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No. 1556
>>12 fffff couldn't get this out of my head so here, is this sort of what you mean or am I pretty much terrible? It's mostly the setup before the execution of the concept, but if it's garbage I'll stop before it gets out of hand.
Mail day was the liveliest day around the base. More accurately, it was the liveliest they all were outside of missions. At the start of their contracts they'd all retreated to their own dorms during off hours, that isolation soon broken by the desire and draw of companionship, and /that/ had led to an unprecedented stretch of /getting along/.
Things had since reached a happy medium now, a bizarre sort of normalcy. They weren't just fellow employees anymore. No, they could never go back to that. Now they were something more familiar, an actual /team/ instead of a gathering of individuals.
Not everyone got mail, of course, but with mail came resupply and news from the outside. Newspapers would be read until they were crinkled messes, eventually folded into intricate origami animals by Pyro, inevitably destroyed by one of the more crass members of the team.
Scout, generally.
And Scout always, /always/ got mail. Some of the older men attempted to tease the boy about getting mail from his mother on a regular basis. Scout's mother appeared to be the only thing he wouldn't bluster on about; he was making his Ma proud and made no apologies. Besides, he got letters from his brothers as well.
At first Engineer had gotten mail, regularly too, and his workshop was practically a shrine of pictures. His wife, his children (three of them, the youngest a few years younger than Scout), pictures his children had drawn when they were much younger (those, he'd gathered, he had brought himself), all of it pinned right over his workbench. It had tapered off lately, and the fact hadn't gone unnoticed by the clever man. His mood had been noticeably dampened by it, even. Not enough to complain, of course, and the topic of /feelings/ was a leprous one at best.
Scout would never admit it out loud, but of all the members of the RED team, Engineer was the only guy he actually liked. And he was pretty sure Engineer was the only guy who liked him back, so it worked out pretty well.
Well, maybe it wasn't a matter of liking him, not exactly, but he was a lot more tolerant than the others. Engineer didn't write him off as a child, didn't call him /'leetil baby man/' and pat him on the head like he was a fucking kitten.
And so, when he'd seen the thick manila envelope addressed to Engineer, he'd grabbed it and ran it down to his shop. Proud of himself for the prompt delivery, he tossed it on top of the schematic Engineer was bent over, folding his arms over his chest and leaning against the wall. He ignored the noise of irritation the older man made in the back of his throat.
“Yeah, ya welcome,” Scout said.
Engineer had his goggles around his neck and he tipped the yellow hardhat up slightly with a thumb, quirking a brow at the boy in his version of a silent reprimand. Scout only grinned.
“What's this?” Engineer picked the envelope up, frowning at it and turning it over.
“Ya freakin' /mail/, genius,” Scout rolled his eyes, missing the nonplussed expression Engineer shot in his direction.
The older man seemed to be handling it like Demoman had asked him to /'Hold this fer a second wouldya lad?'/, turning it over in his hands a few times before finally tearing it open. Real meticulous, too, Scout noticed, whisking a gloved finger under the fold so he didn't risk tearing anything inside.
Engineer slid the thick sheaf of paper out and began to read it over.
“Holy crap, maybe that's why she ain't wrote fah so long,” Scout laughed, pushing off the wall, “She was writin' yah a freakin' book!”
Instead of smiling, however, Engineer's brow knit sharply. Scout blinked. Usually he grinned that great big goofy grin of his, got that far away look on his face when he got letters from home. That wasn't happening right now. Not at all. Not even close.
“/Uhm/,” Scout shifted his weight, raising his eyebrows and looking over his shoulder at the door. Maybe he ought to go. But Engineer was his kinda-sorta buddy, so instead of bailing out, he asked, “Bad news?”
“Divorce papers,” Engineer said quietly. He started flipping through the document, the silence descending on the room becoming thick and awkward until he broke it by adding, “She wants full custody of our youngest.”
Scout watched him flip through the document methodically, cool blue eyes skimming it, probably memorizing it word for word. Engineer absently plucked his hardhat off, setting it aside and running a hand over his closely shorn scalp.
Holy crap. That... /sucked/. Sucked /hard/. Maybe his youngest was a teenager, nearly a legal adult, but that was still a pretty ice cold move coming from someone he'd only said nice, fond things about.
“I, uh,” Scout itched the back of his neck. C'mon, he had to think of /some/thing, “/Man/, Engie, that /blows/.”
“I'm gonna go ahead an' ask yah t'leave me be for a spell, boy,” Engineer said quietly, flipping to the start of the document, starting over again, “If yah don't mind.”
“Uh, sure man,” he shrugged, “Whatever, it's no big deal. See ya at dinner? Yeah. Later.”
Scout didn't need to be told twice, and he beat a hasty retreat from the room. So much for doing something nice for the guy. He'd just delivered him freakin' /divorce/ papers. /Shit/. Not that it was his fault, of course. Like he'd had any idea!
“Och, watch where yea're walkin', laddie!” Demoman grunted as Scout walked into him, rolling his shoulders a bit and adjusting a package under his arm.
“Maybe you oughta watch where /you're/ walkin', pal,” Scout snapped back. His posture shifted dramatically, back straight, chin up, shoulders back. He was easily the shrimpiest guy on base but hell if he didn't at least try to puff up a bit. Engineer was short as well, but the older man had actual mass to make up for what he lacked in height.
Demoman rolled his eye and sidestepped Scout, heading towards Engineer's workshop. Scout acted on impulse, jogging backwards and putting himself in the demolition expert's way.
“Lad,” he was warned. Demoman eyed him off with a less indulgent look than before.
“Hey, you don't wanna go down there,” Scout protested, stretching out his arms to block the entire hall, “Engie got some shitty news. He wants tah be left alone.”
“Oh aye?” the eyebrow over his eyepatch raised slightly, “What's that then?”
“It's uh, /personal/,” Scout glanced over his shoulder. It wasn't like Engineer had told him to keep quiet about it, but this seemed like the sort of thing that maybe, just maybe he shouldn't run his mouth about. Once one member of the team knew, they'd /all/ know within twenty minutes.
Less if it was /him/ spreading the news.
“If it'were personal, I doubt he'd be tellin' th'likes o'/you/, boyo,” Demoman scoffed, smirking at him, “Now move yer arse, or I'll move it for yea.”
“Nah, I'm bein' serious,” Scout insisted, frowning, “C'mon man, just leave 'im alone.”
“Wot're yea /on/ about, lad?”
“Whatever the fuck /that/ means,” the younger man jutted his jaw forward a bit, “Just trust me a'right? Fuckin'... leave the guy alone for like twenty freakin' minutes, think ya can handle that?”
Demoman narrowed his eye slightly, looking past him down the corridor, but decided it wasn't worth it. He waved Scout off and turned around, shifting his package under his other arm and muttering to himself.
Camping out in the corridor probably wasn't going to do much in the long run. Eventually somebody was going to need to have a legitimate chat with the guy. Probably somebody who'd make him feel worse, like Spy. Scout grimaced and pulled off his hat, itching the top of his head as he thought. Thinking hard wasn't really his thing, but hell, he felt like he needed to set up a sentry to guard the poor bastard from his own team.
He smirked. That was kinda funny. Maybe he ought to start beeping and running back and forth in front of his door.
Scout shook his head – fuck, he needed to take this seriously. Barely a few months back he'd gotten a letter about his eldest brother being in a car wreck. When his Ma had sent the letter, there wasn't much to report. /He'd/ been a wreck, and it had been Engie who went out of his way to keep him company. Wrote him goofy, stupid songs that made him roll his eyes. Even drank beers with him when most of the others had gone to bed, while he had been too fraught with worry to sleep. Scout hated the taste of the stuff, but like hell he'd admit it.
Of course, the Devil's luck ran deep in their family. His brother had turned out to be just fine. Engineer hadn't even said “I told you so” either, when Scout had informed him as such. Just smiled and nodded at him, slapping him on the shoulder.
He was just so fucking /nice/. It was kinda weird, how nice he was, considering he was surrounded by jerks on all sides. Pyro wasn't a jerk, though, was he? Jerks and /weirdos/, then.
Hell, apparently even his /wife/ was a jerk. The guy couldn't catch a break.
Him camping out in the hallway was only going to make things worse in the long run, he decided. The more he tried to turn people away, the more they'd want to find out for themselves, and it was admittedly a bit out of character for him to be acting like a mother hen. That was more Medic's style.
With a grimace, Scout slapped his hat back on, adjusting it as he walked for the common room. He had his own letters to read.
By the time he'd finished pouring over all the letters and the photos from home it was about dinner time. Usually he was first in line to get fed, but he was stretched out on his cot, peering at a picture of his mother instead. She was standing with one of his older brothers, kissing him on the cheek while he was caught mid eye roll, smile good natured. He could practically hear his brother's 'Aw, /Ma!/' in response.
Looking at the picture, he couldn't help but think of all those pictures in the workshop, of Engineer's daughter's grinning down at him, making silly faces, hugging their mom – shit, it'd be a miracle if the guy didn't blow his damn brains out.
There was a thought. He tucked the photos with the others he'd received in a empty ammo case he'd nicked after a mission, sliding it back under the bed for safe keeping. Sure, he could hang them up, but the one time he'd showed photos around, Spy had asked him /way/ too many questions about his mom. Creep.
Scout slouched his way to the mess hall, relieved to see Engineer in line with the others like normal. His expression was still pretty neutral, but he wasn't so far away that he didn't notice Scout duck into line behind him. Engineer nodded at him.
Normally a chatterbox, Scout couldn't seem to think of anything suitable to say. His wife was trying to gut him from hundreds of mile away, what the hell was he supposed to say? He sure as hell couldn't make him feel better, so jokes were out. And it wasn't like he could relate, shit, his longest relationship had been almost a month.
/Almost./
Hey, he was up out of his workshop and socializing. Sort of. Maybe he was already okay with it?
“Hey, hardhat,” Scout plopped down next to him once he'd loaded his tray down, voice low, “You uh. You okay, man?”
He winced – he sounded like a pussy, but Engineer'd never give him shit for it.
“I've had better days,” Engineer responded, shaking his head a little. He offered Scout a lopsided smile and patted him on the shoulder, “Thanks fer askin', kiddo.”
He flicked the brim of Scout's hat as he retrieved his hand, nearly knocking it off.
“Yeah, yeah,” Scout took it off and rolled his eyes, setting it on the table next to his tray, “Not hats at the table, I got it /Ma./”
Engineer's smile became a shade more sincere.
Maybe Engineer'd reassure his wife and patch things up. He seemed pretty good at that kind of stuff. And hey, what did she /really/ have to complain about? Sure it sucked their contracts kept being extended, but the pay kept going up too. Engineer wasn't like /his/ dad, some deadbeat loser that his Ma'd kicked out sometime before Scout was even born.
It was then that Scout got an /idea./
He grimaced at first, stuffing his dinner into his face to cover. No way in hell. Nothin' doin'. Engie'd work shit out. Wasn't that what he always said? That he solved problems? He was probably working it now while he chewed on his mashed potatoes.
It was a stupid idea, anyway. His mother probably wasn't even Engineer's type.
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