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The station – and there was no other word for it because the gigantic building with its five sleeping rooms that each housed four sleepingmats, the common room and the huge garden/ hang out area outside couldn’t be called anything else – was awesome. Blackout had never thought that his new home would be so amazingly comfortable. Not to mention that the park was nothing short of beautiful with its intense and diverse natural sights. He was proud that he would be a part of the team that got to protect it.
No. I am part of this team.
He had quite literally just got here but it had been such a warm welcome that he was already feeling at home and included. The team was quite large if you counted everybody in – 26 in total. The Hotshots alone were 19 together with him. Had they been a single crew, like most Hotshots, they’d actually be down one member according to the average team size but they were an integrated part of a fire fighting crew with multiple divisions that worked closely together. In those kinds of teams, a single division usually had ten people at most and that was already pushing it. As far as he understood this unspoken rule was to prevent chaos, especially in the cross-division communications but so far the Piston Peak Air Attack team seemed to have no such problems. It also meant that he didn’t have to acclimate to having so few people of his own profession around - which he had of course been prepared to do but it was still nice to have such a large crew.
Of course, there were technically only 9 Hotshots together with him, the other ten officially having trained as Smokejumpers but Blackout had soon realized that the crew was knitted together way too closely to be all too keen on going into the danger zone separately unless they had to, so most of the time the Jumpers remained Hotshots together with them.
They’re a crazy bunch. I guess you kinda have to be if you’re doing this kind of job. I think I’ll fit right in here.
As if having read his thoughts, he was suddenly boxed in by Michgal and Ornat, who wore matching smiles that Blackout was beginning to think they never dropped.
“Hey, new Kid. Good to see that there’s finally another Hotshot applying. For the last three years, it’s only ever been Jumpers.”
“And you can bet that the next one’s gonna be a Jumper too. We’re like honey to the bees for them, they just can’t seem to resist us…”
Ornat snorted, giving Blackout a bat on his back.
“And another saw-car too! We’re finally level with the Jumpers!”
“Ready to take on the fight for which saw crew’s the best, Kid?”
Blackout laughed, unable to keep the amused smile from his face at the friendly rivalry. He knew that it was a game, it was actually quite common. And fun to participate in. He was already looking forward to his first fire here when he would be able to prove himself. His old crew hadn’t been called upon that often, mostly due to the fact that he had chosen to stay in Germany with his sister after completing his training to help support her and her newly born child. Only that Germany didn’t really have Hotshots. Or wildfires at that. At least nothing like they did over here. The biggest thing that had happened during his time there was that the military had accidentally set a swamp on fire through rocket tests. Of all things… And the only reason that that fire had even gotten close to big like most wildfires were here was that the firefighters had not been prepared, essential equipment had broken down and the backups had been too far away and unable to be transported to the scene. Because of that and a series of other ‘mishaps’ the fire had been going on for over a month, destroying a precious nature reserve and by the time it was finally over, really, it was all just a very embarrassing disaster. Not too long after that catastrophe, their chief had decided that it was too expensive to keep them running since he had been doing it out of his own pocket for a hobby and the crew had been disbanded. His sister had found a good job by then and so Blackout had decided to go back and apply to a station back here.
And I got the best of them all.
Before he could lose himself in his memories, the speakers suddenly crackled to life, blasting a “Talk dirty to me” remix at them with a volume that should be prohibited. Michgal and Ornat immediately burst out laughing.
“Er…”, Blackout intelligently commented.
“Just wait and see. This is gonna be good…”
Before Blackout could ask what was going on Jurigan sped out of the station with a speed that Blackout wouldn’t have thought possible for the car, a deep blush on his face, followed by a very flustered looking Burell, a smirking Linnt and a very smug looking Licroy.
“Hey Linnt? What did you do this time to get him into your guys’ sleepingmat?”
Burrell blushed hard, quickly hiding behind his two partners while Linnt burst out laughing and Licroy’s grin widened.
“Tried to give him a lapdance. Didn’t work out that well. Do you guys have any ideas? Should we skip the banging and try to get him to come on a date with us?”
“I wanted to do that from the very beginning!”
Burrel piped up, leveling Linnt and Licroy with a somewhat fond glare.
“Yes honey, and we agreed that it would be safer for crew morale if we tried the other thing first. Wouldn’t put as much of a dent into team relationships if he just rejected a casual fling.”
“Did it ever cross your mind that maybe he’s rejecting you because he thinks it’s just a casual fling?”
The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them, instantly causing Blackout to blush hard. Idiot! This is none of your business, keep the heck out of it! You’ve barely known these people for a day! Only that none of them seemed to mind. Quite the contrary, the twins actually gave him two smacks on the shoulder, all the while laughing their cores out as the love trio looked equally torn between being surprised and delighted.
“Oh yes, why didn’t we think of this before?”
“Oh, I don’t know… Certainly not because of a certain someone that was afraid of being hurt and refused to open his mouth about the subject even to us. Nope, no idea how the thought never came up.”
This time it was a real glare that Burrell shot Licroy, the skid-steer digger shrugging before leaning in and kissing the frown from Burrell’s face.
“Sweetcore, as far as I recall, we’re all emotionally invested in this.”
“Is that so?”
All six mechanisms present yelped at the sudden appearance of Hala and Steede, looking like they couldn’t decide whether they should be mad, amused, or exasperated. Blackout began getting the feeling that he had just stumbled into a relationship-in-the-making that had been going on forever, at least according to the exasperated sigh that came from Steede as he leveled the trio with a firm stare.
“Well, maybe you should tell our darling Captain that because last time I checked, he prepared a speech for your guys’ wedding.”
“Wedding? We’re not engaged! Yet…”
“Oh. About that…”
At the new voice, everybody turned around to stare at Liore who had just come out of the building, apparently having heard the last bit.
“Yeah, that one may be on me. I kinda possibly might have told him I saw the three of you exchanging that promise during that bonfire party a while back.”
“YOU WHAT?!”
“Look, I’m sorry! I was drunk, it was a joke. How was I supposed to know the three of you wanted to court him? You looked pretty content with your triangle.”
At that, Hala full out smacked Liore on the head.
“Do you have eyes? They’ve been pining over him before they even got together.”
Blackout was beginning to feel a little dizzy. Well, at least they’re emotionally invested in each other. That’s a good thing… I think. But nothing for me, at least not before I properly get to know them. He was pretty sure that the Hotshots and single Jumper had simply forgotten that he was there. I don’t blame them. I’m new and that problem seems pretty complicated.
Making sure not to disturb them, Blackout quietly pulled away and made his way over towards the forest, intending to go on a small drive to clear his mind a little. He only remembered that Jurigan had stormed off into this direction when he nearly bumped into him as he rounded a particularly big tree and found the older car sitting on the ground with a sad look in his eyes. At his arrival he startled, jumping up for a second before realizing who it was and slumping back down to the ground.
“Oh, it’s you… Wait, no, that came out wrong! Sorry, I just…”
He broke off and Blackout was beginning to understand just how deep this whole thing really seemed to run. While Burrell, Linnt and Licroy seemed to have the entire Hotshots to talk to and to back them - and by the way he’d seen the team interact, probably most if not all of the Jumpers as well- Jurigan seemed to have no such support on his side of the story. Maybe because he’s the captain? Only that so far that fact hadn’t seemed that important in the teams’ interactions as far as he had gathered. Before he really knew what he was doing, he sat down beside him, eyes on the treetops shifting in the wind and offering as much quiet support as he could. Jurigan actually seemed to relax a little, eyes following Blackout’s and watching the light play with the trees.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
At that, he received a disbelieving look from the car next to him.
“You’d really listen to a fool that you barely know lament over a hopeless love?”
“Didn’t seem so hopeless to me…”
Jurigan’s eyes widened a little before a sad smile crossed his face.
“What makes you think that? They’re flirtatious, all three of them. They may seem like they care but I know that anything outside of them doesn’t hold their attention, not like that. I’ve known them long enough to pick at least that much up.”
Blackout shook his head, worried for a moment that he was overstepping his boundaries and then throwing all caution overboard. He wanted to help.
“You’re wrong. I may not know them well but I spent at least ten minutes just now, listening to them moping and getting chewed out by Hala and Steede for making it seem like they were toying with you. At least I think that’s what they were scolding them for… Anyway, the point is, I think you should go talk to them. Maybe you four all have the same problem. Maybe they think you’re off limits too.”
Before he was finished he already felt stupid. He wasn’t exactly an expert when it came to relationships, the only one he’d ever been in being a childhood crush. But at the way that Jurigan’s eyes were shining with the smallest bit of hope, if only for a second before he managed to mask it with professionalism, was well worth the awkward silence that followed his statement. After a few seconds Jurigan awkwardly cleared his throat, getting up and heading back towards the station.
“Well, even though this was way too personal, considering that we only just met – and sorry for dragging you into our emotional drama on the first day by the way – You’re a good listener. Stay like that. We have way too many talkers around here and way too few who actually listen. Kinda causes some trouble. Anyway, thank you. I hope we didn’t scare you off now.”
He half laughed, breaking into an honest smile when Blackout shook his head. Before they reached the station though, the speakers crackled to life again. This time it was Finx.
“Hotshots, we got a radio from the ground crew at the Lodge. They’re asking for your help in clearing the area from trees and bush to make it a little safer.”
Jurigan’s demeanor instantly changed, shifting into the professional manner of a captain.
“Okay, listen up team. This may not be a fire but we all know that that place has been left unattended way too long. Looks like we finally got the permission to do something about it so let’s take our chance before they change their mind again.”
The crew, which had instantly gathered outside as soon as Finx had started the announcement, broke out into cheers. At Blackout’s questioning look Hala explained.
“We’ve been wanting to do something about that for years. That thing’s a total fire hazard but whoever idiot owns it prohibited us from entering the premises.”
“Ah. Alright.”
The drive down to the Lodge was fun. Blackout already felt like he had been a part of this crew for a long time, making the conversation flow easily and the whole ride quite enjoyable. He could even laugh at the small jokes at his expanse that were customary for new team members. He was beginning to feel like maybe it hadn’t been such a bad thing that he had been drawn into their relationship dramas before even properly learning all their names. After all, if that was pretty much the first thing you learned of someone it was impossible to see them as strangers anymore. Upon reaching the Lodge, Jurigan divided the crew into frame type-specific divisions to make sure the work got done efficiently. Blackout was assigned to cutting down some of the trees closer to the Lodge and make sure they were cut into transportable chunks for the skid-steer claws to take them later.
Alright. First job on the new team. Better do it right.
As he made his way over he realized that most of the trees were completely covered in moss, making it impossible to see their bark or any part of the actual tree. Not thinking anything of it, he unsheathed his saw and got to work on the first tree, making to cut through the moss first. The moment the blade touched the greenery though, he felt a burning sensation that started from his saw and rapidly forced its way through his entire body, forcing a pained scream from his lips as he momentarily felt like he was being torn apart. Before he could cry out for help though, he felt the world going out of focus as everything went black.
a
When he came to, it was to hushed voices whispering somewhere nearby. He didn’t try to make out who it was or what they were saying. His body ached way too much for that and he really just wanted to go back and sleep for a day. Or longer. Chrysler didn’t seem to be on his side though. Just as he was about to drift back off to sleep, one of the voices seemed to notice that he was awake, immediately rushing over and effectively pulling him back into the world of the living.
“There you are…”
For a moment, Blackout had no idea where he was. His memory was all fuzzy and he had no idea how he got wherever he currently was. From the looks of it, it was a garage, making the forklift in front of him probably a mechanic. Mechanic… Maru!
“Easy… Stay calm, everything is alright. You got a pretty high dose of electricity. You cut right through one of the main supply wires to the Lodge… The whole place went dead when you did it. Must have been a pretty strong jolt too, it wouldn’t have knocked you out otherwise. How are you feeling?”
“Like I got hit by lighting.”
Maru snorted, giving him a can with a special blend of mechanical oil.
“Well, if you can joke about it, it can’t be too bad. Good for you. You gave all of us quite a scare there.”
The drink actually made him feel a little better. Blackout suspected it had some sort of painkillers in it.
“Yeah, sorry for almost dying on my first day.”
“Oh, don’t give yourself too much credit. You weren’t even half as close to that as you think. Believe me, I’ve seen much worse. Especially with this crazy bunch. I’m actually surprised this never happened to any of them so far…”
Blackout actually had to laugh at that. That little piece of information seemed to fit right into his first impressions of his new team.
What a day. And what a team… I think this will take some getting used to.
But deep down, he had already closed all of them in his core, antics and joking and everything else included.
“Alright, as soon as you finished that oil you’re good to go. Just make sure you take it easy for a day and get some rest. And promise me to be a little more careful next time. You nearly gave Jurigan a coreattack. He hauled you in here with tears in his eyes, hardly ever saw that before unless it was one of our chaos trio. Looks like you left quite the impression. That’s great.”
Blackout nodded, head still swirling as he finished his drink. It was all a little much to take in, especially for a first day. I gues it’s safe to say that this was one of the more exciting days of my life… Taking a few moments to get the strength to stand up, he slowly began rolling towards the door, still a bit wobbly on his tires. Maru accompanied him until he was at the door where Jurigan stood, a worried expression on his face as he allowed Blackout to lean onto him and slowly guided him back to the station.
“Hey. You feeling alright?”
“Yeah. Sorry for giving all of you a scare.”
Jurigan laughed, if a bit shakily, pulling Blackout in a little tighter.
“Nah, don’t worry about it. Kinda comes with the job.”
In his tired, dazed state, Blackout smiled at that remark. At that moment he could see the captain in him, more than he had throughout the entire day. It felt comforting to have him there, like a strong force that would keep him safe should he need it. He was starting to feel a little of that connection that he knew the entire crew shared.
“I’ll still do my best to be more careful. Just because we subject ourselves to the risk doesn’t mean we shouldn’t actively try to avoid it.”
Jurigan gave him a wry smile, rubbing his side in a comforting gesture and continuing on with their way.
“I wish everybody saw it like that. Some of us tend to forget it. I guess after a while in the job you start to feel invincible.”
Blackout nodded, returning the nuzzle, if a bit more hesitant. Maybe we can be friends once we know each other a little better. I think I’d like that.
“Well, I’m glad you’re okay. Make sure to get enough rest. I’ll keep the crazy bunch off your back.”
Blackout nodded, allowing his gratitude to show freely. After everything that had happened, he was feeling dead tired. When they reached the station he tried his best to wave off the concerned looks and questions of the crew, mentally thanking Jurigan for stepping in and ordering them to give him some space as he quickly made his way to his room. The room was empty when he entered it and deep down he was too tired to care who his roommates were. He just hoped that they weren’t going to wake him up the next morning. He really needed the rest. He still had half a mind to notice that he had a spectacular view of the sunset out of the room’s window but was too tired to register much more than that. And the moment his head touched his sleeping mat, he was out cold.