With the sun went his patience, and Ghost found himself seeking out a private spot to treat himself to a smoke. There were only so many hours in a day, and he could only stand to be around everyone for so many of those hours. With the departure for the next assignment looming in the next few days, he genuinely just wanted to be Simon for a few minutes. Not Ghost. Not Lieutenant. Not even Riley. Just Simon.

He found himself a quiet, secluded place to lean and pulled his cigarettes and lighter out of his pockets, checking the integrity of both before pulling up his mask. He placed a half-crushed cigarette between his lips and lit it, savoring the calming placebo of that first inhale. His hands fumbled with the cigarette box as he tried to straighten it back out.

"Can't be bothered to get a case for 'em, can you, Riley?" he muttered to himself, stuffing the box and lighter back into his pockets. "Might as well be smoking my money at this point."