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The first time John Price meets Simon Riley is in a dingy McDonald's in the middle of nowhere. They had run out of supplies, their last save house having been raided long before they had arrived. By the time they had finished the mission, having lost two good men due to faulty intel, they had not had something to eat for 48 hours. Whoever the agent had been in charge of their mission had surely been fired by the time they made it to the exfil position only to find an ancient-looking military car. Lasswell, who had taken over their mission as soon as the other agent had been pulled from it had given them allowance to stop for food on the way to the next military airport.
Ghost had silently loaded into the car's passenger seat as John took to driving, glancing over at the other from time to time. The first glowing sign they meet is the golden M and he chuckles lowly under his breath, "What d'you want?"
He feels Ghost eyes on him as he pulls up on the deserted parking lot, "whatever you take, Sir" comes the grumbled answer to his question.
Now, John knows that it's a bad idea because when it comes to McDonalds he has a rather unique taste. Most find the Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese too unhealthy but he likes to indulge when he is so rarely given the chance. "I know that's not true, come on, what you want?"
By now they are just two heavily armed guys sitting in an old car on a dark parking lot and the night air begins to creep inside.
"Lasswell gave us full allowance for the shitshow" he reminds the other but is only met with further silence. He leans forward to check if Ghost's eyes had fallen shut but meets a pair glinting eyes beyond the mask.
"I take what you take, Sir" Ghost repeats.
"Come on now, Ghost, what's your favourite? I won't judge".
"I don't have a favourite, Sir" Ghost presses out, shoulders straight.
"Everyone has a favourite at McDonalds!" He huffs, not even sure himself why this has become so important.
"I never been to McDonalds so I don't" Ghost hisses through his teeth, accent thick.
That makes John's mind come to an abrupt halt. "You've never been to McDonalds? Not even with your parents?" And that is the wrong thing to ask he notes as Ghost tenses up even further, hissing only a short, "negative".
John observes the man beside him, back ramrod straight, eyes burning holes into the night air. "Well, there's a first time for everything!" He declares and throws open his door. He puts his rifle in the backseat out of sight then waits as Ghost follows his example.
As expected the workers watch them fearfully as they enter. He orders the classic cheeseburger for Ghost with fries and sweet-and-sour dip as well as a large water then gives them his own order.
He sends Ghost to find them a seat, humming to himself as the workers immediately relax a bit as the tall masked figure skulks away.
Ghost has picked a table from where he can see the door but is hard to see by the workers at the counter. John slides in opposite of him and sorts the food so that it is clear for whom is what. When he looks up again he sees brown eyes staring back at him, dark paint smudged around them. There are old and deep scars running over it without disfiguring him.
"Hello Simon" he finally says as the other leans back in his seat and nods in reply. Simon Riley is slow to unpack his food but once he does he nearly seems to breath it in. John chuckles and pushes his own potato wedges towards the man once his fries and cheeseburger are gone.
In the silence of the restaurant he can hear Simon's silent hum and John describes the glint in those brown eyes as childish bliss in the privacy of his mind.
Out in the car again he nearly misses the quiet "Thank you" as the motor roars to life. "You're welcome, son" he chuckles and steers them back on the highway towards the airport.