The music was playing fairly loudly, it was some band Scout liked. He was singing loudly overtop of the music and out of key. Not that he cared. He was only in his room, cleaning up since the room had become quite messy in the past few weeks.
Scout was dancing too, if you'd even call it that. He was just kind of swaying his hips back and forth and doing dramatic hand gestures. He kept singing loudly to himself in his bedroom, folding clothes and making a pile of dirty ones in a basket.
He continued on like that for a while until he heard a soft chuckle behind him. Scout whipped around to see who it was.
Sniper laughed. He was leaning against the door frame, hands in his pockets.
Scout flushed, crossing his arms over his chest. "How long have you been standing there?" He asked, somewhere between exasperated and horrified.
Sniper shurgged. "A song or two," He replied.
Scout glared at him and walked over to the record player and turned the volume down. He resumed his stance of crossed arms.
Sniper laughed again, and crossed the room over to him, shutting the door behind himself. He stood in front of Scout, who avoided his gaze.
Sniper put his hands on Scout's waist, holding him closely. "I thought you looked cute when you were singing and dancing," Sniper said in a low voice.
Scout reddened, "Thanks, I guess? I mean, that wasn't my quality singing or dancing," He joked.
"Mm, you'll have to show it to me sometime then," Sniper replied with a grin.
Scout rolled his eyes. "Gladly,"
A slower paced song began to play, which made both Scout and Sniper chuckle. Sniper swayed slightly, with his hands on Scouts waist still, to the beat of the song, flushing. Scout flushed too, and put his hands on Sniper's shoulders
They slow danced to the rest of the song, with flushed faces and lovesick grins. It made Scout heart beat faster, in a good way.
The song eventually ended, and Sniper let his arms dangle at his sides. Scout cupped Sniper's face with his hands and pulled his down to his level and kissed him. Sniper generously accepted, and they went at it until Scout was out of air and came back panting. He smirked at Sniper, who only blushed in return.
"You're a good dancer," Scout said, flushing.
Sniper smirked at him. "You're a good kisser," He replied.
Scout blushed. "Sniper," He gasped sarcastically, "are you flirting with me?"
Sniper laughed. "Maybe," He said. The upturn in his voice made it clear he was.
"Ah, well, at least i'm not a bad kisser, that'd be shame," Scout remarked.
Sniper snorted, "Sure would,"
***
Scout found himself leaning against the window of the shooting range with his art supplies scattered around. He was sketching something in his drawing journal while Sniper practiced with a new gun that Miss Pauling had supplied him with.
He wasn't doing that good. Well, he was going pretty fucking amazing in Scout's eyes, but to Sniper it's wasn't good enough. He sighed, reloading, and going again.
It was hard for Scout to draw, to focus, with the noise of the gunshot. It was unpredictable and still made him jump. And too top things off, Scout was still fairly exhausted, despite being able to sleep in.
He continued his doodles, nervously glancing at Sniper as he did so. Scout was drawing him, of course. He knew it was risky and that Sniper would probably ask him eventually what he was drawing, but he didn't care. He really wanted to be able to capture all the fine details of Sniper.
The drawing was one of Sniper, in a more cartoonish way. He was focused on something off in the distance, with a slight smile on his face. Bits of his hair were peaking out from beneath his hat. He looked absolutely adorable, to Scout at least.
"Man, I wish I looked that good," Sniper remarked.
Scout jumped from the sound of Sniper's voice right behind him. He whipped around, clutching his sketchbook to his chest. "Y-you weren't supposed to see that!" Scout yelled, blushing.
Sniper looked down at him, grinning. He walked over and sat across from Scout. "I'm sorry I looked, I was just really curious." He said, talking one of Scout's hands in his.
Scout shrugged. "It's fine, I just, I figured you'd think it was weird, or bad–"
"No way that was sooooooo good!" Sniper said, looking at him intently. His eyes sparked when he talked, another detail Scout noticed.
Scout flushed. "Heh, thanks," He said, smiling.
"What else have you drawn?" Sniper asked.
Scout thought for a moment. "Oh, um, well I drew all of us here at the base, I've drawn my favorite fictional characters, I've drawn some scenery stuff, anything really,"
"You'll have to show me more sometime," Sniper remarked.
Scout shrugged, "I mean, if you wanted,"
Sniper smiled and nodded. "'Course I do, I love seeing what you draw," Sniper said
Scout flushed, "O-okay," He remarked, closing his journal nervously.
"Read to head back?" Sniper asked, standing up.
Scout nodded, "yeah, yeah let's go," He said, getting up and following Sniper back.
Scout had woken up screaming again. He sat up in his bedroom in the darkness, breaking quickly and heavily. He glanced at the alarm clock. 2:03 am. He would've sighed if he could've caught his breath. His heart was beating so quickly it felt as if it were about to pop out of his chest.
Scout laid back down, trying to go back to bed. Half an hour passed by with Scout tossing and turning. He knew he wouldn't be able to get to bed but he just went to bed a few hours ago, he'd feel dead tomorrow.
A thought entered Scout's mind but he dismissed it instantly. I can't bug Sniper, he's probably asleep.
Scout sat up for another five minutes, turning the idea over and over in his head. Sniper wouldn't want him to deal with this alone, but he'd probably be a bother.
But Sniper cares about you! You wouldn't be a bother! A small voice echoed in his brain.
And Scout held onto that voice, he got up, threw a few things into a bag for tomorrow and quietly opened his door. Scout tiptoed down the creaky stairs and slipped out the back patio door.
He shivered in the cold air all the way to Sniper's van. All the lights were out, of course, and only the full moon lit the way for Scout.
Once he reached the van, he walked up to the door. Scout stopped and was suddenly overcome with anxiety again. Such a bother, it's almost 3 am. He almost turned away.
But before he could think better of it, he knocked. It took a lot of effort, but Scout forced himself to knock hard on Sniper's door. There was no response.
Scout knocked again. This time there was a groan and then some angry muttering and then some shuffling.
"What the hell– Oh, Scout, what's up?" Sniper asked, yawning, leaning against the door frame.
Scout suddenly felt stupid. What was he going to say? Sorry to wake you, I had a nightmare and i'm apparently a child that needs someone to comfort them afterwards. "I...." Scouts voice trailed off.
Sniper waved a hand to dismiss whatever he was going to say and stepped aside to let him in. Scout let out a sigh of relief, and walked in. He threw his bag down on the couch.
Sniper leaned against the counter. "What is it now?" He asked.
"I..um....had a nightmare....and couldn't fall back asleep...." Scout mumbled. He hoped Sniper would understand.
Without missing a beat, Sniper replied, "Oh, okay. You can crash here if you need too," Sniper offered.
Scout nodded. He looked at Sniper, and then at the bed. Sniper chuckled and crawled in bed, and Scout got in after him.
Sniper held Scout in a comforting way. Although he never liked to talk about it, Sniper could guess that these nightmares were much worse than Scout admitted, and much more frequent than he admitted. He never liked to ask for help, especially about being scared. But Sniper was happy to be there for him, hold him at 3am when he was shaking.
"Sniper?" Scout asked in the darkness.
Sniper was smoothing his hair, petting him in a sense. His other arm wrapped around Scout's body, holding him close. "Mhm?" He asked.
"I...I'm scared," Scout admitted. His voice was just above a whisper. He seemed embarrassed by this.
"It's okay, i'm here now. You won't have any bad dreams," Sniper promised.
"Okay," Scout said warily.
"Promise, I'll wake you up if you do," He said.
That seemed to reassure him. "Okay," a pause. "And Sniper?"
"Yeah?"
"...Thank you," Scout said. Sniper didn't have to ask, but he knew that was Scout's was of saying I love you.
"It's what i'm here for," Sniper said.
Scout nodded and his eyes fluttered closed. Sniper continued running his fingers through Scout's hair, as it seemed to calm him. Eventually Sniper felt his breathing even out and he knew that he had fallen asleep. Sniper let himself sync with Scout's breathing and eventually followed him down the path of rest.
A/N: again, sorry it took so long!
thank u for reading!