Chapter Text
Captain 'John' Price
- He is headed towards the lounging area after staying overtime because of due paperwork. It is already dark outside and, when he sees the lights on, he thinks someone just forgot them that way.
- You may understand his surprised reaction when he sees you sitting cross-legged on the couch, a book in your hands.
- “Nearly gave me a heart attack, kid!” You give him a sheepish smile and hide your face behind the book, staying true to the principle: out of mind, out of sight. You didn’t mean to stay long - you just wanted to finish the chapter. But it ended in a cliffhanger so you had to at least begin the next chapter and the vicious cycle went on.
- It doesn’t take him long to realise that you are, in fact, holding a book. And he can’t hide his grin when he figures you must have lost track of time because of it.
- “Didn’t take you for a reader, kid!”, he raises an eyebrow as he joins you on the couch, his eyes drifting to the cover. “And certainly did not know you read classics!”
- “Always full of surprises, Captain!”, you smile at him as you look around, searching for something. A triumphant smile graces your lips when you find the piece of crumpled paper, and you proceed to put it on the page you remained at, before closing the book.
- Definitely asks you about the book you’re reading and what else you’ve read, proceeding to compare your literary preferences
- He may not read as much as he did when he was younger, but he can and will boast with the filled bookshelves he has at home
- Encourages your reading habits when you are at the base and brings you reading snacks when you decide to spend your evenings in the base’s lounging room, curled up with whatever book you’re reading at the moment
- Might sometimes join you with a book of his own. Nobody dares to say anything about the two operators who occasionally spend their lunch break with their noses stuck in a book.
Lieutenant Simon "Ghost" Riley
- Never been much of a reader as he simply did not have the time, or the available resources
- So at first, he does not understand why you are sobbing by yourself in the kitchen, frantically highlighting something with a neon marker
- Who did that to you? Did he need to hunt down someone?
- It was when he got closer that he realised you were actually reading something and the content must have made you upset
No problem, he’ll track the writer down and-- "Oh, Ghost, didn’t see you there!", you looked up at him, a shy smile on your face.
- He is at a loss for words and ends up nodding towards the open book: “Is it any good?”
- “Well, I think it would be an insult to say Shakespeare is ‘just good’, don’t you think?”
- All he’s thinking of are those literature classes he should have paid more attention to.
- He quickly steers the conversation in another direction, asking you about training and whatnot. Something blooms in his chest when he sees you setting the book away in an instant, a warm smile gracing your features as you turn your attention towards him.
- He spends the following evening researching Shakespeare’s works as much as he can. He’d caught a glimpse of the book you’d been reading, Hamlet, and he ends up ordering an annotated copy.
- It takes him an entire week to get through it, but the look on your face when he asks you about the book is priceless.
- You spend the entire afternoon talking about it (you talk, he mostly listens), and he was surprised he didn’t notice your reading habits earlier. When you talked about books, you could light up the room with your enthusiasm and passion.
- Is the kind of man who would build you a bookshelf from scratch
- “Your books wouldn’t fit in a standard bookshelf anyway. And I can paint the wood to match the tone of your walls.”
Sergeant John "Soap" MacTavish
- The type of man that says he’ll wait for the movie to come out
- And if there is a book adaptation, he'll definitely make you watch it with him to prove his point
- You spend the next hours pointing out why the book was better than the movie, while he tries to convince you otherwise
- Constantly teases you about your reading habits, but secretly, he loves to watch you read. The array of emotional states you seem to go through when reading fascinates him.
- "Maybe we should start calling you Belle from now on, bonnie. You know, the Belle from Beauty and the Beast - the one who's always with her nose stuck in a book?"
- One day a recruit decides to prank you and hides your current read in the men's showers.
- Soap takes note of your distracted state, but doesn't push it. He knows you'll come to him when it feels right.
- Until he stumbles upon what was left of your book when preparing to take a shower. He recognizes it only by the vibrant colour of the cover as the pages are wrinkled and illegible, due to the water exposure.
- It does not take him long to find the culprit. He was too busy boasting about his "achievement" to his team-mates, in the locker room.
- Soap makes sure he regrets his actions by assigning him to latrine duty for the following month.
- He also makes it his personal mission to buy you another copy of the book. The only problem is that he does not remember the title. Or the author. Or the plot.
- "It has this orange cover, with two people on it! And there's white text on it too!"
- Safe to say, the librarian is unimpressed by his comprehensive description.
- So he has to spend an entire night scrolling through an online library page to find it.
- But it's all worth it in the end. He'll never forget the shocked expression on your face when he handed you the hastily wrapped book. Or the wide smile that spreads across your face, followed by a tight and warm hug.
- He might buy you more books in the future, just to have you grin at him like that.
Sergeant Kyle "Gaz" Garrick
- Like Ghost, he didn't particularly care for reading. It was not that he didn't like it, he just had other priorities
- He wasn't even aware of your reading habits until you were both stuck in a safe house, waiting to be evacuated.
- You were leaning against the wall, next to him, when you pulled a book out of your pocket.
- He had to do a double take- why did you have a leatherbound book in your pocket? Were you carrying it throughout the entire mission? What if you got shot - was the leather thick enough to stop the bullet if it got past your tac vest?
- "Gaz, you're staring."
- "Just took me by surprise, love."
- You playfully rolled your eyes at the endearment, your hand leafing through the pages.
- He knew you could feel him watching you, but he couldn't help himself. He felt like he just unlocked a new part of your personality.
- "Is it any good?"
- "Do you want to read it?"
- "I wouldn't mind you reading to me..."
- Once again, you rolled your eyes in fake annoyance but complied with his request and went back to the beginning of the chapter.
- The story was quite gripping, something about a rich bachelor who must be in search of a wife. Kyle tried to focus on the story, but he was more intent on enjoying your calm and soothing voice.
- He unintentionally fell asleep and you did not realise until you felt the weight of his body leaning against your shoulder.
- As retaliation, you forced him to join you on a trip to the library. He did not bother to hide the fact that he did not see it as a punishment, not when he knew it would make you happy.
- He let you drag across the entire fiction section and patiently listened to you describing all the books you've read. He also took a lot of mental notes on the books you intended to read in the future- if only the covers did not look so similar!
- Eventually discovers he's more of an audiobook person.
- So he would listen to the novel you were currently reading, excited to meet with you at the end of the day and discuss it with you.