It was raining quite heavily, the water splashing loudly on the roof of the camper which was parked outside of the BLU fort. The sun had set a while ago —a sunset nobody was able to see because of the thick, dark grey clouds— so it was quite dark, especially around the vehicle, where the only light was some yellow squares on the ground; light from inside it.
Even though it was really wet on the outside, it was dry and cosy on the inside, where the BLU Sniper and Scout was eagerly discussing the latest match, which they had, judged by the look on their faces, won. It wasn't really a two-way conversation, though; Scout took care of most of —if not all— the talking, gesticulating like crazy, while Sniper listened, nodding when it fit and laughing whenever he said something funny. This was just how Scout liked it. Nobody disturbing his stories, and people actually listening and laughing with him. Sniper did that, therefore, Sniper was really cool, at least when he wasn't all grumpy like he was sometimes.
Scout had just finished telling about how he'd tricked the enemy Pyro into the water while fighting him, making them both laugh wholeheartedly, when an extremely bright, white flash split the night, almost at the same time as a loud crack quickly ended their laughter and made them start in the sudden darkness.
"S-Snipes?" Scout stuttered lowly with a voice that barely was audible through the rain, looking nervously around. His heart was beating so hard he could feel it in his chest, pumping adrenaline as fast as it could through his body, which wasn't prepared for the sudden shock at all. "Wha- how could… The power…"
There was no response from Sniper, whom Scout was unable to see because of the total darkness. Suddenly, he felt incredibly alone and afraid, afraid of the dark and what was hiding in it, all the scary stories he'd heard starting to pop up in his mind. He looked around, trying to adjust his eyes to the darkness, but he couldn't see a single thing, the only sense he could rely on was his hearing, and it wasn't really useful, as the heavy splashing on the roof made it difficult to hear anything else.
"Snipes?" He asked again, louder this time, as his body had started to realize there was no danger, slowly calming down. It was still upset enough to make him shriek loudly when something stroke his arm out of nowhere though. "Jesus Christ, dude!"
"S-sorry." It was Sniper, and he had absolutely not calmed down. His body was still shaking, and so was his voice. It felt like having a shocked, man-size next to you, to sit next to Sniper, who had moved silently around the table in the darkness, so now Scout was experiencing it.
"You all right?" Scout could feel the other man's tenseness and fear, almost sitting under him at this point, as Sniper scooted slowly closer and closer.
"Ye-yeah. I'm… Fine."
Scout chuckled. "You're scared, aren't ya!" he mocked, laying his legs on the table, something that was highly frowned upon by the camper's owner, but now he was way too busy being scared to notice.
"No, I ain't." It's usually quite difficult to hide it when you're deadly afraid, and Sniper was no exception, his trembling voice making the lie useless. "A-and put yer legs-"
Another terrifying boom interrupted Sniper, making him scream and start together next to a laughing Scout, who had no plans removing his legs from the table. Clearing his throat, the Australian sat up again, apparently trying to retain some of his pride after the rather girlish scream, but for no use.
"You - you…" Scout tried to talk properly, but the laughter used all the air he had, making him wheeze for more, and making him unable to speak properly. "You're scared - of thunder!"
His side received a rather hard elbow from the other, but it didn't really do anything as they already hurt.
"No, I jus'… S-started, that's all." It was raining even heavier now, and if Sniper hadn't been sitting next to Scout, it'd be practically impossible to hear what he said if he spoke so lowly. Scout could feel him getting up, possibly to get a candle or two; or maybe a torch, anything to light up the completely dark room.
"Hey, Snipes, why's it so dark anyway? I mean, doesn't the camper go on batteries?"
"It's chargin'. Battery's dry."
Scout nodded, but realized quickly that there was no was Sniper saw it, so he added an "oh". Planning on mocking the other for being such a wuss, he moved a bit closer to the window, ready to scream and pretend there was someone out there, someone really scary.
He never did it, though, a moment later a third lightning bolt struck the earth, ripping up the soft soil and bringing with it the loudest boom so far. Without having any chance to react, he was held tightly by Sniper, wrapped in his strong arms.
"I admit it," he mumbled, voice muffled by Scout's chest, "I'm scared."
It was a weird situation for Scout, who never really used to comfort anyone or being the strong, supportive one. A part of him wanted to push Sniper away and laugh and mock him for being so easily scared, but of course he didn't, instead he tried his best, holding him tightly and stroking his back.
"It's… Er, going to be all right…?" He wasn't really good at this, but at least he tried, and that was what mattered, right? "The thunder… Ain't dangerous."
"I know," Sniper's muffled voice said, sounding a bit offended. "I ain't a bloody child."
"You're behaving like one," Scout said before being able to stop himself. "I mean, uh, your… Spirit feels… So young?"
It was a moment of awkward silence and nothingness in the darkness, before Sniper let go off Scout and looked at him —face close enough so they could see each other through the blackness that was surrounding them, noses almost touching— with a raised eyebrow and an unimpressed face. "Stop tryin'."
"Sorry." The youngest smirked, not really meaning what he was saying, he rarely meant it when he excused himself, especially when it came to things he said, as he usually meant everything he said and felt he had no reason to excuse the truth. Snickering, he continued: "Maybe you should find some candles or somethin', so you can see all the scary monsters and stuff, eh?"
"Funny." A candle was lit a minute later, though,—blue like as good as everything else—lighting up their faces and the tiny room with a soft, orange glow. The darkness on the outside seemed even darker compared with the light on the inside, and it was like looking through a waterfall; the rain was extreme at this point. From what he could see, the lights in the Fort was off too, so the camper had most likely been connected to the electricity in there, but as the power got cut, it didn't have enough energy in the battery left for the lights to stay on.
"Feet down from table." Now that they were able too see, Sniper had noticed Scout's legs, and was now looking irritated at him. "There's only one bloody rule in here, and ya always have to-"
Scout snickered lowly as Sniper's speech was interrupted by a third thunder wave and replaced with him being held tightly again, almost unable to breathe properly. Sighing softly, he saw down at the scared, whose face was impossible to see, buried in blue t-shirt and warm chest. He carefully laid his own arms around the lightly shivering man and laid his head down, embracing him.
The power wasn't back on before the next morning, and when the lights flickered on, the two mercenaries were still in each other's arms, one snoring lighter than the other.