They arrived at the beach not too long after that. It was a lake about 45 minutes from Teufort. The gang spilled out of the vehicle and went in varying directions, Scout not really paying attention. He only noticed Miss Pauling walk over to the food and bar area. She immediately struck up a conversation with the bartendender and got a drink. Scout smiled.
"Hey, Scout, wanna come hang out with me and Pyro?" Engineer asked, Pyro still loading his things out of the van.
Scout glanced at Sniper. He nodded, not even needing Scout to ask. "Sure, is it alright is Sniper tags along?" Scout asked.
"Of course! The more the merrier!" Engineer said. The four of them headed off to find a nice spot on the beach.
They settled on an area close to the bar to keep near Miss Pauling but enough out on the beach to look normal. They were also fairly secluded and away from the public crowds, which were mostly down the beach a ways. Only a few families lingered down here.
They all set their chairs down and Scout pushed the umbrella into the ground. Pyro was already up out of his seat, running to fill his pail with wet sand. As he came back he started packing the sand together to build a sand castle.
Scout began lathering on a generous amount of sunscreen. "Whoa there, mate. Ya got enough of that?" Sniper said from his chair, half grinning.
Scout glared at him. "If I don't, I will fry like an egg," He explained.
Sniper laughed. "Alright, whatever you say.
Once he was finished, Scout leaned back in his chair. "So now what?" Scout asked.
Sniper shrugged. "You could swim, but if you want that sunscreen to work you'll have to wait about twenty minutes."
Engineer piped in, "Scout can barely sit still for five," He teased.
Sniper chuckled. Scout glared at them. "Psssh, I'll just sit here and chill. Watch me," Scout said, easing back into his seat. Sniper and Engie glanced at each other with a skeptical look but neither say anything. It was especially easy for Sniper to just sit back and relax, that's what being a sniper was. Sitting, and waiting.
But after nearly two minutes, Scout was bored out of his mind. He wiggled around in his chair, not being able to find a comfortable position. He watched as Pyro continued to build up his sandcastle. He just got the first four walls done. Engineer calmly watched the water, while taking note of Pyro every once in awhile. And Scout couldn't quite tell what Sniper was looking at under his sunglasses.
Scout only managed to squirm around for another few minutes before he sighed. "I'm so bored," He whined.
Engineer chuckled, "I told you he couldn't last,"
Sniper laughed, nodding. "Well, you wanna head to the restrooms with me? I'm gonna change into swim trunks."
Scout nodded, thankful to get up. They walked over to the restrooms, which were right beside the area and food area. Scout, who was already changed into swimwear, decided to go check up on Miss Pauling.
She was sat at the bar, alone, talking to the bartender. She was a women, looking about Miss Pauling's age. She had long, dark blonde hair pulled back into a messy bun and wore a grey tank top with simple shorts.
She laughed at something Miss Pauling said before she had to tend to other costumes. Scout strolled up and sat beside Miss Pauling. "Hey," he said.
"Hey, Scout," Miss Pauling said brightly.
"How's it going?" He asked, though her gave her a look that meant more.
She leaned in. "The targets secure, i'm just looking for my opportunity," She whispered. Scout nodded. She spoke up, back to normal, cheery voice, "Its great! What about you?"
"It's good, me and Sniper are going to hit the water," Scout said.
Miss Pauling smiled. "I'm glad that everyone wasn't too mad I dragged you all along. I thought it would be dumb but I didn't know if his...friends...would be here." She said.
Scout winked. "I gotcha. Nah, it's great. I haven't been to a beach in a long time, it's nice to spend a day here."
Miss Pauling smiled, taking a sip of her drink. There was another empty glass next to her new one, and Scout wondered how fast she drank that. Surely she was already feeling the effects. So he tried something new. "Hitting it off with the bartender?" He asked in a lower voice, nodding his head in the women's direction.
Miss Pauling flushed and smiled. "Maybe. Just don't work your charm on her or I'll never get a chance," She joked.
"Alright," Scout laughed. He leaned in, suddenly serious, "But really, Miss Pauling, thank you,"
She raised an eyebrow, "For what?"
Scout grinned. "I'm a lot like you, in certain ways." He said, winking.
Miss Pauling looked confused for another moment before it dawned on her. "Oh!" She exclaimed. He grinned.
"Hey, Scout," Called a voice from behind. Scout turned around to see Sniper standing there.
Shirtless.
Scout turned back, giving Miss Pauling a panicked look and she stifled a laugh. "Good luck," She said.
Scout took a breath. He took in Sniper all at once. He still had massive scars from when Medic brought him back from the dead in Australia, but even with the scars he still looked fucking amazing to Scout. His body was perfect. Scout flushed, averting his eyes and walking over to him, "Hey, you ready?"
Sniper nodded, "Yeah, sorry, the line was a bit long," He said.
"It's alright, I was just talking to Miss Pauling. She said she's got the guy and probably won't need us since he's alone," Scout explained.
Sniper nodded. "That's alright, I love the beach. Used to hang out there all the time when I was younger,"
"Back in Australia?" Scout asked, looking up at him. Up until then the conversation was distracting him enough to not let his eyes wander again. Scout didn't want to make it awkward.
"Yeah, used to go with people from school. I'd always go off and swim by myself though," Sniper said.
Scout nodded. "I didn't go to beach that often back in Boston, but when I did I always loved it. It was a lot of fun with me and 7 older brothers." He said.
They continued walking in a comfortable silence until they reached the water. Sniper smiled, walking in despite the temperature. The water was cold, but not too cold. Just a bit shocking at first.
Scout followed in after him. They walked out fairly far until the water was at their waist. Then Sniper dived right in, taking Scout by surprise. And splashing him.
Sniper came up for air, smoothing his hair back off his face. Scout had to admit, his body looked even better with the water glistening on his skin. Scout turned red at the thought, and decided it was his turn to go under, to avoid Sniper seeing him.
The water felt cold as it consumed Scout momentarily. But it was peaceful. It cleared his mind. But his lung began to beg for oxygen again and Scout was forced to come up for air.
"Feels good, mate?" Sniper asked.
Scout grinned. "Yeah, yeah it does,"
They swam out even farther, so the water was up to their shoulders. "This is great, i'm so happy we came," Sniper exclaimed.
Scout smiled, "Me too," He said.
***
They swam for a while until both decided it was getting boring. But it must've been nearly two hours that they spent in the lake. After they swam back up to shore they decided to dry off and sit down for a bit with Engineer and Pyro.
Upon reaching their area, Scout noticed Pyro's sand castle was complete and it looked pretty good. But even wilder, Pyro had taken of his gas mask.
It wasn't something that happened very often. Scout couldn't remember exactly what his face looked like under that mask since the last time he saw was so long ago. But the second Pyro turned his head to see who was coming, all of the lost memories of his face were filled in. Scout made a mental note to focus on his face.
In short, Pyro looked young, like Scout. He didn't have and facial hair, giving him a "baby face". He had messy fire red hair and emerald green eyes. Pyro's face lit up when he saw Scout and Sniper. "Hey, Py," Scout said. He waved back in response.
"Nice sand castle, mate," Sniper said.
"Thanks," Pyro replied.
As Scout walked over to his chair he noticed Pyro's legs were covered in sand. "What're ya doing?" Scout asked.
Pyro shrugged. "Burying myself in sand," He replied nonchalantly. Scout smiled. Typical Pyro.
He glanced over at Engineer who was napping in his chair under the shade of the umbrella. Scout sat back in his chair as well and for the first time he let himself relax.
It wasn't until later that Scout and Sniper had found themselves walking together along the shoreline. They only had about an hour until they were told to meet back up with everyone to go home, but Sniper wanted to look for cool seashells and rocks. It made Scout smile. They walked side by side as the tide steadily crashed against the sand.
Scout found his eyes drifting over to Sniper and his mind wandering as they walked in a comfortable silence.
"I see you looking over there," Sniper eventually said, glancing sideways at Scout, smirking.
Scout turned red and focused his gaze on his feet instead. Goddammit he caught me. "Ah, s-sorry," He stuttered, not knowing what to say.
Sniper smiled to himself. He suddenly interlocked Scouts hand with his. Scout looked up in surprise, but Sniper was gazing at the waves, probably avoiding eye contact. Scout smiled and blushed. He didn't want to put much thought into it now, knowing he could think about it later.
They stayed like that for a long time, walking, holding hands, until they had to turn around and walk back to the rest of the crew.