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they’re in brazil, somewhere on the northern coast. the omnium has stopped sending out kaiju, and started sending out strike bots, so they’re in their tents, camped out and waiting for the next sign of attack.
two to a tent. liao stays with ana, reinhardt with torbjorn, and gabriel with jack, obviously.
it’s late july, so it’s horrible and humid, even at 2am. there’s a dehumidifying fan, portable, absolutely useless. gabriel sits on the bed mat and glares at it.
“being angry will just make you hotter,” jack tells him. he’s lying face down on the mat, occasionally spritzing water over himself with a spray bottle.
gabriel thinks its ridiculous and pointless. “your opinion of my hotness is irrelevant.”
“not what i meant.” jack sprays him with the bottle; it’s cool for about two seconds before he just feels sweaty again. “at least try to get some sleep. maybe the bots will take pity on us and attack alaska next.”
“you know i fucking hate the cold.” gabriel flops back onto the mat, head landing on jack’s leg. he gets an annoyed grunt for it. “but this isn’t heat, it’s punishment.”
“that’s stupid.” jack says it with immense fondness. “you’re stupid.”
“not as much as you.” gabriel pauses, smiling. “you ever wonder how long we’ll be doing this?”
“what, insulting each other?” jack sprays himself again, and some lands on gabriel’s face. “‘til we die.”
“i meant the horrible camping out to risk our lives against robots,” gabriel says, wiping his face. “can’t insult each other forever if we’re dead.”
“i’d come all the way from hell to haunt you in heaven, i promise.”
gabriel snorts. “love how you think either of us are getting into heaven. you don’t even believe in an afterlife.”
“you do,” jack shrugs, putting the bottle down on the ground. “good enough for me.”
“i don’t- well, not like… well, you know.” gabriel turns onto his side, looks up at the back of jack’s head. “it’s complicated.”
“i know.” jack’s been in his head, of course he does. “i don’t think we’ll be doing this forever, by the way. it’s been what, five years? history dictates it won’t go on that much longer.”
“that is the stupidest thing you’ve ever said.” gabriel elbows him in the side. “holy shit.”
“ow. call it optimism.” jack turns over himself, kneeing gabriel off his legs. “really, though, i don’t know. there’s a lot of bots, but we’ve always won.”
“not everyone has.” gabriel thinks of the pairs that have gone out to sea and come back in pieces, or not at all. “not everyone’s so lucky.”
“you think it’s luck?” jack’s eyes shift to him from the roof, intensely curious. “you don’t just think we’re that good?”
“has to be some luck.” gabriel shuffles up the mat, finally letting himself rest on his pillow. “love can’t conquer all.”
jack goes a little pink. “ah, that’s not true. and also gay.”
“you’re gay,” a practiced response. “i don’t think perfect sync means everything, you know? they keep adapting. so we have some measure of luck, cause otherwise they’d have caught us off guard by now.”
“mmm, fair.” jack lets his hand fall back onto gabriel’s, probably the most contact he can stand in the heat. “if we do get caught off guard, then, i’d rather be with you.”
“that’s sweet.” a beat. “wonder what it’s like to die in the drift.”
“jesus christ, gabe.” jack laughs. “that’s morbid.”
“well, it could happen!” gabriel elbows him again, more gently this time. “at least you’ll be able to insult me one last time as we get eaten by a giant monster robot.”
“as if you’d ever let me get the last word.” jack frowns. “or thought? whatever.”
not on your life, gabriel thinks at him.
jack laughs, softly. “you tell ana about that yet?”
“nah.” he links his fingers with jack’s. “feels a bit too private, still. i’m sure she has an inkling anyway.”
“probably. too sharp for her own good.” jack chuckles a little. “it’s nice. still prefer actually talking, most of the time. and i like your voice.”
“aw.” gabriel grins. “yours is tolerable too, i guess.”
jack rolls his eyes.
they lie like that for a while, not quite getting to sleep, but not awake, either. gabriel has always found it hard to sleep without a blanket, an impossibility in this heat. he realizes he’s still awake at some point, and opens his eyes - it’s still dark. they’re due to be up and about for 6, so he resigns himself to less than ideal sleep. at least he can go a day or two without and be alright.
it’s a little cooler - maybe the fan is working properly, but he no longer feels like he’s going to melt out of his own skin, so he shifts a little closer to jack. there is a soft feeling of warmth and comfort as he does, not his own. jack turns to him, snakes one arm around his waist, and smiles just a little, still trying to settle into sleep.
he really is gorgeous. gabriel feels lucky, to have him out of everyone else on the planet. even if they did die tomorrow, he has a feeling it would be together.
now that was morbid. he frowns to himself.
“jack,” gabriel says, after a long pause.
“mgh.” jack cracks open an eye. “what’s up? you’re worried.”
“i love you,” he says, simply.
“i know.” jack shuffles forward a bit, kisses him on the nose. “i love you too.”
“but.” gabriel holds onto jack’s arm, keeping him there. “ah. i don’t know.”
“yeah you do,” jack states, then kisses him just to the side of his mouth. “tell me, what’s up? you owe me. i was nearly asleep.”
“you were not.” gabriel kisses him back, properly. jack makes a noise of surprise. “i would much rather do this, actually.”
“you know the other tents are like two metres away, yeah?” jack doesn’t sound like he minds. “and we’re in a jungle.”
“i’m just trying to kiss you, you shithead.” gabriel bites back a laugh. “i love you. i really do.”
“i love you-” gabriel interrupts him with another kiss. “too. hey, let me finish!”
“nah.” he wraps his arms around jack properly, heat be damned. “would rather kiss you.”
“not sleep? remember sleep?” jack kisses him back, anyway. he breaks away after a minute. “mmm, i find it hard to believe this is what you were worried about.”
“alright.” gabriel buries his face in jack’s neck. “i was thinking.”
“rare, for you.”
“shut up.” he feels nervous all of a sudden. “you said you saw us doing this for the rest of our lives.”
“not the war thing,” jack clarifies. “obviously.”
“yeah. but being like this?”
“well, hopefully we’d have like, a house, not a tent in a warzone, yeah.” gabriel feels jack’s laugh in his chest. “yeah, for the rest of our lives. you’re stuck with me now. is that what you’re worried about?”
“not really.” gabriel kisses his neck again; jack squirms a little. “i think it would be cool if we… got married.”
jack pushes him back immediately, staring at him, eyes wide. there’s a tiny reflection of red light in them, blinking from the fan. “are you fucking serious?”
“wow, you can just say no.” gabriel feels a little hurt. “thought i was stuck with you?”
“oh shut up that is not what i mean.” it comes out all as one word, nearly, and gabriel feels silly. “in a war? gabe, marriage mightn’t even exist if the world fucking ends.”
“all the more reason to do it before that happens, right?” he tries shrugging, still nervous. jack hasn’t exactly said yes. “like, you know, tomorrow?”
“we’re going on a strike mission tomorrow,” jack reminds him. he’s frowning. “nobody here can do that. i thought you wanted to get married in a church.”
“pfft, overrated.” gabriel tightens his grip again, but jack is still holding him firmly back. “so that is a no?”
jack narrows his eyes, scrutinizing him. “you’re serious? you want to get married in an apocalyptic war?”
“of course i’m fucking serious, you prick.” gabriel kind of wants to throttle him for being so dense, wants an answer just a little bit more. “i don’t say shit like that for fun!”
jack’s grip loosens, and there is a long moment where he doesn’t say anything. then he rolls right over, pinning gabriel down into the mat, peppering him with kisses between laughing.
“of course i’ll marry you.” jack’s grin is radiant, even in the dark. “right now, if you want. anywhere, anytime. hmm. maybe after tomorrow, though.”
gabriel can hardly breathe, between jack crushing him and being swept up in their mingling joy. “thank fuck. cool. awesome.”
“you always have a way with words.” jack presses his forehead against gabriel’s, still smiling. “i love you.”
gabriel pulls him down into a kiss, and thinks, i love you too.