Keeiv - Layer:01

Ghost in the Shell (1995)

scaredy cat

chapter: unumbered one shot (maybe more to come) pairing: simon 'ghost' riley warnings: nothing explicit. all lowercase. a/n: because everyone deserves a love that is patient and kind. in spite of everything. for @wraithdance and @disgustingtwitches

it’s why he blames himself when you run.

he’s invaded your space, pushed too hard against the ease of the relationship you’d found yourselves in. it wasn’t purposeful, but simon knew there was something amiss. could sense it from the way your gait had changed around him. how you’d taken to covering parts of yourself from him that you’d otherwise let him bare witness to. the clothes didnt change, no, but your laughter did. clipped and short, long enough to fool others but simon knew you better.

he saw you transform into a version of yourself he’d only seen before he knew you. a hardened version of you made by the winds that eroded your softness.

you’d erected walls for refuge. hiding yourself away from the reach of any hands who tried to tug at you, kind or otherwise.

and yet, simon had been granted access until recently.

he’d pushed his luck, known some conversations were likely to push you to the brink, but you held strongly. in the end, it wasn’t even a conversation. you’d clammed up mid conversation giggling over childhood talks. he’d seen the realization dawn on you in real time.

overexposed, overly comfortable, unprotected.

your things were gone the next day. his side table clear of anything of importance to you. there were still traces of you, lingering in the crevices of his flat but he knew they were there to keep him off your scent. to keep him from being alarmed.

he’s a damn good soldier though. better at understanding when someone’s got the urge to run. and exceptionally good at finding people.

he gives you two days. no messages, no calls, nothing.

all so you can breathe a little easier. work yourself out of the state of mind you’d found yourself in. leaving you bare and exposed.

then he shows up to your coffee shop. order his drink and yours and simply waits.

the baristas know him by now, and they’ve already known you, so when you approach the counter eager to get your liquid energy they simply wave to simon.

you’re an expert at hiding your emotions. anyone else would have accepted your absence of a reaction as expectation but simon knows better. sees the small inhale, your hands curling on the strap of your bag, other hand clutching your phone a little tighter. you’re unhappy, but not angry.

he’ll give you your space, let you run but be within your vicinity. watching you from behind the glass while you get comfortable around again. until you allow yourself to have your back to him, to let your fingers graze the back of his, until you find yourself curled into his side again.

he’s willing to wait.

“just a cup of coffee. take your time, i’m not in a rush for anything love. i’ll be here”

simon “ghost” riley is so fucking blunt with his words

you’re not even trying to be sexy. just sat on his couch in that worn old tank top, the one with the frayed strap and no bra underneath. your legs are curled under you, hair damp from the shower, picking at your nails and talking about some show you half-watched.

he’s not listening.

"y’re tits sit nice in that top f’yours," he says, eyes on the tv. voice low, almost lazy, like he’s commenting on the weather.

you blink at him. "what?"

"didn’t stutter, love," he says, finally turning to look. eyes dragging down your chest, slow and shameless. “reckon you wear shit like that on purpose.”

your face goes hot but he just huffs a laugh through his nose, leans back further. spreads his thighs a little wider like he’s settling in.

“saw a porno the other day. girl looked like you. sweet thing, bit mouthy. got fucked face-down in a stairwell.” he pauses. shrugs. “thought of ya.”

your jaw drops.

“what?” he says, tilting his head. “should be flattered. ain’t every day i get off twice to the same fuckin’ video.”

he grins when you throw a pillow at him. catches it. holds it in his lap.

"gonna keep wearin' that top, or y’gonna come sit here and gimme a better fuckin’ view?"

sugar daddy simon but he doesn’t know how this arrangement actually works so sometimes, in the middle of the night, you get a wire transfer.

you would always send simon a message regarding the recent activity on your account; what once started as, “hi mr. riley, it seems like you have made an incorrect deposit into my account,” turned into, “????” because of how frequent it got.

sometimes, simon has legitimate reasons — “i want to see you tomorrow,” or “i’m taking you to the bahamas this weekend.”

but often, his reason is just — “i’m thinking about you.”

this one makes your heart churn the most, and you insist on returning the money back to him because thinking about you isn’t worth five-thousand pounds directly transferred into your account. but simon insists; says you’re too good for him so you deserve more than he could offer.

(“but i’m a jealous man,” he grunted in your ear when he had you bent over his island. “so yer mine, aren’t y’kid? all mine?”

you moaned out your yes’s, nodding and crying out that no one does it better than him. that no one could ever compare; no one could come close.)

he is… an odd man. you love him, in spite of.

you still remember the first time this whole wiring money happened, and after his comfort and placations, you had at least offered to meet up with him to make his deposit worth more than his thoughts about you, but simon had just…

> Oh. I’m out of the country.

yeah. he’s your strange dork. your beloved daddy.

(you’d kill for him.)

Andrew Tesdahl