face in the mirror to find it totally clean like you promised.. maybe a little bit brighter.
“Thanks.” He pats the water away with a towel, ready to just head to bed until you tug him back. “What?”
“In the nicest way possible, your skin is drier than bushes before a wildfire.” You frown, reaching into the small box of products you keep in the corner for your moisturiser.
You reach forward, trying to smear it in his face but he backs up, swatting your hands away. “I don't need that—“
“You do!” He manages to slip past you back into the room and you groan, following after him. “Dont you get annoyed with how dry it is? Come on, just a bit.”
“No.”
“Fine. Have ashy skin for all I care.” You stick your tongue out at him, rubbing the moisturiser into your arms instead before making your way back to the bathroom. Great, your whole body still hurts, you finished your only sweet treat, and it wasn't even Friday today. Plus you’re pretty sure you might’ve just gotten on your Lieutenant’s nerves by being way too friendly there. You splash the water across your face and grab your cleanser, practically the only step of your skincare routine since life is way too busy for the million step ones on social media most days. Even if you do have a bunch of bottles waiting to be used.
You step out of the bathroom soon after, feeling the exhaustion weigh down your bones as you kick your socks off by your bed.
“You’re sulking.” He’s sitting on his bed, phone open though he’s not really paying attention at all, in fact his shoulders seem a little stiff.
“I’m not.” You huff, shaking your sheets before letting them settle on the mattress again.
“You are.” He scoffs, the bed creaking as he slowly stands and approaches you as you clean up your bed. “ Y’mad at me?”
“If you didn't want my help, I don't know why you dragged me all the way to Tesco. Some people don't have the nice privilege of a fancy office and a comfy chair.” You grumble back, even though you most definitely are still a little scared of him; you’ll definitely regret this all at 2am tomorrow. Then again..he’s been acting real mean lately, always teasing and embarrassing you. It’s not fair if you cant quip back once or twice.
“I also work in the special forces, the chair is a small comfort.” He rolls his eyes, though he cant deny he did essentially drag you out just to pick out a few products you easily could’ve just shown him a picture of.
You want to say more, maybe something really sarcastic he can tell, but you clamp your mouth shut and suddenly that feels worse than anything else. “I’m going to bed. Goodnight.”
“Now you just look like a pitiful mutt on the side of the road or something.” He grabs your hand, stopping you from climbing into bed and essentially forcing you to look up at him. “What d’ya want from me, woman? My lunch money?”
“That’d be a start.” You frown and he groans, pinching his brow between his fingers. He’s exaggerating it too much for once, proper rolling his eyes and all.
“Fine. You can put your stupid skincare stuff on me, but no more sulking. And no one hears about this, alright?”
———————
He’s laying down as per your instruction, mask discarded and dressed in his pajamas; the only thing different is the fluffy headband keeping the hair out his face. You’re sitting next to him with an arrangement of bottles, ones he’s sure haven't seen the light of day in months but you’ve pulled out just for him. Great.
“Is this really how you want to spend your evening?” He says as he watches you pull out a packet, one that looks oddly like a face mask.
“No take backsies now, Simon.” You smile and he groans for the fifth time that hour. “Close your eyes.” He listens though instantly winces at the coldness of the clay mixture you spread across his face, instinctively opening one eye.
“This is freezing you know.” You roll your eyes at his complaints, continuing to spread it across his cheeks, nose and forehead. “Why’re there little bits in it? I thought it was s’posed to be smooth.”
“To exfoliate your skin, idiot. Hell, you need it with how long you keep that mask on.” He frowns at your words, making you grin just a bit wider as you spread the last dollop on his chin. “Okay, gotta let it sit for ten minutes now.”
“Ten? I have to wait for ten whole minutes?” He opens his eyes properly again, staring at you in disbelief and you just chuckle as you reach for your laptop.
“We can watch something in the meantime, or I can get us something to drink?” You offer, tilting your head and he’s about to scoff and insist he can make himself something when he realises how stupid he must look with this on his face. Great.
“Put channel four on, or something. Must be something on.”
You end up watching ten minutes worth of police interceptors, which mostly consists of you both criticizing how stupid the criminals are until your phone buzzes. He watches you hop off the bed towards the bathroom, dampening a tissue before you return to his side once more. “Gonna wipe it all off now.” You hum, watching the hardened clay come off his face as you swipe it across.
“Didn't realise how stiff that made me..” He mutters as he moves his jaw and you snicker, knowing weird how those masks can feel sometimes. “Do feel a bit fresher though.” He sits upright, checking his phone alarm is set at the right time but you shake your head insistently.
“You’re not done yet, Simon. Still got like four more steps to do!”
“For fucks sake..” He sighs, allowing himself to be pushed back down onto the pillows as you spray something onto a round cotton pad.
Surprisingly he keeps quiet this time as you use the toner on his skin, tracing the curves of his face until you’re satisfied. The sound of glass bottles clink by his ear before a cold liquid drops on his cheeks, making his eyelashes flutter though still shut like you instructed him to do. Again, your fingers spread the cool serum across his skin, refreshing each part of his face. You hardly even hesitate on the scars though he expects you to, instead making sure the product is spread evenly.
“Alright.. now we wait for that to sink in and then moisturiser.” You mumble to yourself, packing up everything else into the small bag you usually keep it in. It takes a small effort to get it to fit before you finally huff in relief, heading over to place it back in the bathroom cabinet.
You put two dollops of the cream in your hand before returning to him, the lights dimmed when the hour ticked closer to ten. “Don’t worry, this won't be cold.” For the last time that night, you let your hands glide across his face, mapping every curve and dip and show of bone. His eyelashes barely twitch, so you must be doing something right, even if you do linger a little too long on the smallest amount of pudge on his cheeks.
You smile to yourself as you finally finish, satisfied that you gave him a proper routine, and feeling rather happy despite your shitty day. “Okay, okay, ‘m all done now. I won't bother you anymore.” You say with a feigned huff, although he doesn't respond… not once. “Simon?”
You poke his cheek gently, only for his nose to twitch the slightest amount, head turning towards the touch but nothing more. Somehow, in the midst of your quiet chatter and gentle touches, Simon Riley had fallen asleep in your care.
Even though you’ve woken up countless times in the night to see him asleep, and even found him collapsed in bed after a mission, somehow this was different. He looked really relaxed, the creases in his face gone, and the usual frown in his brow evened out. Almost cute.
You giggle to yourself quietly as you slide off the bed, step carefully as you grab the duvet folded at the end and unravel it to bring him over. Today was a cooler day compared to the heatwave last week, and he did in fact grumble a lot about having to sleep with the blankets off.
Just watching him like this is a little creepy you think, but that doesn't stop you from snapping a picture on your phone like he always does to you. Finally, some damn good payback.
——
The rec room door opens easily with the key you snagged from his coat, your water bottle in hand. It’s not your fault they had freezing cold water in there and your throat was absolutely parched. You unscrew the cap, emptying out any old water before refilling it with the fridge dispenser. You check the water levels inside, seeing that they’re a bit low and deciding to refill it for the next person.
“Heat gettin’ to you too?” You jump immediately, spilling some of the water on yourself and on the floor.
“Shit— Captain- I- i didn't know you’d come by this late-“ You scramble to wipe up the spill, using practically your trouser leg at this point since you had no idea where the mop was— or if they even had one.
He chuckles, pressing his own glass to the dispenser until it fills halfway before gulping it down almost immediately. It’s quite a sight to see the Captain dressed in a plain black t-shirt, the hem of his plaid pajama bottoms peeking out of a pair of trousers he must’ve haphazardly pulled on. Though his room wasn't more than a minute walk from here. “Didn't mean to scare you, I'm pretty sure that’s Simon’s job. Where… is he?”
You blink, but to be fair it was a completely reasonable question since you’d never usually be caught dead in here without him. “Oh, um.. he fell asleep.”
That does surprise Price, making him raise a brow at you immediately. “Really? I didn't think our training today was that intensive— guess he could’ve done more in the gym on his own.”
You swallow a large gulp of your own water, nodding along to his words. “I dunno, he came back earlier and insisted we go to Tesco. I was confused, i mean not gonna lie, i’m bloody tired but he dragged me! So then i realised his eyeblack he uses under his balaclava hadn't come off properly so i figured he needed some better remover ‘n i got him some micellar water n’ stuff.”
His lips quirk up in a smile, one hand brushing his beard down as he tries to hide the very clear amusement on his face. Simon wasn't some dark force, but you had a way of describing him that he couldn’t help but find hilarious. “So that’s it? He just needed to clean it off?”
“Well— no, I said he needed some moisturiser too, and he wouldn't let me put any on him!” You huff at the thought of it, one hand coming up to cover your mouth as a yawn slips through. “Anyway, I managed to convince him to let me do his skincare. Just a face mask and a few serums.. before I knew it he was fast asleep.”
“Well, now I have to see this.”
——————
Simon woke up the next morning way easier than usual, not like he doesn't usually get up almost immediately anyways. But today it was like he had gotten a full eight hours, which was weird since he always somehow felt he underslept. You’re fast asleep in your own bed, since he always wakes up an hour before you anyway, and so he takes the opportunity to take the first shower.
He decides to stop by the rec room for his coffee, tapping the keycard against the door as he enters. He pulls out the drawer beneath the machine, choosing out the usual pod he goes for and clicks it into the machine.
“Morning, Simon.” He hears Kyle chirp as he enters the room, grabbing his porridge from the counter and emptying it into the bowl. The Sergeant is dressed in his pajamas— most of them got to lazy by Friday morning’s anyway.
“Mornin’ Kyle. Sleep well?” He taps the counter as the coffee machine blinks at him, still not done even if it’s finished dispensing.
“Aswell as i can with that mission comin’ up, but i’ll—-“ His words are cut through by a sudden choke of laughter, forcing Simon to turn to where he stands before the fridge. “Oh my days—“
Stuck with a cookie monster magnet is a picture of him sleeping or rather, him snoozing through Price and you posing beside him with cucumbers laid across his eyes. You bastards.
“Simon oh my go—“ Johnny must’ve snuck in at some point, currently standing near the small notice board where there’s another picture stuck. Simon grabs the picture before quickly marching over to where Johnny is, trying to ignore the rising flush on his cheeks. This one consists of him still sleeping, although you’ve surrounded him with plenty of your plushies to the point he must’ve instinctively turned and curled into them. He grabs this one too, huffing at the two sergeants.
“I’m gonna kill ‘er.”
“Oh come on— it’s a bit funny, no?” Kyle reaches for the picture in his hand but he moves away, only making him follow him around the room for it. “Can’t I keep it Simon? I think it’d look great tucked into my cap, maybe I'll look at it lovingly on my longer deployments.”
“Unfortunately that’s the only copy.” Price enters the rec room with his lips pulled into a casual smile like he hadnt just ruined Simon’s entire week. Maybe month— no, year.
“Morning, Captain.” He grumbles, crushing the picture in his fist.
“Your coffee is going cold, Lieutenant. Though your cheeks look like you’ve been drinking it already.”
“Woah, Lt, i didn't know you could go pink!” Johnny makes his way over though he doesnt make it before Simon pulls his mask on properly, sending him a glare before huffing his way out of the door with a quick slam.
“Was that really the only copy, Cap?” Kyle turns, holding his bowl up to his chin as he swallows down a scoop of the oats.
He practically snorts, shaking his head immediately. “Oh, absolutely not, there’s even different angles. I’ll only share a peek for every extra lap you do though.”
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Rookie masterlist
OK LAST ONE B4 I START WORKING ON OTHER FICS i swear, also rookie defo woke up and yawned like nothing happened meanwhile simon is HUNTING her ass
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