Sidewalk - A TF2 Fic

The scent of burning wood curled through the crisp autumn air, and up the Scout's nose. His hands deep in the pockets of his sweatshirt, he smiled contentedly. Sneakers pattered softly on the Teufort sidewalk with his long strides. Fall was always his favourite time of year. The lower humidity, the clear, crisp days leading into earlier evenings, and of course, the cooler weather.

Cooler was relative, of course. New Mexico was certainly a change from Boston's chilly October nights, but this month had been unseasonably cold for the desert town, enough so to warrant dragging out his beloved hooded sweatshirt, at least. Taking another deep breath, Scout thought of his favourite part of the season. He loved the food. Apples, cider, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, pumpkin roll, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin everything. He'd even taken to putting cinnamon, cloves, and ground ginger in his coffee in the mornings, just to get a taste of that pumpkin spice he loved so. Sniper had made a rather horrified face at the younger man defacing the coffee in such a way, and guarded the thick black mud he called a beverage closely after that, almost as if he were afraid Scout would taint his sludge with the dreaded spices if he looked away for a moment.

Sniper was very, very odd sometimes. Medic had expressed a similar appreciation for flavoured coffee, but confessed he preferred hazelnut. The conversation derailed from there, particularly after Soldier burned the homefries for the second morning in a row.

The breakfast table seemed years away now, as Scout milled around in his own head, his long legs taking great strides down the walk. A soft breeze blew, showering him with leaves, making the young man stop to catch a rather large one before it smacked him in the face.

"Scout! Boy, what don't you get about, 'wait up', doggone it?"

Wheeling around on his heels, Scout was broken from his reverie by the frustrated cries of the Engineer, hustling down the sidewalk to catch up, a look of annoyance on his unshaven face. "Oh, sorry, Engie, I didn't hear ya."

"You need to get yer ears checked, then, 'cause I've been hollerin' at you for half a dang mile," Engineer groused, finally catching up, puffing a bit. His breath rolled out, coalescing into little clouds and fading away quickly in the cool air. "Just 'cause you've got legs up to your armpits, don't mean you gotta walk so dang fast. Not all of us keep our noggins in the stratosphere, boy."

"Yeah yeah, short stack, I get it, slow the pace. Not my fault you're such a midget," Scout said with a chuckle, his mouth pulling into a smirk as Engie swatted at him with the toque he was wearing.

"Respect your elders, you little shit," Engineer shot back, that lazy grin of his creeping across his face.

"You ain't that old. You're just a pussy."

A mischievous glint flashed in Engineer's eyes, and he spoke as if to dare Scout. "Then that would explain why you wanna stick your dick in me so badly."

Scout's eyes narrowed in confusion as his mouth opened slack. A moment, and all he could muster was, "Wait, did you just call me straight and gay at the same time?"

Engineer's face was a mask of complete neutrality. "Maybe."

Long moments passed. The wind blew some leaves around their feet. Across the street, a child cried out in anguish of defeat, a game of marbles lost. A bell jingled as a young woman walked into a nearby shop.

Finally, Engineer's face cracked into a smirk, and Scout broke down laughing. "You are fucked up, you know that? Wicked fucked up, man. You come off a such a nice good ol' boy," Scout mimicked Engineer's soft Texan drawl as he said the well-worn phrase, "but you are just as fucked as the rest of us."

Engineer removed his hat again and held it to his chest, looking hurt. "Boy, you do me harm." A beat. "There is no way I am more fucked up than Demo." The grin returned.