I'm back! I honestly really like this one. Don't let that color how much you like/dislike it though!
#03 - Soft
One hand was heavily calloused from handling power tools AND a guitar, the other was...well...technically smooth?
Sniper didn't like to think about her RIGHT hand. but her sides and back were surprisingly smooth to the touch...
They didn't have to be as careful as one might think. At first, HELL YES they had to be careful, they were all over each other! But time marched on and lord forbid sometimes after they spent countless hours in constant lip-lock, they just wanted to lay there and TALK. There was a lot to talk about. Sure life outside the base was off the table, but that still left a lot to talk about.
Today was honestly just a nice day. They were both sitting on that godsend known as Engineer's sofa. It was a flea-bitten pile of filth when she picked it up off the side of the road, but the metal frame was pretty durable. It had even survived Pyro lighting the thing on fire so she could bring it in her shop without inviting the plague in as well. The rest had been her own work.
And so she slumped on the couch with the man next to her and they just sat. It was nice. No sirens, no screaming, it was so nice. Amicable as Engineer was, she was also fairly soft spoken compared to a lot of her compatriots. Hell some of them seemed AFRAID of the silence, Like it was a bad, or at least awkward thing that should always be avoided, so they filled their rooms with their own noise just so they did't have that silence.
It never bothered him, just like it bothered her. and so they sat together, saying nothing, just being content.
Except his shoulders had tensed slightly, and she could see the wrinkles in his forehead, and she knew enough about lines of sight to see that his eyes were on her right hand.
"Whats's on yer mind?" She said. pretty casually.
He glanced from the orange glove to her.
"Why the glove?"
She started to tense up. "Protects the hand from some of my macheiner..."
"Then why don't you wear two, luv?" He said.
"Well the left hand is mostly just turning knobs and levers it's usually not interactin' with the dangerous equip..."
"Why are you wearing it now?"
Here she was silent. her mouth was firmly set closed, and she stared at her feet. the flash of orange in her peripheral vision.
Here Sniper smirked. "Am I a dangerous piece of equipment now?"
"No," she said wearing a smile that was too tight and painful looking to be genuine.
He just gave her a look. A moment passed, and then he spoke again.
"Can I take it off?"
She looked away. She looked away because there was no way in hell he was seeing her face when she was like this.
"A'hd...REALLY rather ya didn't do that...please."
He just stood there. What the hell was this? This woman was scared of bloody NOTHING. She could stare down raccoons, irate heavies and bone saws. But he had heard her voice wither down to a husk because he wanted to see her hand. He stretched his arms over his head and rested one on her shoulder.
"Ok?" He asked.
She just shook her head."'Couse that is."
He then leaned in closer for a kiss. she turned her head to him and smiled into his lips.
"Ok?" he asked again, his voice a bit breathless. She only nuzzled his shoulder and kissed it as a response. He smiled for a moment.
"But not THIS" he said, placing a hand over the orange glove.
She nodded stiffly. "Not that." She repeated He looked at her. He pulled down his aviators a bit so she could see his eyes.
"Ya gonna tell me WHY luv?"
"Someday." she said, nodding to herself.
"Not today." She said, shaking her head.
"Definitely not today." Her voice was shaking again. She knew it, and he knew she knew it. Until he put a hand on her shoulder she had no idea she was shaking. His hand moved over her shoulder and she felt herself relax into his side. She saw him smile at this, and he reached over to her other hand the left one She smiled when she noticed something.
"Aw baby we got machin' callouses and everything"
She could feel him shaking with laughter.
"Eh," he said, still trying to calm down. "Makes sense really. Usin' all those tools, maintaining a couple of shotguns..."
"Funny thing is," she said, holding the hand he was using to count off all the ways she calloused her hand. "Most of those are from that there guitar."
They both glanced over at the guitar case by her toolbox.
"'S that why you cover this hand?" he said, gesturing to the glove again. "Ya realized what was 'appening to this one?"
She just glared. "Didn't stop you mister Robin Hood."
He just laughed at that. "Robin hood 'ey? quite like that." He looked off into the distance, smiling. "Steal from the REDs, give to the BLUs."
She just rolled her eyes. "Ya make one damn princess joke and I WILL cut off yer fingers."
He just chuckled."And deny that Scout is the prissiest thing on the planet? Nah."
He finally got her to laugh a little. The hand around her shoulder slid off and instead snaked around her waist. She shifted her weight to be a bit closer to him, sighing contentedly. He started to absentmindedly stroke her side, and she slumped into his shoulder, humming lazily. He smiled at this, and began to stroke her side a bit more purposefully. She slowly closed her eyes, the hum getting louder. His hand snaked inside her overalls, and under her shirt, and soon his other hand got through on the other side. His breath hitched as she started moaning. But he kept exploring.
Her skin was so sooth. Now that he thought about it, it made sense, but everything else he knew about her told him the opposite. He knew her. She wasn't soft. She wasn't smooth. She was less a woman than a tough hunk of granite.
And then the small moans she was making tore him from his thoughts. Soft moans, smooth skin...and then his eyes flashed to that orange glove again...He put it from his mind, and instead though about what he COULD touch.
He stopped for a moment to turn her away from him. Now that He had a better angle he returned to her sides, with more energy than before. His eyes were screwed shut and his breathing was ragged.
Each time she moaned it got a little harder to focus on much of anything. Soon he wasn't thinking at all, he was just lost in her voice, in the incoherent sounds she was making. He began to kiss her neck, losing his mind a little more when she moaned a little louder. He was trying to pull up her shirt when...
"Wait."
That was all she said. No anger, no fear, just a simple command to wait. His voice had lost it's neutrality, now it was husky and a bit breathless.
"What is it darlin'?" She shuddered a little at that, god it was attractive, but she spoke again.
"It's gettin' late." She began, gesturing at the clock on the wall. "An' Soldier comes bangin' at my door around 5AM. We should both try'n get some shut eye"
He glanced at the clock. It was almost midnight. He sighed. "I suppose so luv." he said, retracting his hands from her skin, but staying just as close as before otherwise. A sly grin crossed his face. "Mind if I crashed here with you tonight?"
She just gave him a bewildered look. "Y'heard the part where I said SOLDIER would be waking me up, didn't cha?"
Sniper just chuckled. "Ah can handle him"
She just shook her head. "That man would KILL you"
Sniper rolled his eyes. "Nah, I'd just have to hide behind you," he said shoving her shoulder a little. "He LIKES you."
She looked pointedly at the wall. "That's sort of my POINT. That's why he'd be lookin' to..." She just getured to the air for a moment, then smalled her right fist
into her left hand "...Yanno."
"Ah." He said, suddenly understanding a bit more. He then got up, streching a bit, and took a step towards the door. Engineer got up and held onto his arm for a moment.
"A'hm sorry." She said. She looked it, too.
Sniper just smiled. "What for?" He just asked. "Being sensible?"
Here she just looked to the side. "I suppose so."
He just looked at her for a moment, his smile getting bigger. "Don't be. Always liked that about you anyway."
Now she was smiling, as she leaned in for a kiss. It was short but it said a lot.
"We good?" She asked, still only about an inch or two from his face.
"Yeah," He said. "Definitely
And with that he slipped out the door and she was left alone. She had a really dopey smile on her face, and she let it linger as she unfolded the fleece blanket she left on the couch. she set it down and took off her boots. She looked at the orange glove for a moment before she pulled it off. Light reflected off some of the metal. She looked it over carefully, checking all the pistons and gears to make sure nothing was out of place. She put the glove on again and she took a moment to stare at the door. Would she EVER tell him about this? She knew she said she would but... damn it all the idea terrified her. As did the idea of not telling him...She just shook her head and put the glove back on.
"Not today."
She said quietly to herself, lying down and pulling the blanket over her.
"Not today."