Another chapter to write, some fluff to bring into the world - I do admit that I enjoy all rays of the spectrum, but fluff is just so … fluffy. It really holds a special place in my heart.

Anyways, happy reading! And remember, two reviews (only one more needed!) and two more subscribers will make me post a chapter early while still retaining the schedule, so you'll get two chapters in a week!

Batter Up

Not that long after the ceasefire sounded, many of the BLU team gathered in the kitchen. Relieved to see that Engineer was okay, Scout nearly hugged the man, but stopped at the last minute to clap him on the back instead.

"Y'should've seen me, man - I knocked those sap-thingies right off! Hardly dinged up your machines, either. Well, my bat hardly did, the Spy's crap did a real number on the-"

"Thank ya," Engineer said, tipping his hat to the young man. Returning the pat, he asked, "I didn't see ya in the respawn. Did you -"

"Huh? Me?" Scout asked, clearly surprised as his eyebrows nearly rocketed off of his face. Waving a hand dismissively, he said, "Naw. Snipes shouldn'ta wasted the bullet on the scumbag, I was gonna bonk him into next week -"

Heavy chuckled. "Little boy is amusing." Turning on him defensively, Scout fixed the mountain of a man with a glare.

"Oi, I don't really appreciate the condescension in yer tone!"

"Conde- damn, he used two words in the same sentence with four syllables," Sniper quipped, his cup of decaf coffee raising as if in salute. "Ya aren't as idiotic as I made ya out to be, mate."

"Now wait a minute -"

"Eferyone! Stop picking on de Scout, or no cookies!" Medic proclaimed. Even in an apron, the man could look menacing, especially when wielding a knife that he obviously knew how to use if the legions of diced and minced ingredients before him were any clue, never mind his medical degree. Despite not being amongst those threatened, Scout put up his hands and slowly backed away, only stopping when he ran into Demo, who drunkenly began to stagger in the other direction, only to fall over an invisible obstacle and land on his face, already snoring. Loudly.

It only took a matter of minutes for the team to disperse because, even if a knife-wielding surgeon didn't scare them, the wrath of Heavy from a lack of baked goods certainly did. Sniper left with a nod to Medic, Pyro settling down on the couch with a bowl of popcorn. The Spy and the Engineer left together, bringing the discussion they had had over their meal down to the basement and the Texan's workshop. Soldier was the last to go, toting his beloved shovel after him.

Once the area was reasonably clear, Medic went back to preparing the ingredients, slapping away Heavy's hand more than once as the Russian giant tried to sneak a few bites. But this wasn't what brought an amused grin to the Scout's face - it was the fact that the Medic would pretend to not notice every so often when Heavy made a grab for a snack, hiding a grin at his friend's antics. Jumping up onto an unoccupied stretch of counter, Scout said, a bit loudly, "What're ya baking, Doc?"

Medic chuckled as he once again staved off the Heavy's attempts to get a quick snack. "Cookies. Heafy especially likes vuns vid chocolate and peanuts," he said, gesturing to the piles in front of him. As Scout nervously backed away, Medic gave him a reassuring smile. "Nein, dere are no nuts here. Vhat kind of a doctor vould I be if I didn't know vhat mein patients vere allergic to?" Scout laughed nervously, Heavy's face falling.

"No more peanuts?" he asked, looking immensely crestfallen.

"Y'can eat 'em, big guy, just - don't try to give them to me, alright?" the Bostonian said, smiling in an attempt to get the weapons specialist from looking like a kicked puppy. "Nothin' big happens, anyways."

"Except anaphylactic shock," Medic said, staring over the rims of his glasses at the Scout, tone serious. Scout waved the German off.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Seriously, though, I don't got it too bad. Just can't eat 'em."

"Poor little Scout," Heavy said mournfully. Not knowing what else to do, the Bostonian gave him a light punch on the arm. Unfortunately for him, Heavy saw this as an invitation for a bone-crushing hug. Gasping for air, he thought for sure he was a goner when Medic cleared his throat, prompting the giant to let him go. "Sorry," he said sheepishly.

"It's okay, big guy," he replied, voice strained. Laughter came from right behind him and he jerked his head to look, a glare at the ready. "Whaddaya think you're laughin' at -"

Still grinning, the Pyro managed to subside in his laughter long enough to explain, "Sorry. I was just thinking about one time he hugged me. I wasn't so lucky."

"It vas accident!" Heavy said defensively. Looking to Medic, he added with a grin, "I vas happy. Pyro save Doktor from Spy."

As if on cue, a cry came up from the basement. "Medic!" the Spy shouted, the call followed shortly by a rumbling explosion. Cursing, the Medic quickly took off his apron and, grabbing Heavy, said to the two young men, "Do not mess around in here." To Heavy, he said, "Come. You vill probably be needed to move someding." Without waiting for a reply, the German and Russian filed out of the kitchen and downstairs, Pyro watching with amusement.

"Wow. Nearly a whole day without anything blowing up down there. Must be a new record," he said, leaning against the counter behind his colleague.

"I'm startin' ta think my ma didn't want us watchin' this for a reason," Scout said, sliding off of the counter to laughter. Turning to Pyro, he glared, clenching his fists defensively. "What's so funny now, ya clown?"

"Sorry, sorry, sorry - it's just - you sat in flour," the Pyro said, grin still firmly fixed on his face as he pointed at the countertop which, true to his word, had a Scout-shaped impression in the flour there.

"Sonnuva -" he muttered, glancing back at the mess. Growling in frustration, he glared - half-heartedly - at Pyro, who was still cracking up. Then, in one fluid movement, he picked up a handful of flour and tossed it in the unsuspecting pyromaniac's face. There was absolute silence for a few moments, during which Scout got the feeling that maybe he shouldn't have pissed off someone who chased after people with fire for fun. Just before he decided to run, however, the Pyro let out another laugh and, grinning, lunged forward with floury ammo in hand to tackle the youngest member of BLU to the floor, who let out an indignant yelp as the baking supply found its way inside his shirt. Any and all attempts to talk on the part of either party were quickly stopped with a handful of flour in the face, and it was with his kitchen smeared with flour and the two youngest members of the group liberally dosed in the stuff from head to two, still kicking and laughing and wrestling on the tile floor. Completely unaware that they now had an audience, they continued to play fight, stopping only when the German cleared his throat loudly.

"Vhat -" the Medic said, voice full of exasperation as he stood a few inches back from the flour-laden tiles, " - is dis?"

Looking at one another and then back to the Medic and the Heavy - who was trying his hardest to look angry but was clearly amused by the situation - both parties simply pointed at the other and said, in unison, "He started it!" Sighing, the doctor rubbed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose and upsetting his glasses as he muttered something in German. Letting Scout out of a headlock, Pyro was the first to rise, black hair now coated in white. Hauling his newfound friend up to his feet with a few residual snickers, Pyro said, "C'mon, Medic, it isn't that big of a mess -"

"Out."

"But we -"

"Out!" shouted Medic, pointing at the door. Pyro and Scout exchanged a glance before shrugging and doing as they were told, barely holding back their laughter.

Once out of earshot, the two allowed themselves to succumb to their laughter, tumbling into the Pyro's room. While the room's owner sprawled out on the bed, the Scout sat down on the floor, rolling around as he tried - unsuccessfully - to curb his amusement. Heaving for breath, he finally settled down as Pyro crowed, "Did you see his face? Known him for five years - five years - and he never pulled anything like that before!"

"Wait - what - you been here five years?" Scout asked, blinking up at the other BLU. The Pyro grinned.

"Add two years to that and you'll have it right. I've been here since I was seventeen," he said, grabbing a box from under his bed and picking out a bag of chips before kicking the box over to the Scout, who took one in turn.

"Huh. Really," Scout said. "Why th'Hell would ya even want to stay here?" Leaning over the foot of his bed to grab a beer from the small fridge there, he offered one to the Scout. When he declined, the fire enthusiast sat back, the fridge door swinging shut by itself, breaking the slightly uneasy silence for a fraction of a second.

"Well … it's like this. Not everyone here is like Solly - this used to be the guy's property, did you know that? He didn't get a cent for it. Just demanded that he be allowed to 'participate'." The Pyro shook his head, laughing darkly. "No. Some of us, like me and Engie, basically got painted into a corner filled with a poison we didn't know was there." A few minutes of silence passed, during which Scout stood and paced over to the window, looking at the view. His eyes slowly drifted down from a slight change of blue in the slightly cloudy sky, a look of shock passing over his face as he realized what it was.

"Smoke! There's freakin' smoke comin' out of the forest!" Scout shouted, jabbing a finger. Pyro looked up at him, cocking an eyebrow, but indulged his newfound friend by sidling over to the window and looking out. After a moment, he let out a small laugh, leaning back against the wall, legs drawn up.

"That's just Sniper's campfire. He lives out there, in an RV," he said, Scout calming down just as quickly as he'd been riled up.

"What kinda loon lives outside when there's a perfectly good buildin' right there?" Scout asked, gesturing wildly in Sniper's general vicinity.

The Pyro gave a noncommittal shrug. Then, when even he began to feel uneasy about the ensuing silence, he brought up a different subject. "Hey, you free tonight?" When the Scout just looked at him, puzzled, the Pyro let out a small laugh. "I want to show you something. Isn't it a common courtesy to ask if someone has a previous engagement beforehand?"

"Uh … yeah, sure, I don't really have anythin' else to do," he replied, obviously still baffled. Pyro grinned and clapped him on the shoulder.

"I'll come and get you around ten." Almost as an afterthought, he added, "You aren't afraid of heights. Are you?"

Late that night, the BLU Scout was almost wishing that he'd lied to his friend and said that he was afraid of heights. The sheer drop - guarded against by only a flimsy three-foot-high railing - was dizzying. But then he looked up - and saw what Pyro was looking up at, a look of peace on his face.

"Wow …" he gasped, not even a finger twitching as he stared up at the sky. It seemed close enough to touch and, though this was proved wrong when Scout reached out to touch the star-streaked night sky, the illusion persisted. Touching him lightly on the arm, Pyro directed his gaze to a swirl of brilliant white, blue, and orange, a soft smile grazing his lips as Scout plunked down to see it without running a risk of falling off the edge. Following suit with much more grace, Pyro leaned back, one arm propped behind his head as a pillow. After several more minutes lapsed, he asked, voice almost lost in the serene night, "Beautiful, isn't it?"

Finally finding his voice, Scout nodded. "Yeah. Ya don't see this in the city. Like, at all."

Pyro cracked a smile at the awe in his friend's voice, glancing away from him to look back up. "There's no pollution here, that's why. From lights or anything," he explained.

"Cool."

With this final exchange, they fell into a comfortable silence that stretched late into the night.