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2023-01-24
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Cat Dad

Summary:

One day a little kitten appears at the 141 headquarters' doorstep and Soap immediately falls in love with it. Too bad that the kitty seems to only have eyes for one grumpy lieutenant, not unlike Soap himself...
~~~~
“Hey…” Ghost said in the softest voice Soap had ever heard come out of his mouth and if it was directed at him and not the kitten, he would have definitely had a heart attack.

The kitten stood up, its little tail high up in the air in curiosity as it started rubbing its head against Ghost’s fingers; it was the cutest thing ever truly but somehow the way a few happy wrinkles appeared around Ghost’s eyes, the blond eyelashes fluttering before Ghost turned to glance at Soap, was even cuter.

Notes:

This is pure cuteness and humour written because I wanted to write something fluffy and Shiba blessed me with the prompt. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it <3
Little kitten drawing at the end by me!

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

They had a kitten at the base. It was a fact at this point though it still felt pretty surreal to Soap.

The little tuxedo furball just spawned at the doorstep one day, shaking, soaking wet from the rain. Soap obviously brought it inside immediately though it protested loudly at his hands picking it up, hissing and scratching even as he wrapped it in a dry towel and roped Gaz into getting the most kitten-appropriate food they could find in the base.

By the time Price realized there was a whole animal in their headquarters, they had already booked an appointment with the vet, made a makeshift enclosure out of a cardboard box lined with blankets, and brought in a stack of kitten food that Gaz had run to the town for. 

Price and Ghost walked into the room that served as a common recreational area and froze in the doorway at the sight of Soap getting viciously swatted at with tiny claws in his attempt to reach the kitten that crawled into the furthest corner of its space.

“Sergeant! What the hell is that?” Price’s cigar fell out of his mouth.
“A kitten!” Soap grimaced and put the scratched finger into his mouth. “We found it, Gaz and me.”
“This is a military base, Soap.” Price didn’t look amused in the slightest.

“Please, let us keep it!” Gaz piped in, making big eyes at Price. “Please, captain, please!”

Price grunted, crossing his arms over his chest, seemingly unmoved as Gaz basically hung at his arm now, putting his best puppy face on.

“It’s so cute!” Soap batted his eyelashes. “Just look!”

The kitten chose that moment to sneeze.

“Awww, oh my god!” Soap immediately turned to look at it. “Are you sick, baby?” he cooed but the kitten hissed at him again.

“You’re stressing the cat out, Johnny.” Ghost rolled his eyes and approached the kitten’s box. “Too loud and too... Scottish.” his voice bore a note of amusement.

He crouched by Soap’s side and looked at the cat. It looked back at him and then blinked slowly.

Soap watched with his mouth agape as Ghost pulled off his glove and reached out to let the cat sniff his finger. It did so calmly, the pink nose brushing against the lieutenant's fingertips and the tiniest purring noise coming from its tiny body. Even behind the balaclava Soap could see Ghost’s face softening and it was something so shocking it made the blood roar in his ears. He stared, he knew he stared and everyone could see him stare but he just couldn’t help it.

“Hey…” Ghost said in the softest voice Soap had ever heard come out of his mouth and if it was directed at him and not the kitten, he would have definitely had a heart attack.

The kitten stood up, its little tail high up in the air in curiosity as it started rubbing its head against Ghost’s fingers; it was the cutest thing ever truly but somehow the way a few happy wrinkles appeared around Ghost’s eyes, the blond eyelashes fluttering before Ghost turned to glance at Soap, was even cuter.

Pause.

What was that?

Ah yes, Ghost turned to look directly at Soap. Soap felt a crimson flush crawl up his neck but he couldn’t escape his big brown eyes, the spark of amusement clear in them as the contact prolonged.

“You just have to be gentler, sergeant,” Ghost said, his voice still extremely soft and Soap could tell he was smiling beneath that mask.

God, he was fucked.

***

The kitten turned out to be a her as proclaimed by the vet and an entire week later they still couldn’t decide on the name, arguing over every meal and basically trying to bribe each other into outvoting the other camps.

Gromsko was trying to persuade Soap that calling the cat simply “Kitty” would be beneficial for its ease and intuitiveness while he patched up another nasty scratch on his hand. He cleaned up the wound with professional movements and when the skin was suitably dry he put on a couple of Steri-Strips to make sure it wouldn’t scar too much since it was quite deep an injury for being inflicted by something so small.

Personally, Soap was torn between siding with Gaz to settle on the name Menace just because the kitten seemed to find joy in slicing him up on every possible occasion and sticking to his own idea of naming her Bubbles because she had a couple of almost round white patches on her black face. It all depended on whether he could convince Ghost to even participate in the voting process.

It was honestly unfair how much the kitten seemed besotted with Ghost while the man paid it little to no attention after their first encounter.

Once they kitty-proofed the room and let her out of her box to explore she was basically attached to his heel, following him like a little duckling follows its mother while Ghost did not even turn around to look despite everyone else practically melting on sight as she chased after his long steps, trying to grab at the hem of his jeans or his shoestring.

He had absolutely no reaction to her climbing up his leg whenever he sat down in her reach, her little nails leaving small holes in the fabric of his pants as she relentlessly fought gravity to settle in his lap while he continued to look at the paperwork unmoved. Worst of all, she purred just being in his proximity while he wasn’t even actively petting her. 

Soap was jealous, he had to admit it. The kitten was very slowly warming up to him and he could now give her head a little pet without being immediately hissed at or attacked but if he overstayed his welcome and didn’t realize soon enough it was the case, she was full-on biting him, testing the sharpness of her fangs and claws on his hand.

The wound Gromsko just finished patching up was a testament to her rather rough language of love.

“Thanks.” he sighed, looking at the neat row of strips on his hand.
“You’re welcome, the little thing is quite spicy, isn’t she?” Gromsko laughed, his voice warm as always as he stood up. “Now Soap, think of my idea fondly.” he patted Soap’s shoulder and left with his first aid kit.

Soap groaned at his own misery, his skin stinging still though it definitely wasn’t the worst wound he had to deal with in his life. It just hurt on a deeper, spiritual level.

He was about to go back to the dreaded paperwork he had to catch up on after their previous assignment when he noticed some movement in the hallway. Gromsko had left the door ajar and he could see the kitten, who had been sleeping calmly on the spot Ghost usually sat on just a moment ago, sneaking out slowly, her tail high up again.

He blinked and put down his file, then, very quietly, decided to follow, just to keep an eye on the situation since they hadn’t been letting her out of the room yet on her own.

He peered through the crack to see her running towards the turn of the corridor just a few meters down. Soap was about to intervene when he saw Ghost appear at the crossing and pause in front of the kitten.

“Hi, Remmy.” he said quietly and picked her up like it was the most natural thing to do.

She gave him the tiniest, cutest meow Soap had ever heard in his life. She had never meowed before in his presence either.

“I know…” Ghost cooed, his voice soft as he rubbed underneath her chin with one finger and brought her closer to his face where she rubbed against his balaclava purring so loud Soap could hear her from his spot. “Who’s the cutest kitty? You are…” Ghost’s eyes were closed and Soap leaned further out to just stare like a fucking loon because the scene in front of his eyes was something nobody would believe in even if he took a camera and filmed it as it happened.
“Why are you so mean to Johnny, huh?” Ghost suddenly said and Soap stepped back just in case, his face crimson and heart beating fast. “He is really trying to respect your boundaries, you should let him learn.”

He talked to the cat like she could fully understand him and she even meowed as if she was actually responding before she put her paw on top of his nose making him scrunch it and laugh.

Soap was hyperventilating as he slumped against the wall, unable to take the sight of something so extremely adorable. He knew Ghost wasn’t all harsh orders and trauma but seeing him so relaxed and unguarded was making something inside of Johnny flip and stir. He wasn’t even sure if he was still jealous of the kitten’s affection or the affection the kitten was receiving from the lieutenant that supposedly had a heart cold as stone.

“Now, Remmy…” Ghost spoke again. “I think we need to help Johnny out there since he seems to be having some serious crisis right now, don’t you think?”

Johnny was torn out of his sudden stupor but as he looked up in alarm Ghost was already hovering over him, his hand outstretched so he could take it and stand back up properly. The kitten was on Ghost’s shoulder now, holding onto his shirt, her eyes trained on Soap with a hint of mistrust as he found himself right in Ghost’s personal space.

Ghost glanced down at his patched-up hand, not letting go of it.

“I told you to be gentle, Johnny…” he sighed, his voice half-disappointed, half-amused. “You just have to be patient with cats. Remmy just needs her space.”

“Remmy?” he asked, a little breathless, Ghost’s eyes big from up close.

“Short for M24 Remington Sniper Weapon System.” he could tell Ghost fucking grinned underneath that stupid mask and Soap wanted to punch him, tear that thing off him, and…

“You fucking div!” he groaned in defeat and Ghost full-on laughed, tears in his eyes and the sound of it made Soap’s heart flutter stupidly in his chest as he looked down in shame his gaze falling to where Ghost was still holding his hand between them.
“Johnny…” Ghost’s laughter died down and he squeezed Soap’s palm gently. Soap looked up at him, fighting against his instinct to keep hiding his very red face.
“What?” he grumbled, feeling suddenly terribly hot all over, pressed quite tight between the wall and Ghost’s tall frame.

“Can I kiss you now or do you also need more time?” his voice was low and velvety soft and Soap forgot how to breathe, frozen as he watched Ghost pull his mask up, revealing his smirk, his eyes half-lidded, openly seductive.

God, he was a weak, weak man.

“Yeah…” he said eloquently, letting Ghost cup his face and close the gap between them.

His lips felt surprisingly soft, almost plush and Soap couldn’t help it as a little moan slipped out of his mouth when Ghost deepened it, slipping in some tongue, the rolled-up material of his balaclava a little harsh against Soap’s nose.

Soap reached out to grab his face in return and a painful scratch on the back of his hand right next to his fresh strips reminded him that there was still a very annoyed kitten sitting on Ghost’s shoulder. She hissed, clearly angry at the invasion of space as Soap looked at her, pulling away slightly.

“Shh, you will have to learn to share him with me, Remmy.” he said and she blinked at that, her hiss stopping abruptly even though he was still holding Ghost’s face.
“Or you will have to learn to share me with her.” Ghost chuckled, leaning into his touch, his eyes sparkling with happiness.
“We’ll figure it out.” Soap rolled his eyes but with a smile to match Ghost's. “And yes, before you ask, I will vote to name her Remmy with you, you goon.”

His quiet laughter tingled all over Soap’s lips.

Notes:

Bonus: Gromsko with Remmy
Peep also this fanart that looks like Ghost with Remmy

Thanks for reading, consider leaving kudos and/or comment if you liked it <3