#AW HELL... engie voice

[pencilhattopy]

baby's first heavymedic shipper (?)

[bears-ao3-blog]

May I request Engie and Spy? I'm very curious about their relationship since it has only been implied through the story.

Need a Fixin' - requested by @limon-tagetes

There was a soft knock on Spy's quarter's doors and the Frenchman lifted his head from his catalogue of various gears and gadgets, pausing in the middle of circling one very interesting-looking, personally engraved cloak and dagger, since his old one had recently busted and was in need of replacing. He huffed in mild displeasure at being interrupted in the middle of his very important business, but he stood up regardless, setting his magazine down. He took a slow drag and put out his cigarette as well, offering up a simple: 

"Just a moment." 

before he finished and approached the door. He carefully turned the knob, on is guard as always, but it dropped the second his eyes trailed slightly down to see an awkward-looking Engineer attempting to put on a casual act. What the hell was Engineer doing here? Usually Spy was the one to approach the inventor. That's how their odd little relationship began. Engineer would always be working, a constant, something you don't often among the RED base, and if Scout or Pyro weren't already taking up his time, Spy would join him. At first, Spy never really said much, just smoked close by. Then Engineer had asked him to grab him a tool, and was pleasantly surprised that Spy could retrieve it without asking a million questions on what it looked like, what it did, how to use it. Spy simply got up, rummaged through Engineer's toolbox for a few seconds, and swiftly handed him the implement he asked for.  

"Thanks, pardner, that was quicker'n a hiccup! I might hav'ta keep ya around." 

Spy remembers the way the shorter man had looked at him, despite those stupid goggles that the sleuth hated – which he hated because they looked awful, of course...definitely not because Spy wishes he could see the other's face completely. Absolutely not. But the way he looked at him with that lopsided smirk as he spoke with that Texan accent in that voice of pure honey.  

It made Spy question some things. Like his sanity, of course. Why the hell was this overqualified hillbilly who waves a wrench around getting a reaction like that out of him? Was there a gas leak? Were all of his years of smoking finally coming to a head as an incredibly misplaced tumor in his brain rather than lungs? This was ridiculous. 

And it got even more ridiculous, because as the two continued to spend time together, Spy found himself looking forward to seeing him. His stupid jokes were actually funny. He wasn't annoying to be around like literally everyone else he had the displeasure of sharing a living quarters with. The man was fairly educated and could keep up with Spy's pretentious conversation topics. He genuinely enjoyed being around him. Now, he wasn't some schoolboy with a crush. It's not like he lied awake at night thinking about him! 

...and then he started lying awake at night thinking about him. Seething that this tinkering simpleton in overalls managed to catch his attention. Fury coursing through his veins that he found this country bumpkin attractive. Maybe there was a gas leak, because there's no way in hell Engineer managed to lodge himself into Spy's usual type of quick-tongued, badass, capable women.   

"Uhh...hey, Spooks." 

Oh, yeah, he was right in front of him. Spy broke out of his freeze of mild shock, clearing his throat quietly. 

"l'Ingénieur, I am surprised to see you here. Iz there a problem?" 

"Oh, no, no. I just, uhh, haven't seen ya around lately." 

Spy looked back into his private quarters and realized in horror that he was turning back and offering the other to join him. They both stared at each other in surprise and quickly reddening cheeks before Engineer smiled that damn smile and nodded. 

"Well, sure!" 

Spy hesitantly widened the door so Engineer could slip past him, tensing when the other's shoulder brushed past his chest. He peered down either hallway for any prying eyes, knowing news about this encounter would spread like wildfire. Spy never let people into his smoking room. So why in God's name was he letting Engineer? 

It occurred to Spy that there were no places for Engineer to sit, and he was about to speak up about it when Engineer hopped up onto the arm of his lounge chair without a second thought, and Spy wished he never opened that stupid door. He gingerly sat down in the seat, looking up at Engineer, who had to twist to see the other. Engineer smiled again, tilting his head questioningly. 

"So, whatcha been upta, Sneak?" 

Spy pushed aside his panic at being so close to the other, despite the mildly awkward position they found themselves in, and hummed while thinking. 

"Not much, I suppose. My cloaking watch has stopped working, so I was just in ze process of finding another." 

Engineer perked up, his smile widening. 

"Well, why didn'tcha say so sooner? Give it here, I'll take a look at it." 

Engineer stuck out a gloved hand, an expectant look on his face. Spy eyed him skeptically before fishing the golden watch from his inner suit pocket, also taking out his cigarette case in the process. He lit up another while Engineer eyed the device quizzically. The tinkerer made a small sound of understanding and fished out a couple small tools from his belt. He twisted around again and the two made eye contact one more – well, as much eye contact as possible when one of the two's eyes were covered. 

"I see what's wrong. I'll get it fixed in a jiffy, don't you worry." 

Spy wanted to scream as he felt his face warm. He was so close and that stupid, godforsaken accent that he should not like was making his chest squeeze and he was kicking himself internally, repeatedly, to "get your jaw off the floor and speak already!" 

"R-Right, yes. Of course...er, sank you, mon ami." 

He was stuttering and mumbling like an idiot. This stupid man was making him stutter and mumble like an idiot! How embarrassing. He needed to pull himself together, immediately. 

Thankfully, they quickly fell into their usual comfortable quietness as Engineer finicked around with the cloak and dagger, and Spy returned to browsing his spy catalogue for anything that caught his eye, time passing as they idly did their own thing in the other's company. It was 15 minutes or so later that Engineer pressed the activation button with a tiny click, and he suddenly vanished, slightly startling Spy. He froze as a shadow suddenly case over him and he slowly looked up to see Engineer directly in front of him, looming over him with his pleasant smile, offering the watch back with a small chuckle. All the moisture in Spy's mouth vanished as well, and he swallowed with a nervous click as he slowly took the watch. He quickly found himself, and his wide eyes and slightly raised brows were quickly replaced with his usually gloomy expression, glaring up at the man above him. 

"Sank you for your assistance, but I must kindly request zat you refrain from toying around with my belongings, Ingénieur." 

The inventor's smile turned sheepish and his hand trailed to the back of his neck to rub at it, and he laughed again, more nervous this time. 

"Ah, sorry, Spooks. I'll keep that it mind." 

There was a small pause before Engineer spoke up again. 

"I should probably get back to the shop. Wanna tag along?" 

Spy tore his eyes away from his fixed watch, to look at the other again, before his eyes averted as he gave it some thought. He sighed, feigning a begrudging look, despite the answer being a resounding yes within the privacy of his own mind. 

"I suppose." 

And then Engineer smiled that damn smile again, and Spy wonders how long he can keep doing this before he goes insane.  

[some-pers0n]

Happy New Year!!

Fandom: TF2

Characters: Engineer, Medic

CW: Drinking. A lot of drinking.

Summary: It's New Years Eve and the pair decided to go out for a drink or two. Thirteen hours later and with the other mercs joining in as well, they're still at the bar. It's fun, definitely, but Engie can't help but feel something a bit...off when looking at Medic.

Word Count: 2.7k

A/N: Violently sobbing and pounding my fist against the ground. I finally got to the part of my fic where this stupid chapter/scene happens. This has been rotting in my brain since December. Anyways, this is an excerpt from the most recent chapter of my longfic. You don't need to read it to understand anything. Enjoy.

Engie watched in awe as Medic pounded back his twenty-second glass of beer. By god it was impressive.

They'd been in here for a long while now. How long? To Engie, maybe an hour. But, he knew damn well it's been longer than that. He can see the light outside, or more accurately the lack thereof. They'd gotten here at ten and now it's deep into the night. He'd look at a clock, but things were rather hazy and hard to read now.

He wiped the residue from his lips. "Yet another one down, haha!!" he yelled. A quirky thing with him was how he lost any and all control of his voice the minute he got slightly intoxicated. Doesn't matter. The music's loud and Engie couldn't care less. The hangover and hearing loss was a problem for tomorrow.

Tonight? Why not have some fun? Relax. Kick his feet back and enjoy. He deserves it after all that nonsense back at the base. A nice full day out at the bar, bleeding the owner out of all of their supply.

Engie clapped in response. "Hell yeah! Number twenty-two! Think you could go fer another one?"

Medic bubbly giggled. His cheeks were rosy red and his face was fixed into a permanent smile. He looked so goddamn happy. Watching him was an experience all of itself, one that was elevated when the both of you are several drinks deep. Seeing him laugh like that made everything feel less important. Like the only thing that mattered was being with him.

...what the hell was that line of thought? It's what he was experiencing, definitely, but it was strange to think like that. That intense. Feelings. Hah. That's not what he should be thinking about right now. That just made things more confusing.

By the time the Engineer recollected himself, he noticed that Medic was rambling again. In German. He was going a mile a minute. Whatever he was saying was completely lost on Engie. He could barely understand English right now, much less this. The words slurred together into a homogenous slush of vowels and sharply pronounced consonants.

"Uh, doc? Doc?" He snapped his fingers a couple times.

"Und das ist der Grund– hm? Ja?"

"You're back in German mode again. I'd love to know what you're saying."

Medic clasped his mouth, feeling around. "Was I really?" he chuckled. His accent was more obvious than ever, though Engie didn't care. If anything, it was cute.

Engie joined in. "I'll drink to that." He raised his hand once more. "Jessie?"

"Another round?..." the bartender replied, a moderate amount of fear in his voice. "I've already served your booth over forty drinks–"

"Enough chat! I wish to see if I can beat my record time now." Medic rubbed his hands energetically. "Will you join me?"

He shrugged. "Why the hell not?"

Moments later, Jessie brought them more drinks. "Lovely night, I know, but I was wondering when you would both pay off your tab."

"Both? What about Py– Pyro?" Engie turned to see that they weren't there. Completely absent. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't remember seeing or hearing Pyro for a long while. Where'd he slip off to?

"Ahem, that's beside the point. It's getting close to midnight and I'm going to close up as soon as it happens."

Medic spat a little back into his drink. "Mh? What? You're going to kick us out?! What for? We are res– hic– responsible, you dummkopf!"

Jessie motioned to the rest of the bar. Engie saw that the place was trashed. Slashes and rips in the other booths. The floor was covered with beer and whiskey. A far cry from the clean and inviting atmosphere it once was hours earlier. The other mercenaries were loudly drinking and conversing, with the only one by himself being the Demoman at the piano. He was playing along with the jukebox, adding onto the keyboard section of whatever songs came on. It was a lovely addition if the Engineer was to be honest.

"I see nothing wrong with it," Engie said.

"It's been like this for thirteen hours. None of you have given me any money. Other patrons tried coming in only to be driven out."

"Sounds like their issue. Sorry that we can't help it." He shrugged. Medic snickered in response.

Jessie glared. "I'll have you know that I have been running this bar for–" He stopped to count on his fingers– "six years! I have a family to feed. It consists of me and only me. I'll have you know that I work very hard to get the right amount of lead and radiation in my brew–"

"Oh mein Gott!" Medic yelled, a wide smile on his face. "I love this song."

Engie raised his head to the radio, recognizing the tune instantly. Scout constantly played record after record from Tom Jones. It would be humiliating to not remember that snappy beat and trumpets from that song. "It's Not Unusual" was a neat little jig that he quite liked himself, though Medic seemed far more into it.

"I was talking–"

"Raus, schweinhunde." Medic pushed Jessie out of the way, getting up and over to the dance floor.

"What the hell's that idiot gonna do now?" Engie gave a light-hearted chuckle. He watched expectingly as his partner stood in the middle of it and began to snap along to the beat. He tapped his foot and began to sway back and forth.

He was dancing. He was imitating the signature Tom Jones moves. Pretty damn good as well, especially considering he's had over twenty lead-filled glasses of beer. He moved with grace, but also with enough of his own weirdness and off-beat charm. His own spin on this dance move. Engie sat there in constant silence, observing him.

Then, Medic looked back up. Eye contact. A flash in his eyes appeared for just long enough for Engie to know what he was about to do. Before he could get a word out, he spoke.

"Don't just sit there! Dance with me!"

"Oh, I dunno about that–"

"It'll be fun! Trust me." Medic approached him, holding out his hand. Engineer stared at it for a moment, considering his options.

Well, what's the worst that can happen? He grabbed it, instantly being yanked from the booth. He was dragged along to the floor, with Medic holding up both of his hands.

Engie was no stranger to dancing, especially with another person. One helluva dancer back in his university days. Could impress a whole group of girls (or boys for that matter) with his moves.

But, with Medic, it was a whole other beast. It was as though he'd been lobotomized. Any previous skill and technique he may have learned were just completely erased. At the mercy of whatever his partner had in store for him.

He stepped back, then to the left, back to the right two times. Engie followed along, slowly getting the hang of things. Didn't help that he was half a foot shorter, but he had fun regardless. It was a dance. It's not supposed to be proper and practical.

It must have gone on for a minute of this. "Ohoho! How exciting," he hummed as he repositioned his hand around his back, dipping the Engineer.

"Where the hell you learn to dance?" he asked, a coy smirk on his face.

He shrugged. "Nowhere! First time with a partner." Medic pulled him back right up, twisting him and then spinning him away. "That's what makes it fun, no?" he continued, doing his little dance now. He shook from side to side, shaking his arms in time.

Engie followed after him, doing similar upbeat and energetic moves. God, it knocked the wind out of him quite a bit, but he couldn't care. It was beyond magical. The sheer joy and happiness radiating from the two of them was unmatched. From the extra bit of piano from Demoman to the fact only they were dancing. It was a perfect moment.

Yet, as he looked at his partner, he couldn't help but feel something else. An odd twisting in his stomach. Could be from the beer, but usually they don't ache like this. It was a warm sensation, one that only grew more intense the longer he looked.

There was something off about himself, yet he couldn't quite rationalize what it may be. All he knew was that he was delighted to be around Medic.

Soon enough, the song ended, fading out. The radio host came back on. "Alright, folks, that was Tom Jones. Now, I haven't gotten a song up for you peppercats quite yet, but I'll have you know that right now it's approximately– hold on, lemme check my clock– fifteen seconds until midnight."

Medic straightened out, alert. "Mein Gott! I nearly forgot about the new year. Come, come, quickly! Raus! Everyone, together!" He grabbed Engineer by the side, pulling him closer. "Ten! Nine!"

The other mercs joined in, rushing over. "Eight! Seven! Six!"

They all looked towards the radio, huddled together. "Five! Four! Three! Two!... One!" Then, a jumbled cry of cheer saying, "HAPPY NEW YEAR!!"

The group began to clap. Soldier sang Auld Lang Syne along with the Demoman. Others clicked their drinks together. Engineer didn't have anything with him, but he had an idea. He fidgeted with his Gunslinger, switching the ring finger into a blowtorch. A warm blue flame erupted from the fingertips. He waved it around like a makeshift sparkler.

But, as he did so, some stray drops of whiskey and liquor from the other mercenaries' drinks flew at him, passing right through the fire. Without warning, they caught aflame. Mere seconds later, the burning spirit fell to the floor, spreading to the rest of the spilled drink. A fire started right before them.

On second thought, maybe the blowtorch wasn't that great of an idea.

"Oh, fire," Medic said absent-mindedly.

"Huh, that's new," Engie muttered. He wheezed, unable to control his laughter.

"Guess that's the cue to leave, ain't it?" Demo looked to the rest of them.

"I do believe yes. The fire has already spread to the whole bar. I argue this place has five minutes before it begins to care in. I'd rather not die here," Spy added, pressing a cigarette to his lips.

"Ight, let's book it." The Engineer shrugged. They turned around, Medic still clinging to his side. The burning inferno was the least of his worries as of now. He couldn't care less about it or the panicked screams and obscenities thrown at them by Jessie. I mean, it's just a bar. It burning down is nothing that bad.

"Did you do that?" Medic asked. Engineer noticed his weight becoming heavier, as he acted more like a crutch to Medic than anything else. His partner leaned on him, nearly tripping over his own feet as they stepped over the flaming puddles of beer.

"Think so."

He giggled. "Now we're talking!" They both exited the bar, walking into the parking lot. "Come on, Herr Engineer, do we have to go back to the base? Can't we just stay out? It's been forever since we've kidnapped somebody..." Medic's words were slurred and hard to hear.

"We've already been drinking for ages now, doc. Kinda just wanna go back home."

"Oh please! When has th– hic– that ever stopped anybody?"

"Christ, just how drunk are you?"

"I want to put myself in critical condition and barely still alive just so I can go to heaven and see God and spit in his face... Wouldn't that be funny?"

"...that answers that question." Engie was practically carrying Medic now. He was putting every bit of energy to keep him upright and from falling over.

Eventually, they came back to the car. Engie reached for his keys and tried the door, only to then see it rolled down out of nowhere. It gave him quite a fright, but he calmed down upon seeing who was in the driver's seat.

Pyro stared back at them, cocking his head to the side.

"Oh hey, smokes!" Engie grinned. "What are you doin' in here?"

Pyro covered his ears. "Mhh mhmn."

"Too loud? Can't blame you. God, I can already tell my ears are gonna be ringing like nothing else tomorrow."

"Who are you talking to?" Medic muttered. "Oh, hello, Herr Pyro." He waved. Pyro waved back.

"You mind drivin' us? I don't think I can walk straight, much less drive."

Pyro nodded repeatedly. He unlocked the back door, letting them in. Engie opened up the door and slid Medic off and guided him into the seat. "C'mon, it ain't that hard to sit down."

Eventually, Medic slipped into the car. Engie was about to close the door, only for Medic to tug on his arm. "Wait, don't leave me..."

Engineer paused. "What?"

He smiled back. Medic's eyes were cloudy and tired, yet full of life and joy. The toothy grin he gave was heartwarming in every way possible. A beam of light in the darkness of night.

"...oh, alright. I'll stay in the back with ya." Engie got into the back seat, closing the door. "Let's go, Pyro. Back to the base." He tapped on the headrest. Immediately, Pyro shifted it into reverse, jerking the car back before then driving off.

"Woa– oah!" Medic stumbled, recovering from such movement. He snickered and laughed. "Mein Gott, I'm so drunk right now..."

"I know, I know," Engie said calmly and relaxed. "Once we get home, I'm going to bed."

"No afterparty? Nothing?"

"Nah... I already have enough today." He glanced back at Medic. "Thanks for doing this. I really needed some time out."

"Mh? Oh, that was nothing, hehe." He waved his hand dismissively.

Engie felt his stomach tighten into a knot while looking at him. He still didn't understand what he was feeling. This was odd. He knew he'd experienced this sort of thing before, but couldn't remember where or how. It was pleasant though. Through all of this confusion, he knew that this was a good feeling.

The car ride grew silent. The calming droning noise of the engine humming while the wind blew by put Engie at ease. Some peace and quiet after all of that chaos at the bar. A little time to sit and think.

Issue was that thinking hurts to do. His head ached and his throat burned. His ears stung and his stomach churned. He was going to have to deal with the hangover of a lifetime in a bit. Sounds thrilling.

Yet, he couldn't care about that enough. He was still preoccupied with this strange feeling towards Medic. It wasn't just tonight that it happened. He recalled several times before when something like this bubbled up within him. This giddiness from being near him. This want to stay with him. What was it? What...what is it–

Right in the middle of his train of thought, Engie felt Medic lean against him. He looked back to see that his eyes were closed. Moments later, he was snoring and his neck rolled to the side. His head rested on him.

He was so close. So near to him. So warm. So cozy. It was right to be with him.

That's when it hit him. It was as though he sobered up in three seconds as the realization hit him. All it took was for his partner to sleep on him for him to finally get what he was feeling for that fog of confusion to clear up.

This was something different than being friends. Something that Engie had not felt for another person in a number of years.

Looked at Medic. He was so peaceful and cute. The way his glasses were slightly askew and his breathing was slow and relaxing. He could even feel the faint thumping of his heart.

Engie slid his right hand behind Medic, bringing him into a hug. He couldn't deny it any longer. Everything about him was perfect. He was the chaotic whirlwind that complemented his eccentricities. He was the odd madman that truly got what it was like to be an artist by using the sciences. He was the only other one to see his cold, dead heart and not be immediately disgusted. He was happy around him. He was free to do anything with him. He was himself at his absolute best.

He loved Medic. With all of his heart, he loved him.

[presidentbungus]

continuation of continuation of a thing

Sniper chants some sort of probably ritualistic prayer under his breath—or maybe just cuss words. It’s a little hard to tell with him. Engie looks back, smiles sympathetically. The truck goes faster. There’s things strewn across the right side of the road—Scout sees boxes of food, pieces of clothing, former mugs and bottles. He considers commenting on this, but looks over and can basically see a storm cloud hovering above Sniper and decides it’s probably better if he doesn’t.

“Does anyone have a gun?” Sniper says. Scout scoots away a little.

Demo coughs. “What?”

“No reason.”

“Snipes, you know you can kill ‘em as many times as you like once we get back to base,” Engie drawls. “But respawn’s that-a-way and ‘less you know how to magically bring people back to life I’m just gonna ask that you keep it to nonlethal bodily harm for now.”

“Stupid… ruin everything…”

“I’m sitting right in front of you.” The truck lurches a little bit, and the road starts going by a little faster. “You know I can hear what you’re saying.”

Soldier is definitely leaning out the side door and throwing things onto the road and yelling something and, unfortunately, he is entirely naked (though something seems a little bit off). Scout looks at Sniper and Sniper looks at Scout and Scout moves away because Sniper is going to snap someone’s neck in the next ten minutes.

“Idiots inbound,” Engie says, and Scout laughs and no one else laughs so he shuts up and leans back.

The window rolls down. Demo unbuckles his seatbelt, and Engie grits his teeth for a long time, and Demo leans out the window and says: “Janey, what the hell’s gotten into ye?”

“Hello Tavish!” Scout can hear him even from inside the car. “We are stopping communism.”

“We?”

“Pyro is on guard duty. Big Pete is driving. I’m dropping weight, to make the car go faster. Is Sniper with you?”

“Big Pete?”

And here Scout is grabbed very roughly by the back of his shirt and wrenched to the left, falling into Sniper’s seat, as Sniper clambers over him and opens the window and leans his body so far out it’s a shock that he doesn’t fall out and he belts: “You wanker, I’m going to kill you!”

“Thank you for the van, private. Your contribution will be dutifully remembered.”

“If you hurt her I am going to turn you into a chair and throw that chair off of a cliff and set the bloody cliff on fire,” Sniper says.

Engie snorts. “Snipes, we ain’t gonna get nowhere when you’re—“

Something comes through the windshield and lands in a pile of powder at Scout’s feet, and Scout gets a hand on the back of Sniper’s vest, and the car wrenches and Scout pulls and it’s an absolute miracle Sniper doesn’t go soaring out of the car. He falls back in the seat, gasping, grappling himself, and rolls the window closed and pulls his knees to his chest and at the same time just looks vaguely angry.

Engie grips the wheel like he’s trying to rip it out of the dashboard, which is at this point a definite possibility. Scout leans down, lifts a shard, reads a fractured “#1”. “Aw,” he says, and he knows this is a mistake before he finishes the sentence. “It’s one of your mugs, Snipes.”

“Ah.” He says nothing beyond this, though something deeply malevolent glows under his shades.

“On second thought,” Engie mutters, and his voice is cold and flat as ice, and he rolls down the window and sighs and then wrenches Demo’s arms onto the wheel and Demo shrieks and the car swerves almost off the road and he yells: “Solly, you get your goddamn ass back here ���fore I turn your rocket launcher to a watering can!”

Demo blubbers: “Get off get off get off get off get off get off—“

“Pyro,” Engie says, and Pyro’s mask appears next to Soldier in the doorway covered in something brown. “Pyro. I’m very disappointed in you. Stop the van right this instant.”

And Pyro’s mask falls back from the doorway like they’re fainting, and Engie pushes himself out of the window back into his seat and Demo shrieks and pulls his arms to himself and is definitely about to cry, and Scout looks at Snipes and practically hears thunder. It’s not really going that well, to be honest. Soldier says, “Well I am going to close the door now,” and Sniper screams like he’s being murdered, and the door shuts and Demo slams his head against the dashboard and Scout sets his chin on a fist and tries to look vaguely miserable.

“Well that didn’t work,” Engie says, forlornly running a finger across the edge of the hole in the windshield like he’s touching an old memory. “Anyone got any other ideas?”

And, as he says this, everybody else’s head snaps to Scout.

Oh that’s not good.

[commander-coppercogg]

Commander’s Log: Cantha, part 4

Alright time for some story stuff! I was kind of doing one of these per story step but I think I got out of sync. Now I’m just ending these where it makes sense to my brain.

We grabbed a raptor taxi to the instance entrance and can I just say that I love the taxis so much! There’s such a fun way to move quickly but unlike waypoints I still get time to enjoy the scenery. And it give me time to like slow down and mentally process and take my time thinking about stuff. Anyway

Ah Gorrick’s special interest! Yes I will happily wait for you to make sure we don’t cause another extinction even- goddamn it Jory get back here!

God they really write him so well him snapping at Jory and then like consciously taking a moment to tone shift. I feel that.

Aw I didn’t have time to find the thing before Jory pointed it out.

Oh Gorrick’s a holosmith! I wouldn’t have guessed since he doesn’t use the sword and beyond that I’m not too familiar with it (despite being an engie main lol) but cool yes king tell me more about hard light

HmMmmmmm this is a trap

Ok I really like Ivan also at first I thought he was talking on comms with someone but it seems he was just talking to himself.

Ok big actually boss fight time!

Oh she is drunk as a skunk

Holy shit she’s a revenant!!! Oh my goooood this is so cool!

SXARLETT FUCKING BRIAR????????!!!!!

Ok ok ok so I honestly don’t have any strong feelings about season 1 or scarlet but oh my gosh that was the coolest boss fight I’ve done in forever! The music the pacing holy shit. And like it felt the way that first instance did. Fun and satisfying and it took a minute to get but then I got it and I didn’t feel frustrated I could just enjoy myself. The challenge level of this expansion has been so stable it’s really nice

Oh so we don’t kill Mai. Im honestly not surprised it’d be a little weird to bring her back just to get rid of her again. But I am bit surprised that this seems to be a recurring theme. For multiple of the events we ran last night, we fought people until they surrendered not died. I dunno that’s just a really interest shift I think

Also I really like that Kas is being the diplomat not just between Dragons Watch and the world but also within Dragons Watch

Lol Ivan thanks for breaking the tension

Hell yeah! Kaineng time!

Or not lol.

Oh my god they are LITerally sending me to the goddamn DMV!!!!! Anet you tops tier comedians how dare you lol

Also I’ve noticed that the Commander (or at least the male asura voice) has sounded unsure/caught off guard a fair bit. Like when Kas called us, Bertie went “oh Um uh sure yeah ok” and it’s very different from the usual tone of “I’ve got this”. I think it just goes to show that the Commander really only kind of knows how to be the Commander and if you take them out of that situation and put them in a different one they kinda don’t know what to do? Yeah

I’ve never had so much fun at the DMV in my LIFE. That was so funny. Listen Bertie absolutely brings a romance novel with him while he waits. I can’t believe they made me do paper work. I’m notoriously bad at paperwork and bureaucracy so This was really funny.

Bertie: wow and I thought Rata Sum had a lot of regulations.

Syrryl: oh you don’t know the half of it

Doing an event to fill up the bar and the woman were escorting has massive butch lesbian vibes truly excellent

Shit I just realized time is passing? Like the holo news is updating stories. Kas had the time to go and do an interview oh this is kind of jarring I’m so used to us being the one to move things along

That combined with the fact that like there’s not the tension and immediate goals of season 4 and icebrood saga really makes it feel like the Commander isn’t in charge it’s very different I’m interested to see where this goes. Cause like yknow end of dragons. What becomes of the Commander when their biggest live goal is over? I’m getting ahead of myself….

Boat time! For some reason I cannot get the skiff to drop anchor correctly but that’s ok whenever we have a multi person vehicle my bf always drives. He’s the can drive gay of this household

Don’t have the boat five minutes and I’m already on the Uber grind lol

Oh my god everyone else is already there what the hell?

I like Navan. She’s very calming.

To new Kaineng!!

[thetriggeredhappy]

Idk if ur taking requests... But.... A continuation of the cute pyro gets a cat fic... But also there is engiespy... Gee pyro who let you have two dad's and two cats... Just a thought👀👀👀 also I've said this before but very cool fics I read them every night before bed, gay little 4k word tf2 bedtime stories:)

this one is closer to 1.5k but i hope it scratches ya brain itch. here’s that other fic for folks who haven't read it, go nuts

(warnings for spy threatening the cats and mention of one cat catching mice)

-

The sound of one shiny black Oxford shoe tapping irritably against the lineoleum of the floor was what eventually drew Pyro to glance up from where they were patching a tear near the cuff of their flame suit. They looked up and processed first the chubby orange cat being held out towards them, then the torn-half-to-hell sock in that cat’s mouth, then Spy’s deadpan expression.

“Your animal has once again decided to pilfer from my living space,” Spy informed them, lip curled in a sneer.

Pyro hummed an apology, moving to take the cat in question with much more gentle hands, tugging the remains of the sock from his mouth and moving to pet at his head. Lucky almost instantly moved to roll over onto his back and bat at Pyro’s gloves happily. Pyro laughed and passed the sock to Spy, who more snatched it away than took it.

“Thank you,” he said, voice venomous.

“You know,” Pyro signed between the cat attacking their glove. “He only gets like this because he wants to play.”

“Not my problem,” Spy all but snapped, turning and leaving the room at a brisk pace. “Control your animal.”

Pyro sighed, looking back down and scratching at the cat’s cheek.

-

“Engineer!” Spy all but screamed later that day, storming up the hallway towards the man in question’s workshop, loud enough that the Engineer actually heard him over the sound of his drill and powered it down, glancing up in time to see him stomping through the door.

“Howdy,” he said cheerfully, biting back on the immediate amusement he got from how perturbed Spy seemed in that moment.

“Would you care to tell me why I found this in front of my door?” Spy hissed, holding up a handkerchief. Engineer craned his neck to look at what was in it, and his eyebrows rose for a moment before his smile ticked up at the corners.

“Looks like lil’ Sissy left you a present,” he chuckled, glancing back down at his work again. “Means she likes you. And besides that, that she’d doin’ her job catching mice.”

Spy absolutely fumed. “I don’t believe dead rodents constitute as gifts, Tinkerer,” he managed through gritted teeth, dropping the handkerchief on the desk.

“Fair enough. Makes sense you’d feel threatened, being a rat yourself,” Engie hummed.

A pause as Spy took a moment to be deeply indignant, scoffing in disbelief. “I won’t stand for this—this disrespect!” he finally managed.

“Then sit down,” he said with a shrug, nudging the stool next to him with his boot.

“I’m going to kill that cat,” Spy finally said, voice firm, and left the room.

“No you ain’t, and we both know it,” the Engineer drawled after him.

-

The sound of quiet cursing in French, approaching the Resupply room. Several sets of eyes turned in the direction of it, and finally Spy came into view, picking at his suit angrily, the absolute picture of annoyance.

“Yo, what’s got your panties in a bunch?” Scout snickered.

“Forget your lint roller at home?” Demo chimed in, also grinning.

“Yes,” Spy said, glaring at the two of them. “And unfortunately, a stupid, terrible animal has decided to ruin my suit.”

“Oi, be nice, Scout can hear you,” Demo joked, and laughed as Scout slugged him on the arm.

“Well, yes, he is indeed terrible, but I meant a certain someone’s horrible beast of a cat,” he said, glare turning towards Pyro. “I’m not sure when, but at some point today, the boy one decided to lay on my suit.”

“That does sound like Lucky,” Pyro signed casually, returning to refilling the canister on their flamethrower. “It’s not so bad, though. It’s just a little cat hair.”

“Oh, ‘just a little cat hair’, isn’t that rich,” Spy deadpanned, continuing to pick at his suit. “Of course. Évidemment. It’s not as if this suit couldn’t pay for me to destroy, clone, and then destroy that cat again.”

Pyro just laughed as though he was joking, which was actually the most infuriating thing they could’ve done. Spy continued to swear and threaten the cat under his breath until well into battle that day.

-

The Spy jolted awake at the sound of a loud, plaintive meow.

He sighed hard, rolling his eyes and turning over to try to get back to sleep again. A second and third meow followed the first, though, and finally after a minute or so of the yowling, he shoved off his blankets and stood, muttering angrily under his breath.

He swung the door of his room open. “Quoi?” he spat down at the little orange cat sitting patiently just outside.

She meowed softly and darted past him into the room.

“Non. Sûrement pas. Non.” he said firmly, strolling after the cat, who darted beneath his bed. “Get out from under there. We aren’t doing this.”

The sound of paws scuffling against the ground, then a long silence.

“Fine, have it your way,” Spy muttered, shutting the door and moving back to bed. “Enjoy being trapped in here until morning.”

In the morning in question, he woke up to the sound of purring, and the feeling of kneading against his arm. He looked over and saw Sissy looking at him with narrowed eyes, paws pressing against his bicep beneath the blanket, and finally she curled up there, still purring like an outboard motor.

“Non,” he said again, sitting up and dislodging her as he left the bed. She simply stood and moved into the recently-vacated warm spot, still rumbling quietly. “You think you’re clever, do you?”

She blinked up at him slowly, tail swaying slightly.

“Don’t insult me. This isn’t going to work. I am a cold, bitter, heartless man, and I am impervious to these weak attempts at winning me over,” he said firmly.

She yawned, stretching briefly. Spy scoffed, turning away and starting to get dressed.

Twenty minutes later, a knock at his door. It was the Engineer, helmet in his hands, looking worried.

“Uh, now Spy, I know this might be a strange request,” he opened with, making Spy raise his eyebrows. “But Firebug is a little concerned, hasn’t seen Sissy since last night, and we were wonderin’ if you’d help us look for her, I know it’s early and all—“

Spy turned away, bending and scooping up the cat where she was moving up just behind him, presenting her to the Engineer wordlessly.

He blinked, carefully taking the cat. “Oh. Thank you.” A pause. “Was she here all night?”

“Oui.”

The start of a smile. “Finally warmin’ up to her?”

Soy scoffed, walking out of the room and kissing the Engineer on the temple in passing before continuing off down the hallway. “Not a chance,” he said easily.

-

Spy sighed heavily as Lucky jumped up into his lap as he sat in an armchair in the common room looking through the paper, pooling there happily and purring like he wasn’t in very real danger. “Terrible. You are a terrible creature. I hate you,” Spy deadpanned down at him, but Lucky just shifted to bat at his tie happily. “You’re awful. One of these days I’m going to put you in a box and leave you by the side of the road for the coyotes. Do not test me.”

Lucky shut his eyes, still purring like he had nowhere to be.

“I need you to understand that, asleep or not, I will be standing and leaving this chair eventually, and I will be doing so as though you are not presently on my lap. The only potential issue with this plan is how very fat you are. Otherwise, I have no qualms with this.”

Lucky continued to purr, blinking up at him briefly as Spy shifted the newspaper and continued reading.

Pyro stopped dead in their tracks as they passed through, starting to giggle as they looked at the scene. “New friend?” they signed when Spy noticed them there.

“Potential new hat,” he said darkly, and Pyro laughed, moving into the kitchen. “I don’t know why you laugh when I say these things! I’m not joking!”

“Sure you aren’t,” they poked their head out to sign, and returned to the kitchen.

Spy mumbled more curses, even as he briefly dropped a hand to pat Lucky on the head begrudgingly.

[fruit-teeth]

Matters of Time and Fate (Chapter 24)

The bed felt cold as Olivia lay there, staring at the ceiling. She could hear a giant beetle pounding its wings against her glass, and while the sight of such a creature disgusted her, she paid the insect little attention this time. Her tears had dried against her cheeks, but they had left itchy stains on her face that wouldn't go away no matter how hard she wiped them away with her sleeve.

Olivia had been up in her room for the past hour or so. Or perhaps it had been two hours, though she had no idea how long it had been. She didn't want to keep feeling awful; she simply wanted to stay in bed and cuddle her plush cat and rubber duck until she felt better. Yet it had been a substantial amount of time, and she still wasn’t feeling right again. Internally, she screamed at herself, demanding that the sadness be cast away, but it wouldn’t budge. The bitterness sat in her chest like a boulder, similar to what she had felt when she learned her father died.

There was a knock on the door just then. Olivia lifted her head, and she asked after a moment, “Who is it?”

“It’s me,” Miss Pauling’s voice filtered through, wavering and low. “May I come in?”

Olivia wiped her eye roughly. “…yeah. Okay,”

The door creaked open, and Miss Pauling slipped in. She wasn’t dressed in her normal clothes, rather she had put on a pair of sweatpants and a long t-shirt. Her hair was also quite messy, and she looked tired.

Pauling sat on the edge of Olivia’s bed, saying nothing for a moment. Soon, though, she remarked, “Helen does love you, you know.”

Olivia sniffled, pulling the quilt tighter around herself. “She left me…” she mumbled.

“She wanted to make sure you went to a good home,” Pauling explained gently. “I can’t…I can’t explain everything that she does, but she wanted to give you a good chance. That’s why she didn’t just leave you at an orphanage when your dad died.”

“But…” Olivia’s lip trembled. “What’s wrong with me? Why couldn’t I have her?”

“Nothing’s wrong with you!” Pauling assured, taking a moment to carefully rub at Olivia’s back. “I was there right after you were born…she wanted you to be safe and cared-for, she had me take care of you and keep you warm,”

Olivia let this information process, and she sat up in surprise. “You…” she wiped her nose with her wrist, still teary but intrigued. “You were there when I was a baby?”

Pauling couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah. She called me over after you were born, and I got you cleaned up for the social worker.”

Olivia had never heard her father tell her stories about when she was a baby, and her nanny had simply stated she was "cute" and nothing else. She only had a few photos of herself as an infant, and it had felt so strange to think that she had once been such a chubby, toothless thing. Now, though, there was someone who’d been present for her infancy.

“What was I like as a baby?” Olivia asked, shifting closer to talk to Pauling easier.

“Well…” Pauling thought about it. “You were very tiny, and you were actually pretty quiet for a new baby. I had to make sure you were okay,”

“Was I okay?” Olivia wanted to know, as if she were worried for her past, infant self.

Pauling nodded, tucking a strand of hair behind Olivia’s ear. “Yeah, you were fine! From what I know, anyway, you were healthy, just small…I gave you a bath in the sink, you were really calm about it, but you did cry a little when I took you out of your swaddle,”

Olivia wrinkled her nose. “Swaddle?”

“Oh – sorry, the towel you were in. The swaddle. But yeah…” Pauling smiled at her again. “I wish I had pictures but…it was just that one night.”

Olivia thought about what’d she had just heard. She’d been a calm, happy baby who liked baths…she compared that to how she became later, as her father had taught her to become mean and ruthless. Her mind did not harp on that too much, though, and she instead grinned to herself at the thought of getting a bath from someone else. “I don’t take baths, now. Just showers,”

“I know,” Pauling replied. “And that surprises me a lot, I’ve never met a lot of kids like you…” she went quiet for a moment, before saying, “Look…I’m sorry I kept that secret from you. You must have had a lot of questions about your mom when you were little, ones your dad didn’t answer.”

“Yeah…” Olivia confessed. “But it wasn’t weird. I did okay…”

Pauling turned to look Olivia up and down: that same tiny baby she’d washed in the sink, bigger now and sitting next to her. Without giving it much thought, she reached over and picked Olivia up, pulling her into her lap. “Yeah,” Pauling agreed in a soft voice, holding back tears as she rested her chin on Olivia’s head. “Yeah, you’ve done great…”

Olivia was taken aback by the hug, but she accepted it with open arms, burying her cheek against Pauling's chest and letting herself be held. Soft guitar music began to flow in from downstairs at the same time, and Olivia looked up when it reached her ears. “Guitar?”

“Oh,” Pauling realized, noticing it too. “That’s Engie…he must be playing a little something. I wonder if he’s playing for the others?”

Olivia slid off of Pauling’s lap and went to the door, heading into the hallway to find out. Pauling followed her, rubbing her eyes and smoothing her hair back as the two headed down the hall.

Engineer sat on the couch in the living room, slowly picking his guitar strings. Scout lay sprawled out on the floor, staring at the ceiling with raw, red eyes. Pyro hovered near him, gently stroking his hair and muttering sweet things he couldn't understand.

When Olivia and Pauling stepped in, Engineer paused his playing. “Hey, you two. Feelin’ better, Olivia?”

Olivia gave a half-hearted shrug. “I dunno…I feel a little better, I guess, but…” she couldn’t quite articulate the sensation, instead gesturing to her chest. “I feel bad in here still,”

“I feel ya,” Scout spoke up from where he lay, his voice wavering a bit. Olivia glanced down at him, before kneeling and laying down on the floor to join him.

Engineer smiled at the sight, but Olivia and Scout were both so unhappy, he couldn't bring himself to laugh. “Hey, you too…either of you wanna talk about how you’re feeling? That might help…”

Scout rolled over on his side and curled up like a frog, frowning. Olivia copied him without much thought, but when Engineer’s words fully sunk in, she considered the prospect.

“Okay,” Olivia sat back up, wiping her eyes again. “Well…” she drew her knees up and hugged them. “I feel like…Mommy didn’t want me because there was something wrong with me,”

Engineer clicked his tongue. “Nah, nah, darlin’…don’t think like that. People have different reasons for doin’ things, it probably had a lot less to do with you and more to do with whatever she was dealin’ with…”

Miss Pauling took a seat on the sofa, letting out a shaky sigh. “Yeah, you’re right about that, Engie…”

Olivia sighed. “But…but Daddy said she didn’t want me…”

“That’s what he thought you’d understand,” Engineer clarified. “Y’know, Olivia, adults are really complex sometimes, and sometimes we don’t think little kids will understand the things we do. So…we try to make it simpler for you. Maybe that’s why your daddy told you that,”

“Hm…” Olivia thought it over. “But he knew I was smart…he told me every day. We’d do plans for the company at night, and if I did something right he’d say to me, ‘you’re so smart, Olivia!’” She pressed her cheek against her knee. “Mommy wouldn’t say that to me…”

Engineer went quiet, and he set his guitar to the side to lean in a little so Olivia could hear him better. “Look,” he began. “You don’t need her approval, okay? You got plenty of people in this house who care so much about you. When you got that, you can’t lose, all right?”

Olivia took this in, before she confessed quietly, “I wanted a mom like the kids on TV…”

“TV makes you want a lot of stuff,” Scout spoke up from where he lay. “That’s always been my experience…” he sniffed. “Makes you want a good dad, too…”

The floorboards beside the living room creaked, and Olivia noticed right away. “What was that?” she asked, looking around.

Engineer sighed. “Oh, lord…I know who it is,” he set his guitar down, calling, “I hear you, Spy. You can come out,”

Spy uncloaked himself, somewhat shamefully. When he appeared, Scout refused to look at him, choosing instead to pick at part of the carpet. Engineer clicked his tongue disapprovingly.

“I’m glad you decided to stick around,” Engineer informed Spy. “But sneakin’ around like this ain’t the way.”

“It’s my job,” Spy defended, a sharper edge to his tone than he’d perhaps intended. He leaned against the wall, staring at the floor. “I’m just…at a loss.”

Miss Pauling glanced up from her spot on the sofa. “At a loss of what?”

“Of what to do next…” Spy’s hands shook a little as he rubbed at his brow, grimacing.

Engineer frowned. “Seriously? Spy—he’s right there.” He gestured to Scout. “How about you stop dodging this and talk to your kid for once?”

When Spy looked up, Scout snorted, “Oh, hell, no. I ain’t talkin’ to that bastard.”

“Now, Scout,” Engineer chided, though his voice was gentle. “I think you deserve some closure and—”

“Don’t tell me how to feel!” Scout snapped, bitter. “Maybe I wanna be angry! Ever thought of that? I got a right to be mad, don’t tell me I’m wrong for it!”

Engineer paused. “I…I wasn’t gonna say that,” he sighed. “I just feel like, if you two don’t talk this out, it’ll only get worse. You know?”

Scout hugged his arms, looking away again, mumbling. Spy watched him for a few, silent seconds, before he took a long breath.

“Jeremy,” he began, stepping towards the young man. “I…I apologize for…well, everything. When you were born, I ran into a great deal of trouble, and as a young man, I did not know how to deal with it properly…”

Spy sat down on the carpet, sitting just across from where Scout was. Olivia watched in silence, checking Scout’s reaction, but he maintained the same, stoic demeanor.

Nevertheless, Spy continued talking. “This isn’t an excuse, I should add. I just wanted to explain why it happened the way it did, because…I should have done better. I should have worked to find a better solution and deal with what happened like a man. But I was a coward, and…” he paused, trying to get reasonable control over his words. “You are not obligated to forgive me, in fact I don’t expect that from you. However, I…I promise I will not leave you again. Not after everything.”

There was a long silence. Scout finally looked up at Spy, his eyes visibly tearing up again. After a moment, he managed to speak. “Thanks…I didn’t think you were actually gonna say sorry.” He wiped his nose, sniffling. “I had a really hard time without a dad, you know. I guess you’re here now, anyway, but…thanks for sayin’ sorry. Means a lot…”

Spy nodded, looking a little relieved to hear that. “All right…good…” he cleared his throat again, clearly trying not to cry. “Well…I’m pleased we could talk about this…even if…”

Scout cut him off. “Yeah, yeah, man. Whatever.” He had a little smile on his face, though, his hands moving up from the carpet to sit on his lap.

Upon witnessing the interaction, Engineer had a sudden realization. “Wait—hey, this is a good idea,”

“What is?” Miss Pauling questioned, not catching on.

“We can just…talk to each other, about what we’re feeling, and…” he tried to think of how to explain it better. “This past day has been wild, and maybe we’d feel better if we just talked openly about what we were feeling,”

“Like a hippie circle?” Scout scoffed, but then backtracked. “I dunno, I ain’t sayin’ it’s a bad idea, actually…”

Miss Pauling sat up taller, considering it. “Sure, we can try it…we can get the others to join in, if they want to,”

“I can start again,” Spy offered, focusing on Pauling. “Miss Pauling, I…I’m sorry for what happened back there, for telling what you told me not to tell…”

“Oh—” Miss Pauling waved him off a little. “No, no…it’s my fault, anyway…Helen told me not to tell that secret in the first place, and…” she teared up again, looking away. “I let her down…”

Pyro patted Pauling’s hand sympathetically while Spy assured her, “No, Miss Pauling…it was her who ran off. It was her who couldn’t look her own child in the eyes and admit what happened. Do not blame yourself.”

Miss Pauling composed herself, rubbing her eye with her wrist. “I guess…” she muttered, unwilling to criticize Helen despite the fact that something in her eyes indicated that she wanted to.

At that moment, Heavy came walking up from the basement, with Medic close behind him. “What is happen up here?” Heavy wanted to know, coming to stand just beside where Spy was seated.

“We’re just havin’ conversations,” Engineer explained. “Just being honest about what’s on our minds.”

Heavy sat down, nodding. “Yes, this is good.”

Medic spotted Olivia, and he moved to sit near her. “Hello again, young one. Look who came to see you,” he moved aside part of his jacket, revealing that Teddy was pressed there.

Olivia’s face lit up, pleased to see the little baboon again. “Teddy!” she reached out to pet his fur gently.

Medic smiled, and he carefully pried Teddy off him. “Here, why don’t you hold him for a bit?”

Olivia gladly accepted Teddy, holding him just how she’d been directed to and watching as he grabbed onto the collar of her shirt. She giggled, “He likes me!”

“He does, you are a natural with him.” Medic praised, patting her head.

As Heavy watched them, he got an expression of gentle love on his face, taking in just how kind Medic could be with Olivia. A thought then crossed his mind, and he looked to Engineer. “I have something to talk about,”

“Oh?” Engineer nodded. “Okay, well…go ahead, big guy.”

Heavy straightened up, looking back at Medic again. “Doktor,” he prompted, getting the other man’s attention. “May I talk about…us?”

Medic glanced up, and he paused, thinking it over. “…yes,” he decided. “Yes, Misha, go ahead…”

Heavy looked back at the rest of the group, before he began to speak. “For long time, now, Doktor and I have been…in love. And…we did not know if she would talk about it, or tell, but…now I want to talk about it.”

Heavy and Medic's relationship was no secret among the mercenaries, thus his admission came as no surprise. Yet, the others chose to be respectful about this.

“We do not think differently of either of you, mon ami,” Spy affirmed, patting Heavy’s shoulder.

“Yeah, we support you guys.” Scout agreed.

Heavy smiled, visibly relieved. “Oh, thank you…I am so happy to be here with all of you.”

Medic approached Heavy, curling up on his lap and giving him a kiss. “Goodness, I love you…” he hummed gently, cuddling against Heavy.

“I love you, too,” Heavy replied, pressing his cheek to Medic’s with a delighted hum.

Miss Pauling laughed softly. “Oh, God, you guys…you’re so sweet, you’re gonna give me a cavity.”

Olivia watched from where she held Teddy, recalling how she’d seen them in the basement before. They really did love each other, that much was clear…

It was after this interaction that the others began to trickle in, one by one, to see what was going on in the living room. Olivia began to feel better as they sat quietly on the couch or on the floor, talking quietly to one another, and she snuggled Teddy closer to her for warmth.

Zhanna had her head laid against Soldier’s shoulder, but she looked up at Olivia after a moment. “How are feeling, little one?”

“Okay…” Olivia shrugged. “I feel okay. I’m still sad because Mommy doesn’t want me…”

Sniper, who’d been rather quiet, slipped down closer to Olivia’s level to sit beside her. “Hey…I know that feeling. It hurts like hell, but you should know you aren’t alone. Okay?”

“I know,” Olivia informed him, pressing her cheek against his arm.

“Are you all right, lad?” Demoman wanted to know, watching Sniper’s expressions.

“Me? I’m fine, I’m fine…” Sniper stroked Olivia’s head a bit. After a moment, he admitted, “This, um…this did stir up some stuff for me, but I’m going to be all right.”

Olivia leaned into his touch, but her eyes landed on Lar-Nah, who was standing just across the room from her. Lar-Nah appeared to be staring at Sniper, but she had a peculiar expression on her face that Olivia couldn't figure out.

It seemed that Spy had noticed Lar-Nah, too, for he suddenly prompted, “What’s on your mind, Lar-Nah?”

Lar-Nah glanced up quickly. “What? What are you on about?”

“She’s plotting something!” Soldier piped up, eying her with suspicion.

“Oh, quiet,” Lar-Nah waved her hand dismissively at him, before looking down. “Everything is fine…”

“Nah, I don’t think everything is fine,” Engineer shook his head, motioning for her to sit with everyone else. “You’ve been real quiet ever since you came here…you wanna talk to us?”

Lar-Nah sat down, her back against the end table, and she said nothing for a moment. Finally, she began to speak. “I killed a man today.”

Scout’s head popped up in alarm. “You did!?”

“Oh—yes, she did,” Sniper gestured to her. “She slammed the whole microwave on his head! I saw it. He was about to shoot me, but she took him out.”

“Huh,” Scout slumped back down again. “We’re gonna get a new one, right?”

Demoman leaned over and gave Lar-Nah a firm pat on the back. “Good work! Did not take you for the type!”

Lar-Nah smiled a little, glancing up at him. “Thank you,” she replied, looking down at her hands and plucking at her nail polish. “That wasn't my first time killing someone.”

Everything seemed to pause for a moment. “Hey,” Miss Pauling pointed out. “So has everyone else in this room…aside from Olivia. And the baboon of course. If you feel bad about that, it’s not a problem here.”

“I don’t regret it.” Lar-Nah affirmed, the tone of her voice shifting. “I poisoned my aunt and uncle when I was a teenager…they deserved it.”

“What did they do?” Medic wanted to know, intrigued.

Lar-Nah fell silent again, before taking a long breath. “If I tell you…you’re going to feel bad for me, and…that isn’t what I want. I’ve never told anyone about this until now.”

“Please talk—is okay,” Heavy assured her.

Lar-Nah finally began, “They raised me because my mother died shortly after I was born. Growing up, they always told me I caused her to die, and that this meant I was a bad omen. That I was bad luck. My aunt was especially cruel to me…” she shuddered and rubbed her hair between her fingers in a self-soothing gesture. “I believed I was bad luck, but one day I had enough and put some chemicals into their food, and I promised myself I would never be a bad omen.”

“Good for you,” Engineer praised. “You didn’t put up with their mistreatment, and you decided to be better than what they told you you’d be.”

“No…” Lar-Nah shook her head. “No, no…you see, I’ve come to realize that…I am a bad omen. They were right…” she looked over at Sniper, and the only look in her eyes was one of crushing regret. “I was the reason the Australium ended up in space, which was what led to where we are today. I was the reason my child ended up dying. I was the reason my mother died…” she put her head in her hands, letting out a shaky sigh. “They were right about me—the only thing I’ve ever done is cause bad luck and misery.”

“Please, you know that isn’t true,” Medic tried his best to reassure her. “Surely, an intelligent person such as yourself would know that the concept of luck doesn’t exist, anyway…”

Sniper, however, appeared distressed at hearing this. “I…God, I had no idea…” he moved a little closer, trying to meet her eyes. “Hey—hey, look at me,” when she did, he explained, “I’m alive, now, all right? I’m okay, I ended up being okay. There’s no reason to tear yourself up over it, yeah? It’s all in the past, and besides: you saved me today. I’d say that makes up for it.”

Lar-Nah curled in on herself, but she looked back up at Sniper. “Truly?” she wanted to know, her voice low again. “You think that makes up for what happened to you?”

“I do…” Sniper rubbed her shoulder tenderly. “And I’m not mad at you, all right?”

Heavy leaned down and gave her a gentle half-hug. “Aunt and uncle were wrong about you…now you have chance here with us. Prove them wrong.”

A little taken aback by the hug, Lar-Nah fought back tears the best she could and leaned into Heavy’s hug. “Thank you…I’ll try.”

Olivia noticed Lar-Nah was about to cry, so she did the only thing she could think of and leaned against her arm. Lar-Nah didn’t respond to the touch at first, but after a moment, she gently patted Olivia’s head.

Miss Pauling's thoughts strayed back to Helen as she watched the scene unfold in front of her, and it was then that an idea hit her. “Wait…” she stood up, thinking it over. “Guys…we have to go out and find Helen!”

“What?” Soldier looked up, confused.

“Pauling, she’s an adult,” Engie assured. “She’ll come back when she’s ready.”

“No! No…” Miss Pauling began to pace, shaking her head. “I know her better than a lot of you guys…she took the Australium before she left, that means she’s probably not planning on coming back!”

Demo gritted his teeth. “’Course she took that. Well, where would she be?”

“I don’t know…” Pauling confessed. “But we have to find her and hold her accountable for—for everything, honestly. She’s been finding ways to avoid having to take accountability forever, and we need to put a stop to that!” she looked at Olivia, taking a breath. “For the sake of everyone. That includes herself…”

“What should we do then?” Spy wanted to know. “Should we form a search party?”

Pauling nodded. “Yeah…yeah. We should take multiple cars and drive all around, everywhere she could be!”

Heavy gestured to Olivia. “What about her? She stays here?”

“Can I come?” Olivia asked, looking up pleadingly at Miss Pauling. “I wanna help…”

Miss Pauling paused, thinking it over. “Olivia…I don’t think we can leave you here. Those people, they could come back, and then…” she shook her head. “I know what we’ll do—we’ll bring you along, but you need to stay in the car at all times, okay? We can’t risk letting anyone see you!”

“She can stay in my van,” Sniper offered. “I have room and a little space I could hide her.”

“Good,” Pauling nodded, relieved. “We’ll do that, then…”

Olivia adjusted Teddy in her arms, feeling a flurry of both excitement and fear. “We’re gonna get Mommy back here?”

Miss Pauling reached down, placing her hand on Olivia’s shoulder. “Yeah—let’s hope…”

[mythicalcanary-literature]

FanFiction - Crossing the Stars

Hetalia (c) Hidekaz Himaruya

FTL: Faster Than Light (c) Subset Games

[CHAPTER LIST]

Author’s Note: This FanFiction is a crossover between the sci-fi strategy game ‘FTL: Faster Than Light’ by Subset Games and the manga/anime called ‘Hetalia’ by Hidekaz Himaruya. The story will follow closely to the events of the rougue-like gameplay in FTL and the human characters will be replaced with the human versions of the national personifications in ‘Hetalia’. This is a fun personal project and it requires no knowledge of either fandom to enjoy this story. I’d encourage checking the original sources out though! Use of screenshots in this FanFiction are to supplement the storytelling to help plot the course of our heroes’ journey in the universe. Whatever the outcome of the gameplay I base this story on (as each playthrough is very unique) will be translated into the plot of this story. i.e. If the spaceship gets damaged, it gets damaged in the story. If a character dies in the game, they’re dead in this fiction. (Please note that I find this kind of storytelling entertaining to play/write and I plan to do more in the future if time allows!)

Chapter 2

The crew of the S.S. APH pondered their options. At the Exit Beacon of their first Civilian Sector they had a choice on where to jump. Both branching sectors were civilian areas, one was under Engi Control and the other under Zoltan Control.

Captain Alfred F. Jones brought up the file on the Engi species. “It says here that Engi dudes are made of nanomachines. That’s pretty damn sweet! Maybe we could get them to be our mechanics?”

Arthur Kirkland, the weapons master, pulled up the file on their second option, the Zoltans. “Apparently both the Engi and Zoltans are allies. We could encounter either species in either sector so we have a coin toss here. Zoltans are energy beings, meaning that they can act as a kind of battery to save us some engine power. That’s rather handy.”

Their engines expert Francis Bonnefoy hummed in approval. “Now that you mention it, I wouldn’t mind having either of those creatures on board. An expert mechanic? A spare battery, pardon ze term… and if we can encounter them in any of these two sectors I don’t think we could lose.” 

“It says that the Engi are secret allies of the Federation. That bodes very well for us. Provided the Rebels haven’t corrupted them, of course,” Arthur added thoughtfully.

Their American Captain beamed. “Hell yeah! I guess that means the Zoltan dudes are allies as well. Can’t go wrong here.”

Arthur coughed. “Actually, if we enter Zoltan territory and we’re attacked by hostiles whom have a Zoltan Energy Shield we could face problems. Those energy shields are a bitch to destroy. We need to avoid as many problematic scenarios as possible.”

“Agreed,” the Frenchman said quickly. “I am still shaken from ze last battles.”

“Engi Controlled then?” Alfred suggested. “Back to your stations! Let’s get this important cargo on the move!”

A cautionary message popped up on Alfred’s monitor. It warned them that Mantis had been preying on the Engi core worlds and those insectoids were a rather violent race. He hoped for a peaceful voyage this go-round. He programmed in the next jump, reluctantly avoiding the temptation of visiting the store located at a nearby beacon. If they could harvest more scrap maybe they could invest in some more kickass weaponry or upgrades!

A rather disgruntled British voice chimed over the announcement system. “OH FUCKING HELL!” As tempted as the Captain was to discourage swearing, he allowed it in this case. Out of the frying pan and into the literal fire!

Francis gasped, staring out of his nearby airlock window at the super-giant Class M star! They were too close, they were going to cook like that rather delicious duck l’orange he made for his crew before they left the Federation space port back home. “Oh non non non!”

DANGER! SOLAR FLARES! DANGER! SOLAR FLARES! DANGER!

“Incoming dumbass Pirate Scout ship! Kirkland lock weapons on their shields and weapons rooms before we grill like a BBQ!” Captain Jones commanded as he anxiously kept an eye on their FTL Drive charge. He really did think those pirates were dumbasses, who dares lurk around a giant star to attack passersby at the risk of setting their own ship alight? Idiots.

The S.S. APH successfully damaged the pirate ship but the enemy return shot rocked the weapons room. FIRE!

Arthur hardly knew what hit him, but the searing heat was enough of a tip-off to tell him that if he didn’t move right now he was going to die. Scrambling to his feet, he reached for the fire extinguisher and tried to combat the flames. This was very bad.

His best friend’s voice hailed him over the comms. “Artie, get out of there! I’m gonna open the airlocks to snuff out the fire. Go literally anywhere where you have oxygen.”

“Aye, sir!” he acknowledged, coughing from the smoke as he fled to the shields room. The portside and starboard side airlocks shot open along with a couple of doors into the weapons room draining the air rapidly to deny the fire any fuel.

As soon as the fire was out, Alfred closed all of the doors. That was all kinds of horrible. The pirate ship was repairing and had shields online. If they could get their weapons…

The super-giant Class M star wanted in on the action. It stretched a solar flare right out to the warring ships!

WARNING! SHIELDS CRITICAL!

Good thing Kirkland kept that fire extinguisher. Fire seemed to be following him today. Alfred sighed from the Bridge and called his crew. “Artie, get out of shields, I’ll open the starboard airlocks. Bonnefoy! Assist Kirkland in weapons, we need to get those back online.”

“Aye-aye, Captain!”

In the weapons room, Arthur and Francis united to repair the systems. The Frenchman quickly pulled his on-and-off frienemy into a hug and checked him for injuries. “Mon Dieu! I am happy you aren’t too badly hurt. Ze shields are down, we have to work quickly. Are you well?”

Arthur huffed and pushed him away. “Yes, I’m fine. Let’s get to work before more fire follows me.” He was feeling a little paranoid that he had pissed off a sun god or some crap like that.  They had to get away.

The pirates were fighting well! They destroyed their surveillance system, not that it was a vital system at this point in time but it was extra hull damage that our heroes could not afford to take. “Bonnefoy! Shields are broken, meet me there. Artie, I see weapons are online, stay there and give them hell!”

Give them hell indeed! The Englishman dealt the deathblow to the pirates and was glad to dust his hands of the bastards. Unfortunately the star was not done with them and heavily damaged their oxygen systems and the weapons room again. The battle was won but the war wasn’t over!

“I’m off to repair O2!” Arthur announced as he fled from his post at weapons to stop them from suffocating. Alfred acknowledged. “Francis, join him! Get the oxygen back online, we can repair other things later but our ship can’t handle more of this. I’m gonna jump us away!”

“Oui! Please get us out of here, I am sweaty and it’s gross.” The pair split directions and Alfred slammed in the co-ordinates of their next destination at the Bridge. If this was what was in the stars for them in this sector they might not live to see the end and that thought was terrifying.

The next leap took them to an existing battle between a Mantis ship harassing a small Engi research vessel. Alfred was almost ready to command an intervention but the insectoids fled as they entered their space. The Engi Captain hailed them, offering thanks for showing up, and gave the S.S. APH a new drone schematic.

Captain Jones gasped in awe. “OH SHIT YEAH! A BOARDING DRONE?! YEEEEEAH!”

His friends joined him on the Bridge. Arthur blinked in surprise. “A Boarding Drone? Wow, that’s powerful tech! Too bad we don’t have a drone room.”

“Dudes, we get one! Or we can sell it if we can’t, whatever, but damn, those Engi guys were nice.”

Francis stretched. “Let’s keep moving, mes amis. Ze Rebels are always on our tails.”

Arthur beamed. A Boarding Drone? That would be fun to use against the Rebel Fleet.

“Alright, dudes, you’re gonna hate me for this, but I’m gonna backtrack to the store. Our hull is fucked and if we can get a drone room to use this fancy-ass tech we’re sure as hell getting it!” Arthur chided him for his horrible use of the English language but agreed that the risk might be worth it. Their hull was already fifty percent damaged, it could spell death if they carried on without fixing it.

Luck turned in their favour! Alfred authorised the purchase of the new drone room to house the Boarding Drone, and it also came with a free Defence Drone Mark I! Bargain. They spent the rest of their scrap on hull repairs and moved on to the next beacon.

They backtracked to an earlier beacon and leapt right on towards the distress signal. Captain Jones listened to the plea and cringed. Oh boy, this was not a pretty distress call but he didn’t feel that they could risk a rescue mission. He called his crew to the Bridge to make an informed decision.

Francis peered through the window in surprise. “It’s an evacuation.”

Alfred hailed the fleeing vessels. “Yo, this is Captain Jones of the Federation Star Ship APH, what’s the sitch?”

Arthur glared at him for once again disregarding etiquette. He ignored his friend.

One of the fleeing ships responded; “Help! We’re being overrun by some sort of giant alien spiders!”

The Frenchman squealed. “WHAT? That’s disgusting! Call pest control!”

Arthur whacked him across the head. “I think literally anyone coming to their aid IS pest control.”

Alfred winced. “Giant alien spiders? Seriously?”

The fleeing ship yelled, “Help us or flee yourselves! Those things are evil!”

Arthur bit his lip. “Sending an away team isn’t advisable, Alfred. I don’t think we can afford to waste more time with the Rebels on our heels and we don’t know what we’re up against.”

Francis nodded. “Oui, I say we go. They’re already evacuating, we should stay ze course.”

The young Captain sighed and agreed resolutely. “Yeah, you’re totally right. Back to your stations, we have a mission to complete!”

“Heads-up, all! We’re navigating an asteroid field.” Alfred paused and checked the radar. “Incoming pirates! Kirkland, power down the Artemis missile and channel it into the drones. I’m gonna power down the medbay to support the Defence Drone, it’s gonna take out the asteroids for us.” Arthur switched the power routes and confirmed that the drone was ready.

“Ah shoot, it looks like we’ve got another coward on our hands. Enemy vessel is powering up its FTL Drive!”

“I’ve destroyed their weapons, sir!” Arthur replied, prepared to change tactics. “Thank God for this drone, it’s stopping the asteroids from striking us. Their hull is weak, the pirates won’t last long.”

True to his word, the pirates perished soon after and they could reap the rewards. There was no time to spare, they had to continue the journey!

“Hey, dudes! We have a Rebel Auto douche here with a sweet cache. Let’s attack it and steal its shit.”

Arthur audibly sighed over the comms system. “Is that an order, Captain or are you daydreaming aloud?”

“HAHAHAHA! Shut it and fire up the weapons, bro.”

“How the hell did you earn your Captain’s badge again?” he asked rhetorically.

“By bein’ a HERO, of course! Fire up!”

“I’ve taken out their weapons, Captain!” Sadly, that wasn’t enough to stop an enemy missile from screwing with their shields.

“Shields are down! That goddamn drone is setting everything on fire! Francis, run to weapons, I need to open the airlocks!”

“Oui, I’ll keep Arthur company and hope he doesn’t attract fire again,” Francis responded, running down the halls.

Arthur scoffed. “Quiet, idiot, or I’ll make sure you’re in the way of the fire beam.”

“So cruel!” the Frenchman whined as he entered the weapons room. The Englishman stuck out his tongue and switched the Burst Laser to lock on the drones as Alfred opened the airlocks to control the drain of oxygen.

Once the fires were extinguished, Alfred shut the airlocks and commanded Francis to repair the shields and medbay.  The Auto-Assault ship exploded and left them with a decent reward. Arthur examined the weapon from the cache. A Healing Burst? That could be useful but he was hoping for something a little better.

The next beacon was a store! The Engi hive operating it seemed friendly enough and Alfred treated Arthur to a special weapons augmentation. As the Engi repaired their hull, Arthur installed the ‘Automated Re-Loader’. An extra ten percent recharge rate on their weapons could really give them an advantage!

Feeling refreshed, the crew embarked to the next beacon, painfully aware of how close the Rebel Fleet was getting to them.

“Yo, crewdudes! I found a dormant Rebel Automated Scout here. I’m gonna try and download its data stores. You guys chill or whatever.”

A FEW MOMENTS LATER…

“Uh… Yeah, Artie, can ya do me a favour and like… blast the ever living hell outta this thing? I miiiight have activated it into fight mode.”

Francis could have sworn he heard the audible facepalm from his friend, but then again he could have done that deliberately over the announcement system.

Fortunately these ships were quick to deal with and Arthur destroyed it without putting up much of a fight. They collected the loot and moved on with their lives.

The next beacon was located around a pulsar. A small research station orbited it, but it seemed to be abandoned. Alfred scanned the area and flipped on the Red Alert sirens. “BATTLE STATIONS, PEEPS. WE HAVE MORE PIRATES!”

“I thought this was Engi space? All we’ve seen are Rebels and Pirates!” Francis complained over the comms system.

“They could be Engi pirates? We don’t have the scanners to see into their ships,” Arthur reasoned as he powered up the weapons. “Brace yourselves for ion waves, everyone. Our electronics are going to go haywire.”

DANGER! ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES! DANGER!

The enemy weapons room was targeted and blasted to pieces. An ion wave disrupted their engines and shields, whereas the enemy had a mild disruption to their weapons and oxygen rooms.

“We have another runner! Take these losers down, Kirkland!”

“I’m doing my best! The bloody pulsar knocked out my weapons charge.”

“Shit, they’re getting away!”

There was a tense moment as the pirates used their FTL Drive to flee. The crew of the S.S. APH were worried that they would alert the Rebel Fleet about their location. This did not happen and they could breathe again.

“Fuck, that was intense!” Alfred called over the announcement system. “Look, things are gonna get ugly. We’ll pitstop at the next store but we’re gonna encounter the Rebels at the Exit Beacon. Artie, be on high alert when we get there.”

“I’m already on high alert, but I will do my best to fend them off so we can get to the next sector.”

“Good man. Franny, come with me, we’ll get the supplies this time.”

The Engi trader was a nice entity. He showed the crewmembers his wares and allowed them to discuss budget. In the end, they settled for a Flak Gun Mark I to potentially give them an advantage over multiple shields on enemy vessels along with an extra bit of fuel to tide them over. That was it, that was ALL of their scrap, which included the extra currency they made by selling their Healing Burst. They hoped it was enough to keep them alive.

Captain Jones gathered his friends in the Bridge with a grave expression. “Okay, so the Rebels are definitely at the Exit Beacon, no escapin’ that. Just do your best and try not to die. Our priority is to buy time to escape, alright? We’re not aiming for a win, we’re aiming for an escape.”

Francis looked nervous. “I don’t want to die!”

Arthur sat on the pilot’s chair and rested his head in his hands. “We all know the risks. Let’s not be pessimistic. We’ll either succeed in getting through the beacon or they will blow us to kingdom come. We’ve better head there right now. I just hope they haven’t had time to set-up anti-ship batteries…”

“Good luck, guys! I believe in you!” They all hugged for a brief moment before marching off to their stations. Here goes nothing!

As Alfred suspected, the enemy ship had two layers of shields to deal with. The investment in the Flak Gun was worth it. Arthur warmed up the weapons and aimed the Flak Gun at the enemy engines with additional fire power aimed at their shields in the form of the Artemis missile. He also noticed that they had a teleportation pad. Well, this was about to get bloody!

WARNING! INTRUDERS DETECTED!

“Bonnefoy! Get out of engines and man the doors! I’m opening the back airlocks, don’t get caught in it, I’ll try and suffocate the bastard!” Alfred called over a private comm link as he monitored the single human intruder.

“Aye, Captain!” Francis responded, racing to his new post as the engine and oxygen rooms were starved of air. The intruder was going to regret beaming aboard alright!

In weapons, Arthur cringed as his Flak debris missed the FTL Drive. He was counting on the Artemis missile to destroy the shields to help things along. The shields were hit on both ships and they tried their best to remain stable.

WARNING! SHIELDS CRITICAL!

The oxygen room was under attack by the one intruder that was slowly suffocating because he didn’t bring a space suit. The S.S. APH’s shields were vulnerable, which meant that the Rebel Elite Fighter could definitely land more hits. This wasn’t looking great and the FTL was taking its sweet time to charge up!

Francis did his best to hold the doors firmly secured shut. This was difficult when they never invested any scrap to upgrade their reactor and subsequently their subsystems further. He could not leave his post whilst the intruder remained on board, which left the engines unmanned so that he couldn’t assist Alfred with dodging attacks, and if he left the doors to repair the broken shields Arthur would be attacked by the intruder, no doubt. This was a horrible situation and it was going to get worse.

WARNING! INTRUDERS DETECTED! WARNING! SHIELDS CRITICAL!

Arthur managed to damage the Rebel’s engines, shields and weapons but chaos had already reigned on the S.S. APH. Enemy retaliation had damaged their piloting systems, shields and engines. On top of that, there was a fire in the drone control room and the entire oxygen system had been destroyed. They were in major trouble!

WARNING! SHIELDS CRITICAL!

WARNING! HULL AT 75%!

It was a never-ending sound of alarms on the ship. Alfred was stuck repairing the piloting system so that they could continue charging the FTL Drive, Francis had left the door system room to try to fix the shields to give them SOME protection as Arthur madly aimed their weapons at the enemy ship.

Arthur panicked and knew he had to do something or they’d be stuck as a waiting target for the Rebels to destroy any minute now. He ran to the engines to repair the FTL Drive. “Alfred! I’m repairing the engines. We can’t leave if they’re broken!”

“The weapons are auto-firing, right?!” he called back.

“Yes! I…” Wow, the air was constricting in this room. He continued working as hard as he could to get the engines back online but he couldn’t focus for some reason… “We need to get vital systems online!”

The Rebels were close to destruction but that felt like a hollow promise of victory. The teleportation room activated again and now they had THAT to deal with too.

Alfred was sweating. The drone room was directly behind the Bridge and that was completely on fire now. He couldn’t run to help his friends and they were losing! He checked the ship surveillance to see how everyone was and his eyes widened in horror. “FRANCIS, GET TO THE OXYGEN ROOM NOW. FIX IT QUICKLY, ARTHUR’S DYING!”

“What?!” came the Frenchman’s startled response. “I’ll head there now!”

“ARTIE, BUDDY! Your vitals are critical. Are you conscious?! Get out of there and head to the medbay right now. ARTHUR! Move it! Please…”

Arthur was hanging on by a thread. He could barely move but he had to get out of there. Somehow he got to his feet and felt his way out of the engine room. His health was waning and he almost fainted en route to the medbay. He had to get there. To heal. To breathe. There was so much NOISE. Where was medbay again?

WARNING! INTRUDERS DETECTED!

Arthur collapsed on a bed in the medical wing. Luckily the system was able to start helping him to convalesce but he was extremely close to death! Thankfully he made it there in time.

Francis was struggling. It took a lot of effort but the oxygen was back online! He coughed and hurried over to the medbay as his health depleted further. He was the second member close to death that day. He saw Arthur and relaxed, letting the system heal his body.

BOOM! The enemy vessel exploded leaving them with a nice bit of fuel to move on when they weren’t burning to death. That was one less worry for Alfred but he had plenty more to deal with post-battle. Namely the one intruder destroying their weapons room!

Alfred sighed with relief and spent a moment recovering. He checked on his friends’ vital signs... they seemed to be improving in the medbay. Good. That was too close for comfort. He exhaled and began opening most of the airlocks, not only to deal with the raging fire in the room behind him but also to make the intruder suffer.

He watched as the oxygen fled the ship and waited for his best friend to regain consciousness. They had to get this ship running again pronto or they’d face another vessel, which they can’t afford to do!

WARNING! INTRUDERS DETECTED!

Alfred made a beeline to the medbay once most of the fire was extinguished. He hugged Arthur once he woke up and dragged him to the door systems room. “Good job there, Artie. Sorry you almost died, but we’re alive now. I need you to focus and help me repair these doors or we’ll never be able to close them. Francis repaired the oxygen room, he’s healing at the moment, and we have an intruder on board and the Rebels are kicking our asses but we’ll be fine! Just help me fix shit so we can leave, okay?”

The shorter blond blinked his emerald eyes tiredly at him and nodded, helping to restore the systems. He put out the fire in the door room with Alfred and was feeling well enough to take back responsibilities on the ship.

Once all of the fires were extinguished on the ship, Alfred remotely sealed the doors and responded to an alert from the medbay. The intruder had decided to launch an attack on Francis whom was still recovering!

“Gotcha, Rebel scum!” Alfred yelled as he barrelled into the intruder and started hand-to-hand combat with the enemy. Arthur woke up his bearded friend and together the three of them eliminated the rebel for good. Panting, the crewmates gathered their wits as the medbay healed them.

Francis looked pale. “I think we almost died. For real that time.”

Arthur bit his lip. “I should have known that something was off when I tried repairing the FTL Drive. I didn’t realise the oxygen was knocked out, I should have gone there, but my thought was to fix the engines so we could flee.”

Alfred sat down on a bed and ran a hand through his hair. “Ugh, that was horrible. I almost lost you both. I don’t want to pilot this ship on my own, we’re already a tiny crew.”

“Well we made it!” Francis chimed in optimistically.

Alfred hugged them all tightly before standing up with purpose. “Now we’re all healed, let’s get this ship functioning again and then get the fuck outta dodge!”

Arthur stretched and saluted half-heartedly. “I’ll fix drones, Jones should take engines and Bonnfoy fix my bloody weapons. When we get to the next sector we REALLY need to focus on upgrades if we can. Our reactor power is weak and we can’t use all of our systems to full capacity.”

“I know that, dude,” the Captain scoffed. “Let’s just get out of here and then worry about the technicalities.”

With repairs completed, Alfred went back to the Bridge alone. The sector map branched out into two locations. They could either go to another Engi Controlled sector, not that this sector bore much fruit for the S.S. APH, or they could risk everything and attempt to survive in Rebel Controlled territory. He groaned. Being a space Captain wasn’t as cool as he thought it would be. He wished he had convinced his friends to stay home instead.

TO BE CONTINUED IN THE NEXT SECTOR...

Chapter 2 - END

[CHAPTER LIST]

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[Cover Art] This image was drawn in HB pencil and painted in watercolour paints on the 8th August 2021. It was digitally enhanced in GIMP Image Editor on the 9th August 2021. Paper type = 130 gsm  

This chapter was written on the 30th-31st August 2021.

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Please do not repost, modify, resell or claim this work as your own.

(Reblogging is fine, though!)

[Mythical Canary Info]

[phobiadeficient]

engiespy w/ vibrators? except this time engie has the vibrator in him

spy tf2 treats his boyfriend well i don't take criticism

(no warnings)

-

He inhaled and exhaled in great tremors and hoped that he didn’t look too ridiculous.

It wasn’t often that Spy decided to turn the tables. He enjoyed being pampered and draped in attention and affection, enjoyed soaking up the pleasure and compliments and satisfaction that came with being beneath Dell Conagher in bed. More often than not, he was willing to lie back and let Dell have his fun, and then other times he would simply take a more active role in that fun.

The days when he wanted control were far and few between, probably because he took such full advantage of them when the whim arose. Tonight was no different.

Dell, if he were being completely honest, would admit that he wasn’t sure he was entirely comfortable with the way he was laid out. Flat on his back, arms crossed at the wrist up above his head and cuffed down, a blindfold fitted snugly to the lines of his face.

The thing that both comforted and riled him further was the plug gently buzzing away from within him.

It wasn’t overlarge—not like the toys he rarely (but less rarely than Spy topping) would have the other man play on. It was just big enough to feel plenty nice on its own, all the more so with the buzzing that it was doing just then.

He felt good, certainly. The cuffs were comfortable with just enough slack to let him feel contained but not truly trapped, the blindfold soft enough to very clearly be meant for play, and he wasn’t being teased as much as he assumed he’d be, not outright.

It was just that Spy had slid the toy into place and then promptly laid himself out next to the Engineer and set to gently playing with the hair on his stomach and chest, kissing at the freckled skin of his shoulders like he had absolutely nowhere else to be.

He was waiting for the catch. For the part where Spy started messing with him, teasing him. But it wasn’t happening.

Spy’s hands finally paused against him, and after a moment Spy spoke. “Mon cher, why are you so tense?” Spy asked, voice gentle in a way that sounded almost carefree, one hand rubbing up over one of his biceps. He realized as Spy ran a hand over it that indeed it was holding an awful lot more tension than normal. “You should relax.”

“And what’re you gonna do to me when I do?” he asked, tilting his head towards Spy.

Spy chuckled. “Make you feel good, of course. What else?”

He was quiet for a bit, but not quite as long as he’d expected to be, embarrassed by the noise of the toy. “Not be a tease?” he pressed.

“Mmm, no,” Spy purred, and there was a hand smoothing over his lower stomach, tracing at the space between his thigh and his hip. “Perhaps take my time, but no teasing.”

He shifted. “And you expect me to believe you on that?”

“Non, not particularly,” Spy admitted, and his fingers brushed feather-light over the modest erection the Engineer was sporting, drawing a soft noise from him. “But I do expect you to relax.”

And he did, slowly, over the course of the next several moments, both consciously and through the help of Spy’s hand moving against his skin, coaxing him to full hardness with well-practiced squeezes and tugs and just the right amount of pressure. Spy could be called a lot of things, but a bad lover was far from one of them. Even before he’d gotten properly familiar with the Engineer, the first few times they’d slept together, he did an excellent job reading his tells and drawing heat to well up within him, leaving him helpless to his pleasure.

He heard Spy hum near his ear and was sure the man had to be smirking, and bit back a remark on it. He was rewarded by Spy capturing his mouth in a sweet, surprisingly chaste kiss for a long moment, after which his hand drew away at the same moment as his lips.

He had half a mind to protest and was trying to get the sense back into his head to get some words together when he heard a little click and the buzzing of the plug intensified, only slightly, only enough to drive that sense back away again. His mouth fell open around a noiseless gasp and he fought hard to choke back a noise. Spy chuckled at that, muffled against the front of his hip alongside a brief peck, which the Engineer could only wonder at for a moment before Spy drew him into his mouth.

It was blissful, the wet heat, the buzz, the fancy silk sheets against his back. He couldn’t hold back his quiet groan, couldn’t help but tug at his bonds just to do something. And that earned him a series of sweet little licks against the head, a prod to the base of the toy, and he groaned again.

And Spy really wasn’t teasing him so much as taking his time, taking it easy. It was just that the Engineer wasn’t the most patient man, and so halfway through a blowjob like his he generally would slide his fingers through Spy’s hair and urge him to move faster, harder. As it was he couldn’t even buck properly the way Spy’s weight was resting on his thigh, and that threatened to very well drive him up the wall.

But it didn’t. The buzzing of the plug brought him that extra little distance and made this leisurely stroll towards him finishing feel satisfying as all hell, even as some part of him cried out for more, more heat, more wet, more buzzing, more anything. So he did struggle against where his hands were tied, did toss his head what amount he was able, did flush straight up to his hairline at the fact that now that he was blindfolded he was so much more aware of the lewd sucking noises that Spy was making, probably just about par for the course but still enough to embarrass him a bit.

“Spy,” he gasped, and felt all the more embarrassed at the way his voice wobbled, the way his thighs were trembling with effort. “I’m close, just—just a little more, I, I need—“

The toy clicked upwards in intensity once more, and Spy’s hand promptly moved to press at the base, giving it even that much more movement, and that was it. He spilled into Spy’s mouth with a sound that sounded far too much like a whimper for his own liking, and the rogue just wouldn’t let up, kept sucking and rocking the toy until he gave the very last he had to give and all but collapsed back into the bed, panting like he’d just sprinted a mile or six.

He groaned at the toy being pulled free, hummed as he felt a kiss against his cheek, listened idly with what brains he still had left in his head at the sound of some things moving around. Finally he felt his hands get released, and relaxed for a moment longer before moving to nudge the blindfold up.

His eyes adjusted right on time to see a blanket get tossed over him, and Spy moving to get into bed with him, kissing affectionately at the underside of his jaw.

“No teasing, mon cher, just like I promised,” he murmured, and there was an easiness to his tone and movement, an amount of sweetness in his expression that made the Engineer aware that somewhere along the line he must’ve gotten himself off, although he couldn’t for the life of him figure out exactly when. “How do you feel?”

“...Outta words,” he admitted, and that just made Spy’s smile widen.

“Good, then I’ve done my job well,” he said, and kissed him again, and he really had. He really, really had.

[scrapnick]

For a prompt: what about the story of Engie and June getting found out by spy?

This actually works as a great sequel to the first one so here goes!!!!

 Fan fiction prompt: what about the story of Engie and June getting found out by spy?

Part 1

Shrapnel part 2

Fanfiction

992 words

June closed the door to her workshop and leaned against the it with an exhausted sigh. Caramelle lazily looked up at her from her spot on the floor.

“Don’t you look at me like that, you’re in no position to judge me on anything!” June retorted, pointing an accusatory finger back at the lizard. She sank down in her chair, resting her head in her hand. “But you have a point, this is stupid, there’s no way this will work.”

Caramelle yawned in response.

“My point exactly!” June exclaimed “Maybe I just read into this too much. You’re right, he probably doesn’t even like me like that” she pondered. “You have such a way with words, you know that?”

Caramelle replied with flicking her tongue, placing her head back down on the floor. It flew back up again when the door to the workshop opened. June let out a yelp in surprise. Her surprise was soon turned to anger.

“Will your hands break if you were to actually use them to knock instead of just popping in like that?” she spat at Spy who now stood in the doorway, amused in this reaction.

“Well, someone’s feisty today. I’m here with your tape. Scout told me to tell you to be proud of him for remembering” he said tossing the roll to her. “What the hell did you do to the Engineer?”

June’s whole body stiffened

“We didn’t do anything! Why would you imply that? What has he told you?” she retorted a beat too fast. Spy’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“He has a face full of metal? What, something else happened?” he asked. No sooner had he said that before his grey eyes lit up and a smile crept its way up his narrow face. “June, did something else happen?”

June balled her hands into fists only to open and close them again.

“Oh! Yes, the buzzsaw. No, nothing else happened, I was only upset because I thought you accused me of building faulty things” she said, feigning nonchalance.

Spy narrowed his eyes, leaning forward studying her face closely.

“You’re lying” he grinned.

“I am not!”

“June, you cannot fool me. Lying is in my job description and, lucky for you apparently, not in yours.” June felt her cheeks grow red from anger. Why wouldn’t he leave well enough alone? She was just about to tell him that when he interrupted her.

“Are you in love with him?” he asked as mundanely as asking about the weather. June opened her mouth to say something but closed it again. Spy gasped, his grin growing wider.

“My god, you are! June Robinson, do you have a bit of a crush? You can tell old Spy!”

June laughed at this though it sounded more like a bark.

“You I wouldn’t trust further than I can throw!” she scoffed. “Leave me alone Spy, thanks for bringing me the tape.”

Spy shrugged making his way to the door.

“He’s gonna be thrilled to hear it!”

June flew up from her chair, swiftly blocking his path.

“Breath a word about this and I feed you and that 100 dollar suit to Caramelle over there!” she hissed, poking one finger in his chest and pointing the other at the lizard.

“Ah, so it is true then?” he smiled. June balled her fists, sucking in a breath through her teeth.

“So what if it is? It doesn’t matter either way, the company would never allow it” she said with a huff. Spy chuckled at this.

“You may be dumb enough to lie to me but to yourself? Come on Junie-“ he said, a look that almost reminded June of pity on his face.

“Alright. Fine. Very well. Just-“ she sighed pulling a hand through her hair “Just keep it to yourself, alright? Please?”

Spy rolled his eyes, putting his hands on her shoulders.

“I won’t tell anyone, Junie. Have a little faith!” he said, gently guiding her out of his way. “In both of us!” he added before closing the door.

As Spy walked across the base he passed by Medics office. He spotted the Engineer sitting at the waiting room outside, an ice pack to his face. Engineer locked eyes with Spy and gave him a cheery wave. Spy sauntered over and sat down next to him.

“So how are you doing?” he asked, studying the cuts on his face, a wrinkle between his eyebrows.

“Never better!” Engineer replied with a sunny grin. Spy felt the corners of his mouth twitch in amusement.

“Never better, huh? You seem awful chipper for a man with a face full of shards. Did something else happen?” he asked with feigned curiosity. Engineer rubbed the back of his neck with a chuckle.

“Well, I wouldn’t say that” he trailed off.

“It’s a good thing June was here to help you” Spy said, glancing over at him. Engineer whirled back to him, practically beaming.

“Why, did she say something about it?” He realized he reacted a bit to quickly and cleared his throat. Spy couldn’t help but chuckling at his reaction.

“You like her, don’t you?”

“I- - Well I like everyone” he retorted with a shrug. Spy looked at him with a raised brow. Engineer set his jaw looking back at him sternly but couldn’t keep it too long before his face broke out in a boyish grin.

“Fine, maybe I do, just a little” he laughed. He shut himself up and gave Spy a pleading look. “Look, don’t’ go telling nobody about it, would ya? I don’t wanna look like a fool infront of the whole team when she don’t like me back” he said, his voice lowered.

Spy put his hand on his shoulder

“I wouldn’t worry about that”

[starstainedtea]

DUDE P L E A S E POST YOUR WRITINGS OF BOMBER. i Cannot Get Enough Of Her. i am Heart Eyes. you know how pikachu says “pika pika” cuz that’s his name? i am saying “simp simp!”

okay that’s cute, thanks b!

now, now, let’s start with some dialogues that she has? sINCE YUH. MAYBE I’LL POST HER STORIES SOON I DON’T KNOW, MAYHAPS!

also, anything below the keep reading line is some of my HCS for her, but they won’t necessarily be canon. uNlEss-

BOMB weapons thermo bomb nail bomb smoke bomb collapsible fighting staff/glock

domination lines

scout;; — ooh, too hot to handle? (thermo bomb) — should've shot the nuts. (glock) — always on makin' noise, eh? (nail bomb) —ah, out of breath? let's keep it that way. (any)

pyro;; —let’s see what’s underneath that mask. (glock) —tsk, and those boys fear you? you’re *nothing*. (nail bomb) —i’d say something but your head’s blown to pieces. (thermo bomb) —what're you gonna do, burn me? (thermo bomb)

demo;; —go dump some alcohol for me. (thermo) —ooo, yikes poor man’s no more. (nail bomb- critical hit) —final round for you, sweetheart. (any)

sniper;; —a professional? please, i don't even need a scope. (glock) —always teasing me looking up, snipe.. your turn. (nail bomb) —your blood on the wall is such a turn on. (thermo bomb- critical hit)

spy;; —the french are the best at losing. (glock) —you make a competent cross-dresser! (nail bomb- cloaked or disguised) —sweet dreams, petit cheu fleur. (any; i don’t know how to do the thingies using a pc so deal with that, frenchies) —sorry ‘bout the head. ya only needed one anyway. (thermo bomb; critical hit)

soldier;; —time to retire, old man. (any) —outdated and pathetic, as expected. (glock) —going out with a bang! (thermo bomb) —here’s a dishonourable discharge. (any- bombs)

engie;; —final nail to your coffin, engie. (nail bomb) —now can i steal the guitar? (glock) —always too casual, yet under-qualified for the job. (any bomb) —guard your sentries better, sweetheart. (thermo bomb- critical hit)

heavy;; —i just wanna squish that dumb face- oh, nevermind. (thermo bomb) —your brain’s all over the place, and they say you don't have a brain. (any) —not my fault you’re such an easy target! (nail bomb- critical hit) —sorry... not so much. (glock)

medic;; —feelin' good, doc? (in a mocking german accent) (any) —always relyin’ on someone to protect ya, med. (any) —mad doctor? ya look like an underpaid dentist. (glock) —oops, trigger slipped! (any)

bomber;; —aww, how adorably *pathetic*. die. (nail bomb) —have a taste of acid, darl. (thermo bomb) —nice thighs. too bad you run slow. (glock or any bomb) (also a lie-) —i don’t know if it’s you or the bomb but that’s hot! (thermo bomb- critical hit)

tech;; —you lost your touch, mi.. amor. (glock) —shocked? don't be 'cause i'm better. (any) —you can't run away from me anymore. (thermo bomb) —we make a perfect match. in hell. (any)

taunts (bomb exclusive) — pick-me-up- lollipop and hip sways! lasts for five seconds. with sounds such as "nice!" "easy and sweet!" "suck on that, (class name)."

— fourth of july?- she pulls out a few firecrackers out of her pocket and lights it up using a lighter, tapping her foot as a few smokes build up before it all leaves out flying everywhere. "WHOOO! that's how we do it, amigos!" "kiss my arse, losers!"

— the kicker- a high kick like a russian dance, front and back with a somewhat smooth land. after regaining her balance, she flips her hair and puts her hands on her hips. (can be a partner taunt) "be scared." "aw, how sad." "that's right!"

— stack the craps- she pulls out a whole deck of cards and plays with it, a small grin on her lips. can be partnered. there's also a few playing tokens in her pouch falling. disappearing after the taunt as she sits down on the floor with a small 'yes' "it's like playin' with toddlers here!" "pfft, craps time." "i do not cheat."

— bitey bite- the bomber cackles and stomps around and then a stick appears and she acts like a rabid dog, running around to catch the stick with her mouth. "*growling.*" "grrr, chippers-" *coughing* "i think some wood went in my mouth!"

cheers — "we're killin' it, boys!" — "whooo, all in a day's work!" — "more than i expected from y'all." — "we're just better, blu/red!"

jeers — "what was that?" — "frickin' pathetic, guys!" — "you boys are just useless!" — "this is really ticking me off." —  "seriously, i wanna kill all of you."

revenge — "i was just testin' ya, now let's see if you can handle me." — "d'aw, que lindo de tu parte.." — "dominate this, ya defunct wannabe." —  "let's see if you're up for a duel." — "you and me, let's tango."

payload cart moving;; — "keep it goin', boys!" — "this oughta give us some more time." — "too heavy!" cart stopping;; — "andale! the cart won't walk to the checkpoint!" — "vamonos, god damn it!" — "ayy, boys! what's happening? cart's stopped!" — "vamonos, hombres!"

if you read this far, you get to see some domination lines of my other tf2 oc ;))

BUTLER DOMINATION LINES

scout:  - "leave the hit and run on me, pretty boy."  - "YOU'RE an offense class? bloody hell, i don’t remember scouting for ya."  - "you're making a fool out of yourself. go back home."  - "you're easier to kill when you're running, mate! re-evaluate yourself!"

spy:  - "amateur, a goddamned toddler wouldn't be so sloppy."  - "next time, watch the shadows, monsieur."  - "merci bijou, you've helped me sharpen my skills."  - "you should run back to your family," [there's a small chuckle before their voice drops] "-oh yeah, you left them in the first place."

soldier:  - "aaand the british strikes again."  - "your knowledge of war is in par with an idiot, sir!"  - "your country thanks you for an unwanted service!"  -"mr. doe, it's such a shame." [pause] "my suit is all bloodied."

[my-tf2-writing-place]

Mercs reacting to s/o proposing to them with a puppy

Mercs Reaction to s/o proposing with a puppy

(Took me awhile but I GOT IT! Also it gave me an excuse to look at dogs. I loved this ask so much)

Offense

Scout: Was out playing with his baseball. He through it up and down but soon got tired of it so he threw it pretty far. He watched as the ball hit a rock and it went around the corner of the base. He sprinted over to where the ball had landed, but stopped dead in his track at what he saw. A Beagle puppy was gnawing on his ball, licking it every now and then. Scout slowly went up to it and squatted down, a joyful smile on his face. “‘Ey there, little guy! What are you doing all the way out here?” He asked. The pup only looked up at him and softly barked. A whistle was heard in front of Scout and the pup walked over to the source. It was his s/o. Scout’s smile grew. He stood up and walked over to them, wrapping his arms around them. “Was the little guy your doing?” He asked them. They nodded.

“I know I told ya I’ve been wanting a companion like that but I didn’t think ya would do it.” He said. He pressed his forehead against theirs.

“But there is a bigger thing as to why I got him..” they admitted. Scout’s brow rose and he moved himself back as they moved out of his grasp. He watched as they reached into their pocket, then picked up the tiny beagle. The pup licked them as he grew more and more excited, as if he knew what was happening.

Scout’s eyes widened when he realized what you had. “You... you’re serious? For me?” He felt tears well up in his eyes, but he tried his best to keep them from slipping down his cheek. His s/o nodded wit a soft smile. They opened the box and the tears rolled down, Scout couldn’t be happier.

“Yes! A hundred times, YES!” He then pulled his s/o into a loving and passionate kiss.

Soldier: Was out training as per usual. He was on the ground doing push-ups, sit-ups, and other training tactics to keep himself in best physical shape! That helmet of his stayed in the way of his sight, because a small pup managed to catch him off guard. He immediately stopped and sat up.

“What commie is here to take me on?!” He had a stern look on his face. He took his helmet off to see better and what he saw caused a huge grin to appear. An American Bulldog pup was tugging at one of his pant legs. He almost immediately picked the dog up and held it close. He gently pet the pup and let it lick him, causing a chuckle to come from Soldier.

He soon looked up and saw his s/o.

“Cupcake! You will not believe what I have just found!” He said enthusiastically.

“Oh, I believe I do. And it looks like the little guy has got something else.

Soldier’s brow rose before he looked down and saw the open box.

“Cupcake! I was going to do this! Take it back!” He said, “That is an order!” The pup barked after he had finished.

His s/o playfully rolled their eyes and let Soldier propose to them. Of course, they said yes.

Pyro: Pyro was playing with one of the lighters once again. Flicking it every once in awhile as the other mercs went about their day. They were in their room, minding their own business. A small knock was heard at the door. A muffled “come in” came from them. His s/o slowly opened the door and closed it once they stepped in. “Hey, Pyro.. I uh. Wanted to ask you something,” his s/o said. They walked over to Pyro and held out a tiny Dalmatian puppy. Pyro gasped at the sight of such a cute little thing. They held their hands out to take the dog from their grasp, in which his s/o happily let them have. “That wasn’t the thing I wanted to do though, it’s um... well,” his s/o was stuttering every now and then, something was making them nervous. They didn’t know what until they saw a small box now in their grasp. They gasped once again, and set the puppy down. Pyro got up and moved closer to them. They took their mask off completely and looked at his s/o. “Y-you...” his s/o slightly nodded and opened the box. Pyro’s hand went up to their face, covering it as a few tears of joy slipped from their eyes, rolling down their cheeks.

“I don’t know what to say..”

“Say yes.” Their s/o said. Pyro took their hands from their cheeks and nodded, a quick “yes” coming from them as well. They pulled their s/o close and hugged them, they planted a small kiss on the top of their head as well.

Defense

Demoman: Man was laying on the couch in the common area, minding his own business as he drank whiskey straight from the bottle. He sat in a tank top and his kilt. He was starting to fall asleep when a wet lick to his face woke him up, “Aye! The bloody hell was that-“

He was interrupted by the sight of a Scottish Deerhound puppy looking up at him. He gently brought his hand up and pet the pup. “Aww, you’re just a wee little thing, aren’t ya..?” He smiled.

He soon felt arms wrap around his neck from behind the couch he sat on, the soft kiss to his temple made him instantly know who it was.

“Did you do this..?” He asked.

They smiled and nodded. “Look at what else the pup has, love...”

And so he did, he looked and saw the pup had picked up a small black box. Demo carefully took it from the dog and opened it. His eye widened. His s/o had gotten in front of him and knelt down.

Demo smiled widely and pulled his s/o to him, causing them to end up on the couch as well. “Of course! Yes!

Heavy: The Giant Russian was out polishing his precious gun. He carefully handled his gun, rotating the barrels and continuing to polish it. He was focused on this, until he felt something press against his leg. He stopped and looked down at the weight that leaned against him, it was a Caucasian Mountain Dog. It looked like a giant fuzz ball at first but it’s head popped up to look at him. A soft whine came from it, Heavy gently picked the pup up with his large hands. “Where did little puppy come from?” He asked himself.

Soon his question was answered seeing his s/o with a small box in hand come over to him. He smiled at them. They stayed clear of his precious gun and leaned over to kiss his cheek. Heavy’s free hand went up to their cheek.

“Heavy knows what you are about to do.. and Heavy says yes, for you. And...” he held up the small pup, “For the little one as well. His s/o’s gentle laugh filled his ears.

Engineer: He was out enjoying the night, guitar in hand, gently brushing his hand against the strings to play a little tune. He smiled to himself as he continued. As the time played, a soft howl came with it. The engineer’s eyes widened a little as he turned around to find the source. It was his s/o with what looked like a fuzzball in their arms. As they got closer, he realized it was a Golden Retiever puppy. A soft “Aww” came from the Texan. He kept his gaze on them as they sat down beside him with the pup in hand.

“Aw shucks, darlin’... You didn’t have to.” He said.

“I did, you mean a lot to me.. and I have a little something else to go with this little pup.” They said. They then lifted up the pup and Engie saw there was a small note on its collar. He carefully took it and read it, while he wasn’t paying attention his s/o got down onto one knee in front of him. Engie looked up at them after reading it.

They opened the box and asked “Will you marry me?” The Texan was awestruck due to someone doing this for him.

He nodded, “Yes, how can I say no to someone like you..” he smiled. His s/o soon has the same soft expression, they leaned down and kissed his forehead. Engineer took the pup into his arms as he night went on, him and his s/o had their time of happiness and peace.

Support

Medic: Medic being the busy man he is, was in the Med bay, dealing with papers and the mercs coming in every now and then. When he heard the med bays doors open once again, he groaned. Archimedes flew to who it was causing Medic to look up, seeing it was his s/o. He softly smiled through his somewhat tired expression. But his smile fell once he heard a small bark from behind their back, his brow rose. His gaze stayed glued to his s/o’s eyes and they seemed to get a bit nervous. “What was that, Taube?” He asked. The next thing he saw was a Black and brown dachshund puppy was held in their hands. His eyes widened when he saw the little thing, speechless really.

“There was something I wanted to ask you..” his s/o said shyly. The puppy had managed to get a small box from his s/o before they could notice, and Medic watched as it happened. He reached out his hand and the puppy dropped it. His s/o gasped and watch Medic quickly open it. “Taube... are you..” his gaze returned back up to them. They lowered their head and nodded. Medic set the box down and gently took the puppy from their hand, setting it down on his desk. Archimedes immediately flew to the pup and started to examine it, before snuggling up to it. Medic walked around his desk to his s/o, wrapping his arms around them, placing a gentle kiss on their head. “Of course, Liebling... How can I say no..” they heard the joyful tone in his voice as he spoke, causing a bright smile to grow on their face.

Sniper: The Bushman was outside of his Camper Van, watching the sun set. He was enjoying the peacefulness of nature. The small breeze, the faint noises of the area. Peace and quiet. His silence was broken by a small bark, his gaze shot over to where the source was. A small chocolate Labrador Retriever ran over to him. “Bloody hell...” When the pup made it over to where he sat, he carefully picked it up and held it. The small pup gently licked him, and a few more soft barks came from it. A chuckle came from the Aussie, “Now where did a little thing like you come from?” He asked. The small pup had a note attached to its collar. He carefully took it off of it as the pup laid down on his lap. He read over it, he knew too well who this was from, the Bushman couldn’t help but blush at the words on the paper. His s/o soon walked up to him.

Sniper watched as they came closer, “Mate, I...” He didn’t know what to say, especially when they brought out that small box.Sniper gently set the pup down and got up. He looked down at his s/o and pulled them into a hug, kissing their temple as well. “You did all this... for me?” He asked, his voice cracking as he held back a tear or two.

“How could I not? You mean everything to me.” They responded. All Sniper could do was nod as a response to it all. He was the happiest he had been in a while.

Spy: He was in his smoking room when this. He heard the open and close, he looked over and saw a little puppy waddling towards him. He raised his brow and got up to look at the pup, in a closer inspection, he sees it’s a poodle. A small cream colored poodle, with a small box in its mouth and a note attached to its collar. He gently took the small box and note. He silently read the not, as the puppy laid down near the fireplace in the room. Spy’s eyes widened when he finished reading.

Little did he know that his s/o was in the room, silently watching, hoping he would accept their proposal. Silence rang through the room, his s/o felt a bit discouraged by it but their worries were soon brought to ease once they saw him pick up the ring and smile. They walked up to him, and before they could speak a soft “yes, mon amour..” was heard from him.

[allstarsstorymode867]

“Tomorrow Will Be Better Than The Last...” [Prequel of All-Stars -Story Mode-]

[WARNING: This will contained spoilers about my Pyro’s gender, you are warned]

[FINISHED]

Engineer had been up late on his work on his building, he yawned but he wanted to finished the new sentry for tomorrow’s next King of The Hill, one of the War Games that is known in Gravel War in all of the Badlands.

“Aw hell...” He muttered as he took the googles off but half-way stopping to his forehead to rub his temples. “Engie?” A soft shy female voice perked up that made Dell turned around to see who it was.

“Yeah?”

“You’ve been up late, don’t you think it’s time to sleep?” The voice softly questioned, Engineer only turned his head back to the building with a groan. “Ah’d can’t, Ah can’t let the BLU Spy...” but he couldn’t seem to finished his sentence as he lowered his head onto the desk as the figure walked over to her dear teammate with a pillow and blanket in her hands.

Like on autopilot, she took the hardhat and goggles off of him and placed them aside him before lifting his head up just a little bit to place the pillow under him and let’s it land on it with a flop.

Then she placed the blanket onto his back and shoulders before kissing him good night. “Py...”

“Just sleep Engie, tomorrow will be better than the last.”

“Alright... ‘Night, Pyro...” he snored, Pyro smiled through her deep red brunt mark done to her face before replying “Goodnight Engie.” before leaving the room.

Morning came on the canyons of the Badlands, on one canyon of Offblast as a rooster caws at the morning light, signaling that it’s time to get up and get ready.

Everyone does so, getting dress, cleaning their knives off of the blood and reloading and gathering the ammo for them. All but Demoman who had slept through the morning call like a rock after drinking himself with Scrumpy in his room last night. It was somewhat peaceful until-

*DING!!DING!!DING!!DING!!DING!!*

Soldier walks on top of the RED base with riding crop in hand, he stood there as he declared “Attention soldiers! Get in positions, you’ll be late for war!”

Eight mercenaries scrambled all over each other as the alarm kept ringing as red lights flashing all the while Soldier is barking out “Left, right! Right! Left! Right! Left! On your right and on Demoman’s left!” before turning his attention towards the Scout and said “Get over to your position, son.” before hitting him on the rear end with the crop, making Scout squeal in pain.

“Discipline! Order!” Soldier said while Pyro, who is now dressed with a gas mask and fire-proof asbestos-lined suit, gently pushed Spy out of the way and then lets Engineer get in line as the Spy scoffs and Soldier saying “Sun Tzu wouldn’t want his men to be lazy or careless in the heat of the battle! When the horn blows out its call of duty and you must be ready to charge in to attack!”

“Soldier, please” Medic said first, “Zhey just wanted to make sure zhat ve’re ready for zhe today’s mission.” as Soldier looked at him with a glare, “How dare you German,” he rebuked, “Talking back to your superior leader of the team!”

“The mission begins in 30 seconds.”

Engineer looked up when the Administrator said that as others did the same, looking over to Soldier and ushered “Soldier, it’s gonna begin soon, get in line.” over to Soldier who heard him and said “Alright.” as he mushed himself between Heavy and Scout in line as Scout was shoved out of the way,

“The mission begins in 10 seconds.”

“Now be strong in battle and laugh at the face of danger, Private.” Soldier whispered to the Heavy who is holding his minigun, leaning over to Medic and said “We go together, Doktor.” as Medic looked over him before nodding.

“5... 4... 3... 2... 1...”

Then the alarm called out it’s siren as metal chain-link doorway opened up, Soldier yelled out “Give ‘em hell, boys!” and ran out of the door first as others ran out with him.

BLU Team are look-a-likes as the RED Team but wearing blue-colored uniforms that are the same as their’s as they too prepared to fight.

It started out as usual, the air is filling with the sounds of gunfire, rockets, explosions and screams of pain and agony. It’s nothing special, really but they didn’t seemed to realized that all of that, the war games or to each other. It’s all about to change and this time it’s isn’t Merasmus the Magician or robots.

It’s different, so different this time.

A Glitched Disembodied Lady’s Voice softly cackled so poisonous “They're perfect for my little game of life...”

(From Team Fortress 2 [4] wallpaper and Wallpaperplay)

“Perfect for my BIG game of a Battle Royale...!” before laughed so vile as Evil itself will only describe.

-Later on...-

Engineer is finishing up getting his sentry to Level 3, then a familiar zap and buzz of his Dispenser after being sapped by the sapper, the AM/FM Ultra-Sapper, is the default building weapon for the Spy. It is a small electric generator inscribed 'ELECTRO-SAPPER', with a carrying handle, two long yellow wires and a meter.

“Spy’s sapping mah dispenser!” Engie yelled as he begins to smack it off as the BLU Spy uncloaks himself with the Black Rose knife as he raised it into the air, ready to bring it down onto the Texan’s back as it turned for a moment.

*HACK*

A thunk of an ax to BLU Spy’s shoulder as a sheering spike of pain rushed through him, the Frenchman screamed and drops the knife down, that made the Engineer turned around as he gets out the Frontier Justice in one hand and firing a round to Spy’s head, making it exploded into a bloody splatter like a water balloon but with the water being replaced with blood and chunks of bone inside.

Both Pyro and the Engineer covered in blood, she pulled it out of the corpse and watched it dropped to the floor while the Engineer finished getting the sapper out off of the dispenser, allowing to function well again.

“Thanks Pyro.” Engineer looked at her, she mumbled “Anytime Engie.” as she places the ax on her shoulder while he turned back to fix the dispenser.

Then a sight rumble started, they both can feel it under their feet as they looked around. “What in Sam Hill....?” he asked but somehow lost the confidence to finish the question as he scratched the back of his head in confusion and fear when the Administrator begins to say “Alert! Alert! Alert!” as the alarms are beginning to sound off across Offblast.

“Engineer...” Pyro wheezed, “It’s time to go.” as she placed her hand on his shoulder. Engineer looked at her, he now knows that it’s time to abandon his buildings to get out of Offblast. “Alright then.” he muttered, “Let’s go!” he ran as Pyro followed suit to the outside of the base and saw the a dark shade of gray clouds covering up the skies. The ground bellow them rumbled more harder as they stumbled a little, nearly towards the edge of the cliff.

“W-What in What in tarnation is going on!?” Engineer said as he and Pyro catches their balance on the pillars of their base as BLU versions of Scout and Medic lost it and then fell off the canyon to their deaths. “I-I don’t know!” Pyro stuttered as bits of rubble fallen down on their heads then to the ground.

“Aaaaah!” “Mehdic!”

They looked to where RED Medic and Heavy are and they saw to their shock is Heavy holding on to the frame of the window with one hand while using the other to hold Medic from... Being sucked into the sky when a light purple and cyan glow had appeared after the clouds began swirling.

“Doc!” “Medic!”

Medic is holding on for dear life as Heavy is trying to pull them back into the base but failing in the process as the force of it is getting stronger by the minute. Then they are pulled into the sky as they screamed.

Without another word, they began running now as everything around them is falling apart. They are trying to push through the force of the wind blowing through them but as they are halfway to their base, Engineer had to grabbed onto the frame of the doorway while holding onto Pyro’s hand as the winds are getting too strong.

“Hold’ on, Matches!” Engineer yelled as he has a death grip on the door frame, Engineer then looked to see that Soldier is doing the same thing as well, hearing Scout screaming as he is digging his nails into the hard wood floor before being forcefully pulled into the skies but Soldier managed to grabbed him before that could happen.

Scout was terrified, he was screamed “I knew this will one day happened! I foresaw dis!! Soldier! This is the end of the-” “Do not use that tone of doubt on me, Private!” Soldier splat him in as he held onto his teammate with determination.

“Engie... I... Can’t.... Hold on...!” Pyro grunted as she is losing grip on the Engineer’s hand, he held onto it tighter than ever; refusing to let her go up there.

They then heard Sniper screaming and flying onto Soldier, knocking him and Scout into the skies with him as they screamed, then the ground shook violently as Engineer felt it and... the door frame broke, sending him and Pyro into the sky with a scream as everything gone white before suddenly; darkness.

“*Groan* ....What in buzzard‘s breakfest... How many beers did I have last night...?” he groaned as he rubbed his head while his hardhat is still on as he pulled himself off the wooden floor with a headache.

He groaned as he looked at the window and saw that there’s a forest outside and an old western town with the 1940′s, 60′s and 70′s Medical/Mental hospital and a train station.

Has he fell asleep during the mission but it soon came to him: He was in Offblast and he’s now in a map that he doesn’t know. It’s not a dream, something else... Is going on right now.

He needs to find the rest of his team and figure this out, he got up and ran out of the building as zombies are digging themselves out of the ground, hungry for flesh and sole thirst for blood.

                                                   Welcome to.....

                                      All-Stars Battle Royale

                                          >Press Start to Begin!

[kellanved-ammanas]

Space Mercenaries AU: First Death

Sniper had been shot before, that was one of the biggest risks that came with his chosen profession. It always hurt like a bitch. He wouldn’t have thought anything could get worse than that. Unfortunately, he’d been wrong, getting shot in the chest was much worse.

Every breath was agony and yet he gasped for breath as his lungs filled with blood. He was drowning and bleeding to death at the same time as he lay curled up in his sniper’s perch, his own blood pooling beneath him as it soaked through his clothes.

He opened his mouth to call for Medic but coughed up blood instead, the pain taking his breath away. Blessedly blackness soon starting eating at the edges of his vision, bringing with it cold and numbness. He was dying. He wasn’t ready to die yet though, there were so many things he needed to do. … He couldn’t fight it though as the blackness consumed his vision and soon after what was left of his mind.

 -

He opened his eyes to see he was standing in a small white room. He lifted a hand to his chest where the bullet had entered. Nothing, not even a hole in fabric of his uniform, no pain either. Was this…

“Holy hell, what the fuck?”

Sniper snapped his head to side to see that Scout was suddenly standing beside him. The shocked expression on his face matched how Sniper felt.

Right… “The Respawn Chamber,” Sniper said, letting out a small sigh of relief. He’d somehow forgotten about it, though could he really be blamed for that considering the fact that he’d been dying? … Had literally died. Now wasn’t the time to think about the implications of that.

“Yeah,” Scout said in a shaky voice. He faked a grin. “That uh… sucked real bad. Let’s get out of here before someone else… like does the thing, huh?”

Sniper grunted his agreement and led the way out, holding the door for Scout.

“So, uh…” Scout glanced around the room as Sniper let the door close behind him. “I guess we’re supposed to get back out there and go back to killing the enemy and stuff… I guess. You go on ahead, I uh… need to tie my shoe.” He sat down in one of the chairs and pulled up his shoe – both of them were tied – and untied it to start fiddling with it.

Letting out a breath, Sniper sat next to him, placing his sniper rifle across his lap. He needed a breather too. Upon being introduced to the Respawn Chamber he’d known he would die and come back eventually. But he hadn’t truly internalized it and had thus not been prepared for it.

If Scout felt anything about Sniper joining him, he didn’t say anything. He did however give up on the charade of needing to tie his shoe, fixing it and then leaving it be. For once he was silent, an understandable reaction.

They’d been sitting there for maybe five minutes before the door opened again and Heavy and Medic came through. Heavy looked shocked and pale, mirroring Scout and Sniper’s reactions. Medic however looked fascinated.

“It doesn’t feel any different going through a second time,” he announced, seemingly indifferent to the mood of everyone else in the room.

“Uh… that’s interesting, I guess?” Scout replied. “You okay Heavy?”

Heavy shrugged and shook his head. “Death is not fun.”

“You can say that again,” Scout agreed with a chuckle that had to be forced even if it sounded genuine.

“Yes, yes, it’s awful.” Medic condescendingly patted Heavy’s shoulder. “Let’s get back out there though, we have people to kill.”

Heavy groaned but followed Medic back out. Sniper stayed where he was though, he needed a few more minutes and he was going to take them. Scout stayed too.

Pyro came through the Respawn door a few seconds later. He waved, wriggling his fingers in greeting before continuing on, skipping as if he were absolutely delighted with everything and having the time of his life.

“Okay, he just got a lot weirder,” Scout said. “And that’s saying something because he was already pretty weird to begin with.”

“Yep.” Sniper had met strange people before but Pyro was now officially the strangest one. And this job was the strangest one he’d ever taken. It paid well though so he wasn’t complaining.

“You think maybe he’s insane?”

“Don’t know, maybe.”

“Medic is for sure though. This whole job is pretty crazy. … I like it though, I think. Other than for the whole… you know, thing.” Scout gestured towards the Respawn door.

Sniper grunted his agreement as he let Scout continue chatting at him, apparently his shocked silence had been broken. That was probably a good thing though. Considering it was his probably his first job like this, he was doing pretty well handling it.

Because of Scout’s talking, it took Sniper longer than he’d intended to get back out on the battlefield. In that time everyone else on the team came through the Respawn door at least once. Engie looked fascinated, Soldier indifferent, Demo shocked, and Spy who came through last, offended and annoyed. No surprising reactions there.

As Sniper finally peeled away from the conversation to get back to work, Scout followed. “You can keep resting if you need to,” Sniper offered.

“Nah, I think I’m good,” Scout replied with a shrug. Whether he as being genuine or trying to come off as cool again was hard to tell. “It’s just one of those things I got to get used to, right? The only way to do that is to participate and stuff. So, I’ll be fine.”

“Whatever you say mate.” Dying and Respawning wasn’t something Sniper wanted to get used to but he undoubtedly would eventually. All of them would.

Previous / Next / First

[presidentbungus]

rb for awareness and also since I wrote half a fic for it loll

it’s unfinished! as I’m sure you would expect by now. everyone meets in Spy’s smoking room to talk. etcetera.

The door slams open. Hearing the walls splinter a little farther, and the way the frame shakes in its place, it’s probably Soldier or Scout—Spy readies an appropriate insult and sinks a little further into his armchair.

Hands land on his shoulders—too human-sized to be Soldier’s, and the rest of the body attached to them crashes into the chair right after and almost flips Spy right on his stomach.

Almost, though Scout’s face presses up against his cheek and he has to question if the alternative is preferable.

“Spy,” he says—pauses to take a big breath since obviously there was no other time to do that when he didn’t have to subject Spy to his chemicals-and-sweeteners-and-rotting-animal-corpse-breath. “Have you seen Engie today?”

“Did you need help ripping my door off its hinges?” There goes the remark he was planning to make (he also writes a mental note to work on his timing for the future). “And I don’t believe I have seen him puttering around, no. Have you checked the cabinets?”

“No, he’s not missing—he’s—you don’t understand.”

“Then stop wasting my time and fill me in, please and thank you.”

Scout’s voice drops to a low whisper, something Spy never thought he would hear in his entire life.

“Engie has an earring.”

“… Pardon?”

“Lil’ gold hoop. I dunno where he got it or where it came from but it’s there and he asked me how it looked and—“

“How did you respond?”

“I, uh…” Amazing how quickly he loses steam to even the slightest of questioning. “I ran away.”

Spy snorts mainly just to watch Scout’s face turn redder than it already is. “Well, good of you to leave a nice first impression.”

“Go to hell. What do I say? It looks stupid. It’s so stupid but I can’t tell him that—“

“What’s stupid?”

A single eye peers out from behind the doorframe, and then the rest of the body attached to it just goes ahead and lets itself in once it sees Scout, toting a bottle of whatever rubbing alcohol Demo dug out of the pantry and barely not spilling it on the carpet.

Spy cranes his neck to make sure both parties can adequately see his face and he rolls his eyes as hard as he possibly can. “Oh, yes, why don’t you just invite the rest of the team in while you’re at it?”

“Go to hell. Engie got an earring.”

“He what?”

“I think he thinks it’s cool.”

“Oh no. What did you say to him?”

“Nothin’—not yet, at least, I’m trying to—“

Spy clears his throat, shutting them up for one momentary, blissful half-second of silence. “May I interject and say this is idiotic and I don’t know why either of you are expecting me to have a part in it?”

“Shut your mouth, there are important things at hand. Scoutie, how bad is it?”

“Bad.”

“Adorable bad or we need to stage a bloody intervention right now bad?”

“Stupid! Stupid bad. It’s not cool it just looks like a, uh… ring… on his ear… hold on.”

“Brilliant simile, Scout.”

“Go to hell,” Demoman and Scout say, in unison.

“Here’s a concept. Why don’t you tell him what you are saying now and be done with it?”

“You don’t understand.”

“What am I not understanding?”

Demoman is suddenly standing far too close for comfort—Spy wonders if it’s too late to cloak and run and call a rain check on this entire thing. “Spook, he’s fragile. Do you know what sort of thing prompts this kind of reaction? Something awful has occurred. We cannot risk damaging his mental state any further.”

“Ah,” Spy says, pursing his lips. “You will not listen to reason, will you?”

“I am reasoning. This is very—“

“Why’s everybody in here?”

Everybody’s head snaps back to the entrance.

There is only one person in this entire world who is capable of slouching against a doorway to this degree.

Spy facepalms, looking up through his fingers, and grumbles: “Bushman, leave us.”

But why would literally anybody listen to him ever? “No really, I wanna know.”

Scout apparently sees this as the perfect opportunity to jump back into the conversation. “Engie got a earring,” he says, entirely too loud, directly into Spy’s ear.

“An earring. Really, is there anywhere else you can be doing this?”

“We’re here now,” Demo says, matter-of-factly.

“An earring? Really?”

“Gold hoop, one of his ears I don’t remember which.”

“Does it look stupid?”

“So bloody stupid.”

Spy scoffs. “You haven’t even seen it!”

“Well I can imagine it, can’t I?”

“No!“

“Hey, look. It’s not so bad.” Sniper flicks his ear, for no apparent reason. “I got my ears pierced too. Not that big a deal.”

“Of course you have your ears pierced, Bushman.”

“Do you?”

Perhaps it is a sign of his rapidly deteriorating composure when Spy has to take a moment to hesitate and think about this.

“… No,” he eventually comes up with.

“Holy shit Spy has his ears pierced.” Scout laughs and it’s all Spy has not to snap his neck here and now. “Oh my god. That makes so much sense.”

“Sometimes I need to wear earrings to blend in, it’s not as big of a deal as you are making it out to be.”

Demo grins. “Lad, it’s alright. You gotta do what makes your soul bloom.”

Sniper and Scout both nod, sagely.

“I hate each and every one of you.”

one time engy gets an ear pierced. not both ears, just one. and he wears one little tiny golden hoop. the rest of the team meets up shortly afterwards in spy’s smoking room (against spy’s will) to discuss the next plan of action because it looks SO STUPID but they can’t tell him that because he just wants to be cool and they can’t take that away from him. engy spends the next half hour wandering the base looking for someone to show his earring to and quietly wonders where in the gosh darn heck everyone went

[thetriggeredhappy]

I have a scout headcanon where he's not a murderer and the other team respawns so he's not a murderer but sniper is. Before the job, he was an actual assassin, payed to kill people who respawn. Maybe you could (given that you have free time) write a short fic about scout realizing that sniper is an actual killer?

this was actually a conversation i kinda wanted to try to squeeze somewhere into Taking Shots but i’m not sure if i’m gonna be able to. so here’s a way heavier version of it since i can do that since outside of the fic

ft. catholic guilt and a lot of semantics

-

Scout had dropped by both to hang out and to listen to the game that night, not wanting to deal with the hustle and bustle of the common area and arguing over what the radio would be set to. And apparently his team won, and then the radio was shut off, and Scout was just finishing off the beer Sniper’d handed him earlier, fingernails tapping against the glass as he looked up at the map on Sniper’s wall.

It was criss-crossed with various marks in varying colors of pen, fading after having had it for so many years, so many contracts.

“Is travelling, like, fun?” Scout asked suddenly out of the blue, looking at the map.

Sniper shrugged. “Can be. Or it can be stressful, if I schedule contracts too close together,” he replied. “What, don’t you count base transfers as travel?”

“Nah,” Scout said. “Not really.”

There was another long pause.

“So it was mostly just… when you were on contract for stuff, then? Before you worked here?” Scout asked.

“Mostly,” Sniper confirmed.

Fingers tapping on glass. “Must’a paid well.”

“Mercenary work usually does,” Sniper shrugged.

Scout took a drink, put the bottle back down again. Looked at it. “I keep forgetting that most of you guys have kinda been, like… doin’ all this shit for years and years. Like, outside of the team. One of those things of like—like when you meet someone and they mention their hair used to be way longer or shorter or whatever and you just can’t imagine it because you’ve only known them lookin’ one way.” Fingers tapping on glass. “That you’ve, like… pretty much always been used to all this.”

“You weren’t?” Sniper asked.

Scout shrugged. “I mean, I pretended. Took a few months to start getting used to it. The dyin’ thing was new for everyone, so that was fine, but… not much of the rest of it.”

Sniper’s brow furrowed. Scout continued after a moment, clearly uncomfortable with the silence.

“I mean, I guess it was kinda like how you guys all had to get used to livin’ with a whole bunch of people. Like, Heavy kinda got it since he’s got all those sisters, and Engie had a bunch of roommates in college and stuff, and you just live out here so you don’t gotta deal with that shit, but I’m the one who lived with like half a dozen other guys for most’a my life growin’ up, y’know? So everyone else had to kinda play it cool with that, and I had to play it cool about killin’ people, it balances out, right?”

Sniper looked him over. Fingers tapping on glass.

“Yeah, nah. Those aren’t the same thing,” Scout said quietly, ducking his head a little.

“You’d never…?” Sniper asked slowly. Saw Scout recoiling a little, changed directions. “Most everyone got recruited from some sort of criminal background. You saying they picked you up right out of… a desk job or some other nonsense?”

“No,” Scout said, voice a little quiet. “No, I… I did what I had to do, alright? And… I always kinda figured if it ever came down to it, I’d… keep doin’ what I had to do, to stay alive, to make it back home again. But I never got beyond fistfights, mostly. Knife fights. Shit like that. Never killin’. So… this was new.”

Sniper shifted. “I could never tell, if that makes a difference,” he mentioned, trying for a lighter tone, and Scout’s lip only quirked for a second before dropping again.

“…Snipes, let me ask you a question real quick,” Scout suddenly proposed, sitting up a little and looking up at Sniper for maybe the first time since the conversation started. “Do you think what we do in our day job counts as murder?”

Sniper considered the question. Scout elaborated.

“They come back again. So if nobody’s really dead, then it’s like nobody died, and if nobody died then nobody got killed. Then technically there’s no killer.”

“I don’t think it counts,” Sniper said decidedly. “Like you said. Nobody’s dead, nobody’s a killer.”

“I… feel like maybe it does,” Scout said carefully. “I feel like it’s about intent, y’know? Like… you’re tryin’ to beat the shit outta someone until they quit breathing, that’s killing, even if they don’t really die. Like in those murder mystery books and whatever where someone gets like, shot in the chest and then fakes dyin’, and the person thinks they killed someone. Ain’t that kinda still murder?”

Sniper sat back, looked at Scout, his fidgeting, the guilt on his face. “I think that’s a real Catholic way of looking at it,” he finally said, and Scout looked up at him, a little surprised. “You said you were raised Catholic, right?”

“Yeah,” Scout nodded.

Sniper exhaled, tilting his own bottle around idly, watching the few drops at the bottom rolling around, considering his words. “I don’t think it’s about intent,” he decided. “I think it’s about… cause and effect. The effect at the end. I don’t think you’re responsible for much of anything that goes on in your own head—you can only control that so much. All you can really control is your actions, and if your actions are automatic or out of your control, more of a… fight or flight response, then you can only control whether you take responsibility for it.”

“What if you do somethin’ and then somethin’ happens that you didn’t mean to happen?” Scout asked.

“Then you still need to take responsibility, if it could be your fault. And… that goes for good or bad, right or wrong. If you’re brilliant on accident, you’ve got to take responsibility. If you do something awful on accident, you’ve got to take responsibility. It goes both ways. Assuming that everything makes you a bad person—that causing lethal harm to someone who can’t die makes you a murderer—that’s just a very Catholic way of looking at it. Constantly finding yourself at fault, assuming you’ve done something wrong, deciding that every choice you make is…” He trailed, losing track of his words for a second.

“Is…?” Scout asked, and when Sniper looked up, Scout appeared to be clinging to his every word.

Sniper paused for another second or two. “Assuming that with everything you do, you’re responsible for the worst possible outcome of the situation regardless of whether it happens or not,” he finally decided. “Everything you do, thinking of the worst case scenario and deciding you’ve earned the guilt of that happening whether it happens or not. But you can’t live like that. You need to focus on what’s actually happening, what you’re actually capable of. Not the semantics surrounding whether you’re technically, legally, morally a murderer. Intention isn’t much of anything, really, but result is, and what you’ve done in our day jobs has never resulted in anyone being dead in a way that matters.”

He finished his little soapbox rant, and wished he could take a drink to dispel his nerves, but his bottle was empty. Scout seemed to be considering something.

“…Sometimes, Miss P sends you on jobs,” Scout said slowly, looking up at him. Sniper nodded. “You kill people on those, right? Real people, not people that come back.” Sniper nodded, more hesitantly. “Do you… count that?”

“Yeah,” Sniper said, concentrating every molecule of his body on making his voice light. “That definitely counts. I’m making independent choices, knowing the result will probably be someone dead, and then someone’s dead for real.”

Scout took a drink, set his bottle down, nodded. Like he’d already known, already come to terms with it, which he probably had. Like he’d only asked because he wanted to know what Sniper thought. Paused. “Sometimes I go on contracts. And it ain’t exactly my job to try and clear out places, I’m more of a… get in, grab somethin’, see somethin’, fuck right back off again before I get shot,” he said. “I’ve never pulled a trigger on someone who dies for real. Only ever maybe whacked someone upside the head if I gotta get past them.”

“Not a killer, then,” Sniper said simply, but Scout shot a look at him and he stopped again.

“Here’s the thing though, is I go in there and figure out where shit is. Where they store explosives, where the exits are, who lives and sleeps where, the layout of places,” he continued. Tipped his bottle from one side to another, drained the last of it and leaned to drop it in the trash can. “Snipes, I ain’t an idiot. I know Miss P thinks I am, all the guys think I am, but I ain’t an idiot.” The bottle shattered against the bottom of the can, startling Sniper a little. Scout didn’t flinch, though. “I know Miss Pauling goes, or sends someone else, and kills basically everyone in there once I tell her how to get in.”

 He got comfortable again, shifting a little. Sniper just watched him warily.

“That’s basically the same thing as me putting the bullet in their head myself, isn’t it?” Scout asked, looking back up at him, expression hard to read.

Sniper hesitated. “Maybe,” he said slowly. “But… I don’t think I’d count that, either. Not properly.”

Scout sank back, and that hard to read expression shifted into frustration. “Look, okay. Maybe I don’t personally kill people,” he said, tone short. “But I sure as hell hurt people. Sure as hell fuck up their whole shit. And I dunno if that’s worse, but it’s not that much better. Like, Jesus Christ, I mean, everyone on the team’s got nightmares these days, I can’t hear a car backfire in town without wanting to take a swing at someone. I won’t be able to make it living with regular people once this job finally runs out, and neither will most of us, and neither will most of those other assholes on the other side of the field. In all the ways that matter, that dumbass piece of shit kid Jeremy died on his first day on the job. He doesn’t exist anymore. Now,” he said, and his throat seemed to go tight suddenly, and he looked off to one side, swallowing hard. “Now I’m just Scout. Now I just hurt people. Because it’s the only thing I’ve ever been any good at.”

Sniper didn’t know what to say.

Scout swallowed again, visibly steeling himself. “I’ve got another question for you,” he said.

“Go on,” Sniper prompted gently.

“Is a killer someone who’s killed people before,” Scout asked, “or is it somebody who tries to kill people because it’s the only thing they know how to do?”