>>55 I never say no to fanart. And... filling some prompt-age; ~ prompt: Engie/Pyro pretty please? There's barely any, and in all the ones I've seen, Pyro always tops. ~ Secondary prompt: I agree with this. And to add to this request for me, I would LOVE for Engineer to top a shy, awkward Pyro. As in, the Pyro (preferably a male Pyro) doesn't really feel comfortable coming out of his suit, but Engineer coaxes him out of it and then its sweet loving from there. ~ And fic! ~~~ I Just Want To Be The One You Love~~~ It starts with the note in his locker in the resupply room-- at least, as far as Dell knows, that's where it starts-- and it's a little juvenile, but kind of charming as well. The note is anonymous, but he figures it for the Pyro's work. Pyro, of course, won't say a thing about it, not even in the muffled mumbles he speaks in through the filter of the mask, but now that Dell knows, things change. He plays his guitar more often for the other man, when they're relaxing after work. He finds nice things to say whenever an opportunity presents itself. "You don't have to be so shy, you know," He finally says, a week after the note in his locker, as they sit around the Intel Room, Dispenser fueling endless spy checks, Sentry quietly awaiting any sign of the other team. "Hrm?" "I never been... what you'd call averse, to the idea of... certain things." Dell scratches the back of his neck. "Wouldn't be averse to the idea of certain things with you, I guess, is what I mean to say. More the, uh, opposite. Of averse. We like spending time around each other well enough. Kind of silly of us, if you like me more than just a little, and I like you more than just a little, and the two of us not doing a thing about it." "Huh..." "Anyway, if you ever want to... want to talk about it, I'm always just... around." He smiles. "And you're welcome to drop by any old time you like." The Scout tries to break through their defenses after that, dodges the Sentry but not the flamethrower. Conversation lulls after that point, as the rest of the other team follows close behind in an attempt to clear out the protective nest they've got built up, and they both need to work to keep their intelligence safe. Still, when the five o' clock whistle's blown and everyone's cleaned up some, shelved their gear and gone on to their own pursuits, the Pyro does come by the workshop. "Mind taking that mask off? I wouldn't mind seeing the face of the fella I been flirting with all this week." Dell skates a finger along the edge of the filter, just barely touching. "Hudda... hurm hrdrhss... hurs hudda fhr n..." "Well, I won't push if you're sure, but it'd be easier to talk. And I'm not exactly sure how I'm suppose to kiss ya with it on." "Yuhr hrna krs mhr?" "... If you want." The Pyro takes the mask off, hesitant. "Okay. I... Okay." His voice is clearer, though still raspy, without the mask. He keeps his face down, turned to the side, his shoulders hunching up, but then callused fingers tip his chin in towards Dell. "There now. That's not so bad." "Sure, except for the part where I'm a monster..." "A coupla scars do not a monster make. Pretty handsome underneath all that..." He looks up, blushing. "No one's ever-- I mean, most folks never see my-- I mean-- Yeah?" "So, do I get to kiss you, Handsome?" Dell smiles, warmly and gently as he can, and waits for the answering nod. "I always did like you a lot," The Pyro sighs, leaning down to meet the other man's lips. ---/-/--- Another week passes, with not much more than that, a few stolen kisses down in the workshop, until the Pyro itches to put his mask back on. They still talk, and Dell is getting better at figuring out the mumbles, and anyway, he finds notes in his locker more often now, filled with half-conversations, replies to things Dell's talked about the night before and questions about the things he hadn't quite understood. Dell still plays guitar, little snatches of love songs, when he can remember them, and other songs, when he doesn't. They still hold hands, or lean shoulder-against-shoulder, when they leave the workshop at night to set up a campfire together, to watch the flames and the stars overhead. The stars never used to shine quite so big and bright away from home, but they've begun to. Still, there's more to life, more to a relationship, than stealing kisses from a man who lives inside a mask, and Dell wants more than anything to convince the man he doesn't need it, not all the time. He's not much good at words of love, though he does his awkward best, but he's not so bad at stealing kisses, not so bad at gentling touches. "I'd like to make love to you, sometime." He broaches the topic when they're out by the fire-- it means talking with the mask between them, but it also means Pyro's at ease, happy. There's a long pause, and after a while, he takes it as permission to continue. "Guess it doesn't have to be tonight, of course. Of course it doesn't have to be tonight... Know you're shy and all, but your face has never put me off. And I'd be sweet to you... want to be." It's the first time the Pyro's mask has come off anywhere but in the workshop. "Do you want to come--come to m-my room?" Dell nods, kissing him gently. "Meet you up there in a bit. I'll take care of the fire first, give you a little time to... think about what you want from me, maybe, I don't know." "Thanks." He smiles. "I don't really know either. I haven't been slow 'cause I don't want to. I do. I've always been..." He touches the scar that webs across his cheek and shrugs. "If you ever want to tell me the story behind it, I'll listen. If you never do..." Dell shrugs too. Gives the Pyro some time before he finally dumps a bucket of sand out over the fire, stirs it with a stick after a while to make sure the embers have all been smothered. Up in the base's private quarters, the areas that are never accessible during the heat of battle, he finds the Pyro's room. He knocks-- it seems the gentlemanly thing to do-- and he's granted entry. He still has his guitar. He'd had it down by the campfire, and he hadn't bothered to put it away anyplace. He plays a bit of 'Shine On, Harvest Moon', then a little Autry, a little Ink Spots, while the Pyro tries to relax. The mask is still off, the boots kicked under the bed, his harness hanging up, but everything else is still in place. Dell sets the guitar aside, peels away one glove, slowly. Pyro's left hand has old scars that lick across the back, the first knuckle of his index finger is painful looking, but most of the burn scar doesn't extend so far. The skin is smooth under his lips, the feel of scar tissue strange, but not bad. He even likes it, the silkiness so different from his own rough hands, coarse hair across the backs. Maybe kissing a lady's hand would be more like kissing skin this smooth, but he's never had luck with ladies or needed it. Dell really only wants luck with one man right now. Pyro lets him unzip the suit. His scars run up his arm to disappear into his undershirt, and when he shrugs out of that, Dell explores the way they wrap around his body, with his hands and his mouth. "No-- nobody's ever... nobody's ever touched me. Like this. Scars since I was-- I've never been--" "Sh-sh-sh... Honey, ain't nobody in this world ever looked better to me than you do right now, scars and all." He works the Pyro's long underwear down, strokes him gently. "Bout time someone loved you proper, and I'm happy to be the man for the job." The Pyro giggles. "Dunno. I guess. I'm happy you-- I'm happy... I'm happy." "Good." Dell looks serious for a moment, but not too serious, not too long, before the gentle smile is back. "There-- There's-- In the bathroom... um... I use it if I accidentally-- if I burn myself, but it's... it's real-really slick, and... If you wanted..." Pyro babbles, glancing towards the door to his private half-bath. It doesn't take Dell long to find what he was talking about. He does take his time opening the other man up, keeps on stroking and kissing and whispering anything he can think to say. Sex Dell has no problem with. In his mind's eye it's a series of simple engineering problems, and it's easy to see the solutions, to move just right, to position them just so for the maximum result from the minimum effort. Thinking through the base mechanics of it helps, too, when it comes to keeping his rational mind engaged and his libido burning low and slow. He manages to solve a completely unrelated problem just from trying not to come too fast. Finally, though, he brings the Pyro over the edge, and then he lets himself go, forgets eleven whole disciplines, forgets everything he ever knew about science, forgets everything he ever knew about anything, except the exact pattern of the Pyro's scars and how his body feels when it clenches and writhes. "Would you stay with me tonight?" The Pyro asks, as they pull themselves apart and clean up as best they can with a handful of tissues. He buries himself in his blankets, and Dell knows he means to hide the scars again, but he hasn't gone for his mask and he hasn't asked him to go-- done the opposite, hasn't he? Counts as progress, in his mind. "Wouldn't have it any other way, pardner." He kisses the other man's cheek, then slips under the covers himself. He'll have to wake early, to get back to his rollaway bed in the workshop before anyone else rises, but he'd rather wake up early than sneak out right after, rather wake up early any day of the week. "I love you." "I believe you." The Pyro sighs. It's exactly what Dell hoped to hear.