Phantom ~ [Simon Ghost Riley]

XII. The game

"Ya got photographic memory or something?' Soap says from behind me.

"Uh, I don't know?" I say because I genuinely don't. It's honestly a possibility, though I never got tested for it.

I continue sketching out our whole floor in great detail. I'm now able to do everything correctly since I paid extra attention to the exterior of the building as we drove away.

"This is great, kid. You've got real talent," Price now joins the conversation.

"Thank you," I say with a smile.

Ghost stands at the edge of the table. He hasn't said a word to me since we got back. He just stands there and stares.

I quickly finish the drawing and I'm satisfied with the final result. I add today's date before clicking my pen shut.

"Here," I say as I get up to Ghost, wanting to give him back his pen.

He carefully grabs it from me, but when I expect him to put it in his pocket, he doesn't. Instead, he slides it into one of my pockets.

"Keep it," he says, "You'll clearly get more use out of it than I will."

My lips form a thin line, "Is that a compliment?"

"Don't push it, Ace," He warns with a hint of amusement in his tone.

"Thank you, S."

"-Ghost," he corrects.

"Okay, lieutenant Ghost," I reply, the corners of my mouth raised slightly.

"Can I see?" A voice, who I immediately recognize to be Keegan, asks.

"Sure," I say.

I scoot over my drawing to his side of the table, after which I head out of the room to go to the bedrooms. Ghost stays behind, his back now against the wall while his arms are crossed in front of his chest. I shift my attention away from him when I notice myself staring a little too long.

"Oh, hey König," I greet the giant man who's sitting on his lower bunk, his head slightly touching the railing of the bed above.

"Hello! All went well?" he asks, sitting up straight as I enter the room. I hadn't spoken to him after coming back. I had immediately asked Price for a piece of paper to start drawing.

"Yes, perfectly," I stop in front of him and roll up my sleeve.

I slide out his knife from underneath the hair tie and hold it out for him, "Thank you. I really appreciate it. Luckily we didn't have to use it."

"-Wait," he grabs my wrist and softly moves my sleeve up a little higher.

At the edge of the spot, where his knife was just a second ago, is a small puncture wound. I totally hadn't felt the knife pierce my skin during the mission. It wasn't hurting me currently either, though a small drop of blood seeps out of the wound.

"I am sorry, Ace. That was not supposed to happen."

"It's fine. I hadn't even noticed. Don't worry about it."

He holds onto my wrist and he grabs a band-aid from god knows where. He places it on the small wound with caution.

"Thank you," I smile down at him. It's the first time I've seen him from this angle. It's usually the other way around.

"-Are these beds from a goddamn jail cell or something," Gaz's voice interrupts.

"Are they that bad?" I ask.

He lets out a dry laugh, "Try it for yourself."

I step over to my bed and put a foot on the railing of the bottom bunk. There wasn't even a tiny ladder or something, though that wasn't much of a problem. I pull myself up on the bed and my knees immediately hit a thin and hard mattress. I can quite literally feel the frame of the bed.