#everytime I wrote 'the family' i felt like Scout's family was in the mob or something

[just-mebs]

I swear to god there was a EngieScout fic on AO3 that I can't seem to find anymore that had this really sweet conversation between Engineer and Scout's mom. Since I can't find it and I'm not convinced that it was just a figment of my imagination, I'm just going to be thinking about Scout bringing Engineer home to meet his mom/brothers for the first time and everything that goes with it.

Like Engineer being stressed out of his mind wanting to make a good first impression, he's a countryman at heart and knows what it means to meet your partner's folks for the first time. Worried out of his mind about what kind of reaction it's gonna get even after Scout assures him that it's okay. He brings Ma flowers, dresses in his best non-oil-stained shirt, and even shaves to look as nice as he can.

Scout tells him that he looks like he's going to church and Engineer can only hope that's not a bad thing.

Just the idea of Scout not being even an ounce helpful. He doesn't understand what Engineer is even worried about, doesn't get why he's so dressed up. He's not complaining, he likes seeing Engie all nice looking for him, but this? Stressed out of his mind? Scout would rather bring him home covered in feathers than see him look this queasy again.

Oh god, when Engie meets all of Scout's brothers they're all 100% there waiting to beat the shit out of whatever little punk thinks he's good enough for their little brother - only to instead see a short, nervous, man, nearly in his 40s, gripping a banquet like his life was in danger. He greets each of them by name, memorizing each of them from what Scout had talked about all those hours they spent in the workshop together, and when he gets to Ma he tries to ignore the fact that he seems closer in age to her than he is to Scout.

I also want to image most of Scout's family being like a little on edge when talking to Engie, waiting for him to "fuck up" in a sense since Scout had of course bragged about how smart Engineer was. All of them waiting for him to talk down to them uneducated folks like the smart types all did - but Engineer isn't like that - he may be smart but he isn't one to put others down unless he needs to, plus his smooth country accent? He sounds more like a hick than anything else really, and that comforts the family more than anything he could do. Like, he knows how to explain things for the common folk to understand (hell, he's dating Scout, he needs to be able to do that). He knows how to "dumb down" his work without making others feel dumb, there's no need to ramble about gizmos and thingamajigs, if they want the nitty gritty of it all they can ask later.

I just think that the entire first meeting is so so stressful, but in the end it works out perfectly fine. They might still be a bit cautious for one reason or another but for the most part i think they'd all get along in the end. The family can see how much he cares for Scout, hell looking at how much he did to give a good first impression is proof enough, so as long as he doesn't go breaking his heart Engineer is good in their eyes