It arrived in the mail a week ago from the current Saturday, accompanied by a letter from his mother telling him to "take that nice girl you told me about out for a proper date". The basket was one of those clichéd ones with the flap for a lid that you might see in the movies- it looked brand new too. Sniper knew he shouldn't have written home about the pyro, but what was he supposed to do? His mother wanted her son to find someone to spend his life with, and being able to tell someone about his feelings was a relief. In hindsight, though, he really should have expected that she would want to push him and any potential wife together as soon as possible. Though… a picnic didn't sound like a bad idea at first, and Pyro had even agreed to it.
The basket was now filled with horrible looking sandwiches that the sniper himself questioned the edibility of, and a red and white checkered blanket. It was all so… clichéd.
More of his teammates were on base today, including one particularly annoying Bostonian. Sniper even made sure to wake early before sneaking in to the main kitchen, why the hell did Scout have so much energy? He was as early a riser as ever- even after staying out all night in town. Questions such as "what're ya making?" , "Can I have some?" and "Can I come with?" poured from the boy until the Sniper finally snapped at him to be left alone.
One grumbling 24 year old later and Sniper was on his way, slightly regretting the fact that the scout would probably tell anyone he could that the Australian had some secret plans. He sighed and rubbed his eyes; that boy acted like a damn child.
Even if he had a fierce questioning to look forward to when he returned that evening, though… he was still in a relatively good mood. Any day they could see the BLU without having to kill her was a good day. The sniper pulled his van to a stop a few miles off road from the base split off and waited for his companion to arrive.
Pyro woke somewhere around seven am to take care of things around the base- nothing too important, mainly tidying up or washing clothes. A chuckle escaped their mask as they passed Scout's open door while heading to the laundry room; the boy was apparently out all last night and was now sprawled out half-on-half-off his bed. The poor kid always seemed so tired, even if he had a full night's sleep. It honestly amazed the BLU that he could move at any speed past a tired wobble during fights.
The pyro looked up to the large wall clock of the laundry room, setting a basket of assorted clothes on the floor. They left the detergent scented room and headed back to their room for a quick change of clothes before leaving.
Pyro decided not to ask for rides from their teammates after that first experience with Dell, and it was honestly a risky and bad idea in the first place. However, walking everywhere quickly became tiresome. They and the sniper decided it was best for him to drive the two of them in his van- and even though it was difficult to find a place far enough from the base that they wouldn't be seen yet was still in walking distance- they soon found a patch a ways off the road where no security cameras could reach.
They left the base around eight o'clock, making sure nobody of consequence saw them leave. The firebug could tell Engineer was suspicious of something; anyone who knew the Texan would be able to read him, really. He always kept the same smile he used when around his teammates if something was wrong… but anyone who had spent any time with the man could notice the difference in the tone of his voice and the way he spoke. It was sort of frightening really…
It only took a few minutes to reach the van. The vehicle didn't really stand out from the colours of the desert, it actually blended in to the dirt and brush quite nicely from afar! Still, though, Pyro couldn't help but worry about being seen. The past month went well but who knows what could happen. The BLU sighed as they knocked on the door in an attempt to push the thoughts to the back of their mind, they should just try and focus on their date for now.
The drive to the park was short, filled mostly with silence and very little conversation past general "you look good"s and "how did you sleep?"s . Not talking was more than fine with pyro. Even as a child they never really liked talking, and the thought spending time with someone in silence was wonderful. They were so, so happy the sniper understood that –unlike other young mercenaries who filled every moment with blabbering.
Pyro looked out the window, the basket sitting between them creaking as the car moved down the poorly kept roads of teufort. Everything felt… right, for once.
The park was far emptier than usual. Granted, it was outside of teufort on the far side from any residential area, but there were usually at least a dozen visible people at any time. However, today Pyro counted maybe one or two people in the time it took to walk to their usual spot. Maybe it was because it was earlier in the day than the two usually visited… The BLU tried to shake the uneasy feeling it gave them, absent mindedly reaching out and holding on to the sniper's hand.
Sniper smiled at the shorter, "Something wrong Sheila?"
Pyro snapped to look at the Australian, shaking their head and pulling their hand back to fiddle with their fingers, "no, itf fhin. Ihm fhin,"
He shrugged and let out a snort of air, setting down the basket and reaching in for the checkered blanket. The firebug watched as the sniper laid everything out neatly on the cloth; plates were placed neatly on the fabric with messily made sandwiches, and two cups and a pitcher of some sort of juice were placed in the center. It amused the pyro how much detail the RED was putting in to laying everything out. They couldn't help but let a giggle escape their grinning mouth.
The aussie held a hand out to Pyro, which they promptly took, "What's so funny now?" He led them to the blanket and sat down
"Nhofing, thif if nife," They smiled, even though they were sure the sniper probably couldn't see it.
He leaned back on his palms, "That's good to hear… I was actually worried you wouldn't want to do this,"
Pyro looked to him, head cocked to the side "why?"
Sniper paused, sitting up straight again, "Well I just figured you might be uncomfortable… you know with…" he waved a hand in front of his face, "the mask?"
They BLU stared blankly at him for a moment, before slamming their palm against their forehead. The mask. Right. The prospect of a lunch date sounded so nice that they had actually forgotten that you have to eat at one. Well… you don't have to but they wanted to.
The sniper snorted, "Did you really not think about that?"
The pyro shook their head and groaned, drawing a chuckle from the taller man, "You don't have to eat if you feel uncomfortable, or I could just look away if you wanted,"
"Noh, I whnna eht what yhu mhde," they took a breath, "I fhnk I'll bh okhy, ther arh fhw enhugh pehple here,"
Sniper really didn't want Pyro to feel uneasy; maybe a lunch date really was a bad idea… He sighed, silently cursing putting his them in a position like this, "Sorry Sheila,"
Pyro shook their head, smiling, "Dhn't bh,"
The BLU picked up the closer sandwich to inspect its contents, desperately wanting to change the subject. It looked like lettuce and tomatoes with dark mustard and… some sort of meat. It didn't really have the same color as beef or ham, but it did not look bad!
Pyro pointed from the food and to their mouth "Uhm, I'm ghnna…"
"Oh right, sorry!" The aussie quickly turned his attention to the far side of the park, noting that more people seemed to have arrived. He made sure to wait till he heard the rustle of the BLU's rubber mask moving back over their face before looking back to see a large bite from the sandwich. The two made an easy rhythm of Sniper looking away and Pyro taking a bite after the first few times' awkwardness. The next half hour was filled with talk of animals and favorite colors, mostly from Pyro.
The sniper sat back and watched the fire bug as she explained the colors of different fires in great detail. He let out a silent sigh and smile while watching her. She was adorable, and even if what different minerals made different colors of fire didn't really interest him, he loved hearing her muffled voice. Pyro was absolutely something special in his book; she could hold her own in a fight and could kill so easily, yet she still liked wearing dresses and skirts… She was the ideal girl for him.
"beautiful. Absolutely beautiful," he thought to himself. And she was, even if he had never seen her face… even if her face was covered in scars like she told him, she was gorgeous. She was gorgeous, and he loved her.
Pyro looked up at him, slightly confused expression showing through her gas mask. Shit, had she asked him something?
"what dhd yhu jhft fhy?" the blu leaned in closer to the aussie.
Oh. Being alone for months and months on end had a tendency to cause a few things. Mostly it caused discordances in social interaction, but is also had a habit of causing people to accidently say thoughts aloud. What would you expect from only having yourself for company for so long? It had been quite a while since it last happened to Sniper; he honestly thought he had gotten over it after being on his team for a year… but apparently not.
"No I just mean… You are…" he sighed, "Nothing. It's nothing,"
The BLU shook her head before poking at his arm, "Noh, I heardh yho fhy fhmething!"
The sniper looked at the pyro, frowned, and took in a small breath before speaking, "What I meant to say was… you are beautiful?" stammering like an eighth grader with a crush. Smooth.
Pyro giggled, leaning against the RED's shoulder. It felt… nice. It was the first physical contact aside from their fights or seldom hand holding, and it felt nice. Sniper looked down at the BLU before hesitantly leaning against her, letting their weights keep them up. He moved his hand to be on top of her gloved one; everything felt right.
They didn't stay much longer at the park. More people showed up over the half hour they were there, and they both figured it was a bad idea for Pyro to eat or for them to continue sitting as they were with others around. The twenty minutes it takes to drive to the split off from the park flew by in the blink of an eye as they talked, and all too soon their idle chat was cut short.
The driver looked to the pyro, "Next week then?"
Pyro nodded, humming a "Mmhmm!" in response.
The two sat for a moment, Pyro looking at the sniper.
"What is it?" She usually left immediately after he parked the van… his mind flooded with thoughts suddenly. Maybe he had gone too far with the physical contact today. Shit, what if he made her uncomfortable?
"… Clohf yhur eyef" The Australian blinked, but soon complied and shut his eyes. A moment of silence passed before he heard a familiar rustle of rubber. Sniper then felt a soft pair of lips touch his own chapped ones for just a moment, before hearing Pyro move her gas mask back over her mouth.
The sniper slowly opened his eyes to see the BLU exiting his van, leaving him with a slight blush, confusion and growing smile.
Wow, 10 chapters! This is farthest I've ever gotten in a fanfiction tbh. Thank you all for reading!
Get ready, though, because the next few chapters are going to suck emotionally! Tune in next week to see Sniper make the worse decision ever
*Edit: I fixed one of the typos- as always, if you see a typo please tell me