thinkin abt soap being able to touch ghost, unlike literally anyone else on base. like, even gaz and price get minimal leeway on it. the medics act like hes a feral cat when treating him. theres rumors that he once broke a guys wrist for patting his arm.
but then soap shows up, and hes like, Ah Nah Man, Itll Be Fine!
and punches him in the shoulder and says 'save ya a seat, sir!' and sees the momentary flash of shock from his absolute fucking audacity before he turns and ignores the absolutely killer glare he gets as he walks away
then ghost pats his arm before he leaves the camera room, leaving soap too shocked to do anything but give him a weak thumbs up as he walks away
then soap pats his shoulder before climbing onto the helo out of las almas
and thats just the start.
people around base see soap bump shoulders with ghost while walking down a hallway and everyone can only look on in horror as ghost-- does nothing. huffs and rolls his eyes, but does nothing.
and anyone who witnessed it are simply not believed when they tell people about it.
then it happens again, and more people see it, and then its flying around the base in whispers and gossip.
"soap gave lieutenant ghost a shove and he didnt even react!"
"he sat next to him during the brief, and he was pressed right up to him!"
"they were sitting across from each other in the mess, and, you wont even believe this, but they were playing footsies! soap was stealing things right off of his plate! and ghost just let him!"
and ghost starts being more open to other peoples touch, too. nothing even fractionally as close to what he lets soap get away with, but price gets to ruffle his hair in the 141 common room in the rare occasion that ghost is without his mask. gaz can throw an arm around his shoulder without being growled at like a fuckin dog.
the next time a rookie accidentally bumps into him, theyre terrified for a moment that theyre either going to be booted off the base for disrespecting their CO or gutted like a fish, but ghost just nods stiffly to their frantic apology and steps to the side to walk right past them.
and, even wilder than everything else, ghost is seen initiating contact with soap. patting him on the back (making soap beam like the sun), ruffling his hair (causing soap to borderline giggle), grabbing him by the chin to tilt his head to get a better look at a wound over his eyebrow (making soap look up at him with a gentle expression, settle a hand over his wrist, and softly reassure him that he's okay.)
and it says a lot that eventually when someone says that they walked into the gym late one night and caught ghost and soap pressed chest-to-chest with soaps arms hooked up and around ghosts neck and ghosts hands on soaps hips, people dont immediately dismiss it as something entirely unbelievable.
