Nothing Weird At All

Icy Roads And Warm Blankets

Traveling was to be expected with the job Scout knew. That during any time, no matter what was going on, the red-clad mercenaries could be uprooted and move without a moment's notice.

But did they have to move during the coldest time of the damned year!

Scout was packed into Sniper's camper van with a few of the other mercs who either weren't driving themselves or who weren't trustworthy enough to be let within five feet of a running vehicle. The team received word yesterday that they were being relocated to a new base and needed to leave at once or be fired. So the team set off, Sniper in his camper van, Engineer in his truck, and Spy in his car. Engineer only had a spot for two other people in his truck and Medic and Heavy were the first to volunteer. And Spy wouldn't share his car with anyone.

"You think I'm going to let any of you imbeciles in my precious car? The last thing I need is someone making a mess on the leather upholstery."

So Scout and everyone else was forced to ride with Sniper in his van. The big camper was roomy enough but still felt too cramped with five other men all lumped together in its metal walls. Sniper drove for hours on end, leaving everyone else to either sleep, drink, or play cards. The drive started out rather loud as Demo and Soldier were both drunk and in their fifth match of cards.

"You scum-sucking pansy! I said go fish!"

"Eh, Soldier. We're playin' poker."

Soldier frowned and gathered up his card, "You are just saying that so you can start the game over! But I quit! No more cards!"

Soldier threw the cards across the room and they went everywhere. Sniper had to stop the van and get cards out of the weird places they ended up. Stuck on the ceiling, hidden under a table, and even one managed to get into the small mini-fridge Sniper kept for snacks. After Soldier's outburst, the van got silent as the sun sunk under the desert mountains, taking the warm heat along with it. Everyone soon fell asleep in their chairs as Sniper drove on through the night. Scout, however, couldn't sleep as the van had crap heating and he had forgotten to pack a sweater or even a blanket. Shivering, he rubbed his arms and tried to get some heat back in them, but to avail as he shivered harder.

"Damn, gonna freeze to death at this point. Shoulda brought a freakin' blanket. . ."

That's when he noticed Pyro, the only other person besides him who wasn't yet asleep, pull out a huge fuzzy blanket from their carrying bag. Pyro wrapped themselves in the warm covers and Scout wished he could have some of that. Then an idea came to him as he tapped Pyro on the shoulder.

Scout's voice was barely a whisper as he spoke, "Hey Pyro"

Pyro turned to look at Scout and mumbled something incoherent, and then lifted up their mask to reveal their mouth, "Yeah, Scout?"

"Look I'm freezing my ass off here and I know this is gonna sound really weird, but. . ."

"But?"

"Share the blanket with me. Cuddle up to me, or I'm gonna die of cold-stroke."

Pyro was about to mention there was no such thing as a "cold-stroke" but decided to ignore it, "Well, I don't know. . ."

"Don't make it weird. Cuddle with me."

Pyro saw Scout wasn't gonna give this up and just sighed, "Fine."

Scout smiled and moved closer to Pyro, who lifted the blanket and covered the young Boston with its warm embrace. They got comfortable in the leather seat and tried to sleep, but Scout couldn't fall asleep no matter what, so he decided to see if Pyro was still awake and willing to talk for a bit.

He whispered again, "Hey Pyro?"

Scout felt Pyro's body move as they woke up, appearing to have been sleeping. Even more so evident by the drowsiness in their voice and the yawn that followed.

"Yea, Scout?"

"You awake?"

"I am now."

Scout realized his mistake and frowned, "Wait, you were sleeping? Sorry 'bout that, I just couldn't sleep myself. So I figured I could talk to yous."

"No worries."

"Thanks again for doing this. I guess next time I'll bring a sweater, so this doesn't happen."

Scout suddenly felt Pyro's arm around his back as they pulled him closer. Pyro buried their head into Scout's stomach and whispered to him.

"I don't mind. Haven't cuddle with anything or anyone since I was a kid. Feels nice, ya know?"

Scout wrapped his own arms around Pyro's shoulders and whispered back, "Yea. Night Pyro."

"Goodnight, Scout"

Scout and Pyro shut their eyes, suddenly feeling a huge wave of sleep washed over them as they dozed off to their dreams, still wrapped in the other's arms.

X X X

"Well, would ya look at that? Isn't that cute?"

Scout's eyes snapped open but shut themselves as bright sunlight burned them. He opened them up slowly and as he got used to the light, he saw Sniper standing in front of him and Pyro, who was still sound asleep. Scout felt his face heat up as Sniper chuckled to himself at the display he found his teammates in.

"Mate, guess you better tell your little firebug here to wake up. Time to get a move on!"

Sniper took one more look at the two and chuckled again before leaving the van to go help the others unpack as Scout softly shook the sleeping pyromaniac awake. Pyro woke up, mask half off and showing off part of their face as they looked at Scout with tired eyes and a confused look. The confusion soon left, however, being replaced with a smile and a light blush.

"Morning, Scout."

"Morning. Sniper said it's time to get movin'."

Pyro nodded and lifted themselves up from the chair, letting the blanket fall to the ground. Scout joined them and the two made their way towards the camper's exit. Before opening the door, Pyro stopped and turned to Scout, whose own face had a look of confusion on it as he looked at them.

"What?"

"Scout, next time we move bases. . ."

"Yea?"

"Try and forget your sweater again."

Pyro winked at him, before pulling their mask pack over their face and heading outside. Scout stood there for a second, dumbfounded at what just happened. He snapped himself out of it as he grinned and followed suit.

Sweaters were overrated anyway, right?