As a professional in espionage, there were very few incidents that pounded Spy's heart with absolute anxiety, and only one of them demanded him to appear sober in five minutes. This, however, could be the most gut-wrenching event that he may come across in his life and he preferred be look and smell clean. Time was chasing him and Sniper was already waiting outside. Spy shoved necessities into a locked suitcase from his room and ran through the corridor. As he hopped down from the rooftop, he bumped into a stocky figure in middle of the corridor.

"Excusez-moi."
"Watch it, slime ball. TAVISH! YOU BETTER BE CONSTIPATED TO TAKE THIS LONG!"
"FECK OFF, JANE. I'VE GOT BOOZE AND I DESERVE ME HAPPY HOUR."
He was glad that Soldier didn't grab him by the collar. The aggressive man rushed away from the toilet, stomped to the stairs that led to the rooftop and busily growled at Demo. The path was thankfully empty now, so not a soul saw Spy in his shamelessly riled up state. To ensure zero interruption, Spy locked himself in the toilet and began to execute a simple and speedy miracle. It involved regurgitation, the swiftest of teeth brushing, slapping some cold water on the face and performing dress change magic. Just as he finished cleaning up the aftermath of his bodily fluid, couple of knocks startled him.

"Hey, will you hurry- OW my nose…"
"Mmmmoa!"
The door slammed open against Scout's face, causing him to blindly fall on Pyro. Ignoring the muffled yelling from the above, Spy slid down the stairs and spat out the mini-bottle of concentrate caffeine extract. The whole process seemed near-perfect and he felt quite confident till he reached the end of the stairs. A quick check up was always necessary, and this time he aimed to not look like an intoxicated fool who had been crying with desperation half an hour ago. Suit? Seamless. Breathe? Could do better than toothpaste-mint, but better than stomach acid and nicotine. Cognition? Although vomiting and caffeine helped to sharpen his senses, he was slightly hazy from drinking more than he could handle. Spy was still unsure whether he was ready, but he was certainly through with waiting. It was time to face the anticipation and accept the outcome, best or worst. He opened the door and bit his cheeks to mask his agitation. Even though there were was hardly any light other than from the moon provided, the back of slim silhouette stood out amongst the lifeless forms of the desert night.

"Evening, monsieur."
"…took your time."
Sniper turned around and blurted out a sass, but his tongue stiffened when they made an eye-contact. Despite of the fact that Sniper replayed all the possible scenario of this encounter thousand times, this was nerve-wrecking.

"Was that you who threw those pebbles?"
"Don't know what you are talking about, mate. I just aimed at some suspicious embers."
Spy initiated the conversation to loosen up the tight atmosphere between them, and smirked at the given reply.

"You look nice."
It was out of his style to babble compliments, but Sniper couldn't lie. He was more than appreciative of the man in front of him.

"As always."
Spy brushed off the flattery and walked past Sniper to hide the rush of blood on his face. He blamed the Cognac to let such emotion slip. It would be embarrassing to lose his cool before he heard the answer that he had been waiting the whole week for. Thankfully, the night was colder than the usual on his face.

"Bit chilly nowadays."
"Yes, summer is almost over."
Sniper caught up with Spy who were aimlessly wondering forward. While he knew the exact words that had to be said, it was extremely difficult for an outback man to break the tension and at least do something.

"Is that 'all' you have to say?"
Judging by the tiny sting on Spy's tone, Sniper realised he was on the verge of pressing the wrong button. Surge of worries jolted his reflection, which caused him to hold the hand that was usually covered in leather glove.

"I have been thinking about it."
"Thinking about what? You need to be more specific."
Spy tried to wriggle his hand out of the larger palm, but Sniper held on tighter out of anxiety. His heart raced and reminded himself not to mess this opportunity because of his lousy conversation skills.

"I was a fucking idiot to even doubt about what we have here. That kiss we had at my van wasn't a mistake – I just wished that I wasn't drunk for that. I am sorry that I made you come out of the closet and it would be a shame if your profession goes to shambles because of it. It was pathetic of me to say that you are not being genuine while I wasn't even sure of myself."
The words scattered out and Sniper was breathless. He rarely rambled this much in his life and hoped his effort wasn't wasted because of how clumsily he spat everything out. Noticing that Spy's hand stopped trying to escape, Sniper carefully closed the distance between them and looked into the pair of eyes that were still focused somewhere far.

"It didn't matter whether we are a half-poofter or not. All that matter is the fact that we have something important between us. I don't think I have the balls to fess up like you did, but I want you to have this."
Spy kept on gazing on aimless darkness till he felt a cold alloy placed on his trapped fingers. It was a balisong no bigger than half of his hand, but it was weighted like a useable weapon.

"Do you realise that I have my own collections of these?"
"Open it up."
Without any difficulty, Spy nimbly spread the handles to reveal the expected smooth blade. This, however, appeared jagged on one edge. It almost looked like a…

"It's a key to my van. So you can come into my house without breaking in."
Considering Sniper as a man of privacy and solitude, this was an unexpected gift.

"I'm not asking you to live with me. You probably have a fancy place to be luxurious and whatever. It's just an open invitation to use my space when you need a break or… you know, a good time of any sort."
Perhaps a reckless decision in the long term, but it held a very strong sentimental value in this moment. Spy didn't imagine himself to provide both of them a solid place to live, possibly because to the nature of himself or his occupation. Sniper offered a stability which was something that Spy wasn't confident to do, so it may count as a fair score between them.

"Was it intentional to have the other side of this to be sharp?"
"Thought it should be useful as well."
It was no doubt that the sharpness will gradually weather out depends on how frequently Spy uses this key. Impractical, but touching.

"I am quite impressed."
"You are more than welcome to visit my van now."
Spy checked his watch which nearly hit one and then turned his head to lock their eyes. He could see Sniper crossing his arms and flashing a smug smile. No matter how adorable this lanky man appeared, Spy felt like he should be a responsible mercenary and savour the pleasures for the future. He leaned in, gave Sniper a small peck on the lips and stepped back.

"I would love to, but we do have work tomorrow."
"Not even for a moment?"
When he saw dissatisfied frown on Sniper's face, it was already hard to reject the second offer. He couldn't pull away the long arms reaching out for a hug.

"Bought some wine too..."
Spy had enough to drink for tonight and readied to say a well-argued reason. That was until he felt a finger running through his hair, which was a sensation that he nearly forgot ever since he started to wear a balaclava. Obviously this time, he realised that he wasn't wearing any. It was hard to believe that he made such silly mistake. A sense of panic arose as he wondered where he could have dropped it. Was it resting somewhere on the staircase? Or the toilet? He almost hoped it to be flushed away by accident. If anybody, especially Scout picked it up, their taunt would be the bane of his pride.

"…but yeah, you are right. We better sleep. Just drop by later, eh?"
Sniper planted a little kiss on the bare forehead and buried his nose on the greying hair that smelt of cigarette and soap. It was such a shame to miss the rare opportunity to indulge that handsome face that Spy hid from everybody, but Sniper persuaded that he was privileged to see such sight. He was about to release his arms till his lover dug deeper into his embrace.

"Suppose it would be impolite to pass on wine. It better be top quality."
If Spy was to get back into his attic-room, there were some risks of exposing his face to his teammates. Also, Sniper being respectful was sort of a cherry on top of this wonderful night. Maybe all his panic were just a petty excuse, but there was no way that Spy could let down the brightest smile that he has seen from the ever-stoic Sniper.

"You bet."
They broke the hug apart and walked toward to the van as they bantered how Sniper's outback knowledge couldn't have possibly gotten at least three-starred wine. Their giddy mood blinded themselves from a dark figure watching them from distance. Pyro had been waiting for them to finish talking, but the view of two men kissing and being affectionate reminded of the days when Engie asked him to not interrupt the cuddle session with Soldier. Oh well. He could give the balaclava back to Spy sometime later.