Target Practice

It was a warm and breezy day in tr_Karma: grass grew, sun shone, birds flew and spy was practicing his aim with the Ambassador. It was a sorry sight, as he missed most of the cardboard targets and barely managed to get some bodyshots. He, however, insisted on doing it again and again, committing the same mistakes. His teammates watched him from afar as he trained, some simply didn't pay attention to him and continued to do what they were doing, but others, like scout, laughed at the poor Frenchman. Spy, however, didn't notice he was being observed, otherwise, he would've gotten outraged.

Sniper, on the other hand, got tired of seeing him fail several times and felt disappointed by his teammate's terrible shooting skills. He simply didn't know how someone could be that bad. Taking pity on him, the Australian decided to offer some help, just so that spy could get some shots right. Spy, however, gave him the cold shoulder:

"Preposterous! For your information, my aim is just fine, jarman."

"Look, mate, I just want to help you. You haven't gotten one single headshot, and these targets are completely still. You can't even hit these cardboard targets, let alone real people!"

But spy kept refusing the other's aid obstinately: how dare he imply that his aim was imprecise? That cocky bastard, acting as if he was better than him. He was way superior in all aspects and didn't need help from a filthy, uncultured bushman, right? That was what the French wanted to believe in, but, looking at the targets and seeing the depressing results of his train, it was hard to do so. He was the best at disguising and wielding knives, but maybe not at handling a revolver.

"Here, let me show you how to handle that." the Australian said, standing behind the hopeless shooter and positioning his arms and hands correctly.

Spy flinched at the sudden contact and got flustered after feeling the warm breath of the Australian in his shoulder.

"Wait, non, what are you doing, bushman? I don't need your help. I am a high leveled professional." the man declared, trying to hide his embarrassment and shame.

"Shut up, spook. Now, hold still and concentrate on your target. Align your arms with your eyes so that you can get a good angle. Also, why are your hands shaking so much? You gotta concentrate, wanker!"

The shot fired managed to miss the target and hit a nearby tree. Spy had always been very confident and an expert at social interaction, but for some reason he was just too nervous at that moment. He and sniper had never been close and being by his side made him feel strange, it was very awkward. At the same time, however, the French felt a warm feeling inside him: was it love? Indeed, he had been hiding his feelings for the mercenary for quite a significant time, but couldn't find a way to approach him.

Regardless of how he felt, spy stopped complaining and silently accepted the other's help. An uncomfortable silence filled the atmosphere for quite some time, only being broken by the firing sounds and occasional comments and explanations made by sniper. With each shot, the Frenchman's aim improved slightly and his hands trembled less.

Meanwhile, sniper was content to see how the slow development of the shooter's skill. At first he had just pitied the man and decided to help him a little: It wasn't as if he cared about or was close to him. Yet, seeing spy's persistence made him really want to aid him and even get closer to him. The Australian had always held a strange interest on the smug backstabber, but had never had an actual chance of knowing him better.

"Well, you're getting better, mate." sniper praised.

"Your compliment is appreciated." spy retorted simply, looking away to disguise his happiness.

Only then, the lanky man noticed how close he and his teammate were. He could feel the man's warmth and smell, a mix of cologne and smoke. His face reddened at the realization and he felt that it could be his opportunity to get closer to the other and tell him about his long concealed feelings.

Suddenly, no longer being able to control himself, sniper pulled spy into a warm and loving kiss. The French, initially surprised by this unexpected action, soon melted into his lips and embraced him passionately. They were finally able to show the feelings they had had for each other for so much time.

They spent some minutes together, holding each other, touching every inch of their skin, hoping this moment would never end. Both had already dreamed of this occasion several times, and now it was really happening. After some time, the Australian released himself from the kiss and gazed at spy's eyes, and in that exact instant they felt as if the whole world had disappeared, as if just both of them existed.

Soon, the awkward silence between them returned and, feeling uncomfortable, sniper assembled the courage to say something:

"Uh... Spook, I..."

"Excuse me, I have to go back to my training." The Frenchman dismissed sniper in a tentative of masking his emotions.

"Y-yeah, good luck, mate."

Sniper had already turned around and was about to leave, when spy interrupted him:

"...Bushman?"

"Wot?"

"We should meet more often." the French winked and threw a kiss at the Australian, catching him off-guard.

On the next day, spy was going to put into practice what he had learned so that he could please sniper. Even though he missed some shots, he also got headshots on the enemy pyro, spy and demoman. On the end of the day, he showed sniper his development, proudly.

"Bloody hell, spook, you've made quite a progress, huh. Before that, you looked like a blind old lady, now, you've gotten a thousand times better! I saw the headshots you got there, good job!" he kissed spy in the cheek, a little taken aback, as he still wasn't used to their relationship.

He would soon get used to this affection, though, as they would stay together for a long, long time. Spy, on the other hand , would have "trainings" with sniper more often.Then, as time went by, their relation got stronger and stronger and they ended up revealing their relationship to their team. Some of the members accepted the fact easily, others got surprised and took a while to get used to it, but nevertheless they kept on living and happily and joyfully, day by day.