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Pico's initial plans for the day were jack, and also shit. Sit in his apartment and hope that his brain was feeling cooperative, but not expecting such luck. Same as he usually did on his days off, which were becoming more and more frequent recently. People just hadn't been in need of hitmen lately he supposed, not even that fucking demon who had asked for his services a little while back. Although not being contacted by him specifically wasn't all that surprising, considering Pico had failed the assignment he'd been given.
Maybe that was the reason for this dry spell, maybe word had gotten around that he was unreliable. A pussy bitch who couldn't do what he was told. Of course he had good reason to not go through with it, but it wasn't like he could just explain that. That sorta shit didn't matter to potential clients, a merc who chose not to kill was useless as far as they were concerned, context didn't matter.
Whatever, it would sort itself out. Or it wouldn't, either way he could manage.
His day was going surprisingly well, by his standards anyway. Which was to say nothing horrible had happened. Things were quiet, his mind was about as calm as it could get. He was mostly planning for whatever he was sent to do next. He couldn't afford to fuck up a second time, then his career really would be over for good.
He knew he didn't need to think about it too much. He wouldn't fail again, it was that simple. Whatever was thrown at him, he could handle it. What were the odds he'd be expected to kill someone he knew a second time? The chance of that was practically nonexistent, and as long as that didn't happen he'd be fine.
He was considering cleaning up a bit. Sorting through his guns, cleaning them and reorganizing them. He'd likely only need his signature uzis, but it wouldn't hurt. There were also boxes of ammo strewn across the floor rather haphazardly, the only reason he didn't trip or stub his toes daily was because it had been like this for so long that he'd gotten used to it. It was only a matter of time until he wasn't paying attention and wound up breaking his neck.
So it was decided, that's what he was gonna do. All he had to do was actually find the motivation to get up and get started.
Easier said than done, he couldn't seem to make himself care enough to do more than sit there, gun in hand, tapping it against his leg. Maybe he could start by cleaning this one? That seemed like as good of an option as any. Sure, the two he kept on him were his favorites and he was already on top of things when it came to their maintenance, but it would be better than doing nothing.
Before he could make any progress, he was interrupted by a quick buzz against his thigh.
He sighed, fishing out his phone. Who the fuck could be messaging him? He had like two friends total and he was pretty sure even they didn't like him that much.
When he checked and saw a Hey, baby from Hotcock, he felt any annoyance at being contacted start to fade. He waited a few seconds before shooting back a hey king, what's up
His irritation wasn't gone for long, flaring up again when it took what felt like several minutes for Darnell to respond. Like, come on. How was he gonna be the one to reach out and then decide to keep Pico waiting? Not that Pico really gave him much to work with, but that was beside the point.
Eventually though, he did get a reply. And he couldn't do much but stare blankly at his screen for a bit after reading it. This is gonna sound really weird, but you remember the neighborhood we grew up in, right?
you're right, that sounds weird as shit
what's that have to do with anything
You know it's pretty much abandoned now, right?
He didn't know that, but he couldn't say he was surprised. It already wasn't the most popular place to live in back when they were kids, mostly because it fucking sucked. And then the incident at their school happened and that certainly didn't help things, a lot of parents ended up moving away to get their kids into a different school.
Pico thought that was kind of stupid, personally. It wasn't like the same school was gonna get shot up twice, they didn't have anything to worry about. But, considering all the other shady stuff that went down even after that whole shitshow, he supposed it was the right decision. (He also couldn't blame them since he'd wanted to get the fuck out of there as soon as the first incident had happened, but he didn't have it that easy. He'd needed to suck it up for years after the fact)
He didn't wanna think too much about all that though, so he got back to Darnell quickly after processing the information.
makes sense
doesn't explain why you're bringing it up tho
I think we should burn it
Oh. Yeah, of course.
He wasn't sure what the fuck he was supposed to say to that. This was far from the first time Darnell had invited Pico to burn shit down with him, that was something they did every other time they hung out actually. Although, this was different than normal. This time instead of tossing some old belongings in a bonfire or lighting up an empty building, this was an entire fucking neighborhood. And sometimes Pico had to be the voice of reason, you know? Put his foot down and stop the people he knew from doing things that are too dumb or dangerous. Or at the very least refuse to participate so he wouldn't be caught up in whatever consequences they ended up facing.
But maybe this wasn't as bad as it seemed? Darnell did say the place was abandoned, and it wasn't like they'd be hurting anyone by torching a ghost town. And they'd never been caught before, they were smart, why would it be different this time? Sure this was a bigger project, and that meant more risk, but Pico seriously doubted any cops were still hanging around that place. They'd be long gone by the time any authorities were contacted.
Plus, this seemed like fun. Not that everything else they did wasn't, but... This was in a league of its own. This was pretty much the only reason he could think to go back to that place that didn't fill him with dread. It was getting him pretty excited actually, the more he thought about it. He considered his options for a few seconds, drumming his fingers against his gun, before deciding that he was down for this.
sure, why not
when we doing it
How does tonight sound?
Well shit, that sounded good to Pico. It wasn't like he had any other plans.
works for me
Sweet! Let's head out now
Pico was reasonably baffled at that. It was still kind of early in the afternoon, only a little past three. And they usually waited until night if they were gonna burn anything, it was more fun that way. Prettier too.
When Pico asked, Darnell explained that it would take them a while to plant all the explosives. They had no choice but to start early.
And Pico guessed that made sense, they had a lot of ground to cover. So he stood up and said that he was on his way, and Darnell said he'd meet him there.
Pico wished he could say he didn't remember the way there, but he knew he could still walk there on autopilot, wouldn't even have to think about where he was going. The only reason he didn't and took the train instead was because that would take way too long, he didn't want Darnell giving him shit for being late.
That and this way it was easier to not think too hard about where he was going. He could just scroll through his phone, or focus on the people around him. Though there really weren't many people, it wasn't often anyone wanted to head out this way. And the few that were there steered clear of Pico, giving him a wide area of space to himself. That was fair, he thought. Between his constant scowl and the guns strapped to his hips, he wasn't the most approachable person.
He wasn't about to complain, being surrounded by others was fucking stressful. Especially if they were strangers. The less people around him, the better.
During the ride, he decided to pass the time by texting Darnell. He asked why he sprung this on Pico so suddenly, what made him want to do this.
Darnell answered that he just recently found out about the current state of their home neighborhood, and thought this seemed like fun. And Pico thought that made sense, he wasn't surprised that this was the first thing his friend thought to do after learning that his childhood home was abandoned. If anything, he should've expected something like this sooner.
The two kept talking until Pico reached his stop. Not about anything specific, mostly about how it had been way too long since they'd spent time together and how they were looking forward to tonight and other gay shit like that.
Of course, the train didn't take him all the way there. Most of the way, sure, but he still had a bit of a walk ahead of him. That was fine though, it'd take like half an hour at most, and that was if he dragged his feet.
He stepped off, but before he could go anywhere his eyes widened at someone waiting for him.
"Pico, hey!" Darnell greeted, approaching and throwing an arm around Pico's shoulders, as if this wasn't weird in the fucking slightest. As if Pico should've expected him here.
"How'd you know I'd be taking the train?" He asked, not reciprocating the affection but not shying away from it either, just standing there all tense and confused.
"Oh, I didn't. But I knew you'd have to pass by here eventually."
Oh. Okay, that made sense actually.
"Sorry, I probably shoulda told you I'd be here. I know you don't like surprises." He started backing off of Pico, smiling sheepishly.
In return, Pico wrapped an arm around Darnell, keeping him close. "Don't apologize, dumbass. You're fine." He definitely would've preferred a little warning beforehand, but he could let this slide. This just meant he got to see Darnell sooner, which gave them more time together. He'd be kind of a dick to get mad at that.
Darnell relaxed considerably at that, leaning down a little to plant a kiss on the crown of Pico's head.
Pico felt his face heat up and failed to suppress a smile. In an attempt to save face, he was quick to morph it into a smirk, then he pat the bag hanging on Darnell's back. "So, what's the plan? We just gonna put these wherever, or...?" Usually when they went as far as to blow shit up, they didn't do anything too elaborate. Just place the explosives down and get far enough away that they wouldn't get caught up in the blast. Still, he figured he may as well ask.
"Actually..." Darnell gave a wicked grin before pulling a piece of paper out of his hoodie pocket, which once unfolded it was revealed to be a map of the fucking place, with the places he wanted to plant the bombs marked with red marker.
He handed it over to Pico and pulled out a second one for himself, explaining that they'd probably have to separate to get this done faster.
As Pico was looking at his map and listening, he came to the conclusion that Darnell was a fucking liar. There was no way he only found out about the state of this place recently and spontaneously decided to do this. He must have been planning this for a while. Like, Darnell was smart but not 'map out the best places to plant explosives in a single day' smart. Right?
Maybe he was, actually. He'd always basically been a genius, even when they were kids. Regardless, Pico couldn't help feeling like this was part of some sorta plan. He didn't know the details or anything, but considering how huge this was and how insistent Darnell was about the placement of the bombs, he couldn't help being suspicious.
He was tempted to call Darnell out on this, but also kind of wanted to just see where this went. If it were anyone else he'd have started grilling them immediately, letting horrible possibilities enter his mind and tossing out accusations. But this was Darnell, they'd known each other nearly their whole lives, he knew whatever his friend was planning it wouldn't be anything bad. Darnell wouldn't hurt him, never had and never will.
He decided to go against his instincts and see how things played out. He had a feeling it would be fun, and even if it turned out to be a stupid waste of time, it wouldn't be anything too bad.
So he walked and listened to Darnell ramble on. Eventually he switched from instructions and explanations to simply gushing about how cool this was gonna be, that Pico was gonna love it. He was clearly very excited for the end results, smiling wide and fiddling with the strings of his hoodie.
It was fucking gross, honestly. How did this asshole manage to be cute while talking about arson? Pico kind of wanted to kiss him to get him to shut up, but instead decided to look away so Darnell wouldn't see how his expression had softened.
Thankfully, and also unfortunately, they reached their destination before too long and had to get to work. Darnell handed off some of the supplies and told him where they'd meet up after they were done before they went their separate ways, which was appreciated since Pico didn't exactly want to wander around like a complete fucking moron.
Pico quickly remembered why they rarely did anything too complicated, the setup was always a massive pain in the ass. This time especially, he was stuck dragging himself across town in the middle of summer, sun beating down on him as he tried to find all the places he'd been told to place all this stuff. (To be fair, it was partially his own fault that this was so miserable. He was the dipshit who'd decided to wear a turtleneck in this weather. In his defense though, it's what he was wearing before he left and he hadn't felt like changing)
Despite his suffering, as he was grumbling to himself about how he was gonna get some sort of payback against Darnell for putting him through this, he tried his best to accurately follow the map he'd been given. Putting the bombs down where his friend wanted them to the best of his ability. (He didn't realize it at the time, but he was a bit thankful too. As long as he was caught up with how horrible he felt physically, he wasn't thinking too hard about his surroundings, not any more than what was needed to do his job. Sure, he'd been assigned the side of the neighborhood without the school or his old home, but it was still appreciated)
As expected, it took him hours. By the time he was done the sun was almost all the way down, a handful of street lights that still worked for some reason flickering on.
Pico dragged himself to their designated meeting spot, finding that he'd arrived first. He dropped into a sitting position as he caught his breath, once again swearing that he was gonna kill Darnell once he saw that son of a bitch. His guns were loaded (As they always were when he left the house) it would be so easy, he wouldn't even see it coming.
As he was resting, he took in his surroundings. And he realized that Darnell had picked a really nice spot. It was a good ways away from the scene of the crime, always good. It was on a hill, which back in the day Pico was sure only had gross patches of wilted brown grass, but now without as much pollution and no people walking on top of it the grass was a vibrant green and a bit overgrown.
And then there was the view. He could see the entire damn town, it looked so small. The last rays of the sun were shining over the tops of buildings, bathing the place in orange light, while the sky was a mix of orange and pink and purple. Damn. Pico found himself a little entranced. He could only imagine how great it was gonna look once the show started.
Fittingly, right then out of the corner of his eye Pico saw someone sit next to him. "Wow, you work fast. How long have you been here?"
"Couple minutes." He muttered, turning to glare when an arm was wrapped around him, but willingly resting his head on Darnell's shoulder.
Almost immediately Darnell moved away, and Pico was about to complain, but after a few seconds of rummaging through his bag he wordlessly handed over a water bottle and Pico decided any grudge he might've had was dead. He downed half of it in a few seconds, impressed with himself for not choking and coughing like a bitch.
"So, you ready to get started?" Darnell asked, voice actually fucking trembling with excitement.
Pico shot him a lazy smirk. "Why're you wasting time asking? Let's do it."
Darnell dug through his pockets, handing over some ear plugs, and Pico found himself both appreciative and impressed. This guy really thought of everything, huh? (Darnell always brought these with him when dealing with explosives, Pico knew this. He never remembered to do the same though, despite regularly working with firearms, so he couldn't help but be a little amazed)
After they both donned their ear protection, Pico cozied back up to his friend's side, and soon after he got comfortable Darnell pressed the detonator.
First there was a huge flash of white, and Pico had no choice but to close his eyes.
There were a few of those, actually. So it was a little while before he could actually look.
As he was waiting, he focused on the rumbling feeling. He couldn't hear shit but he could feel the explosions shaking around his fucking bones and his insides. Once upon a time it was unnerving, but now it was familiar and almost comforting.
Once behind his eyelids was black instead of white he cracked his eyes open. And... Wow. God damn.
It was pretty much exactly what he expected, and that was a good thing. The mental image he'd formed hours before was nothing compared to the real thing. The whole place wasn't burning, not yet anyway. Only certain buildings were lit up at the moment, many were left completely untouched, though the fires would surely spread if it was left alone. They probably would even if someone tried to do something about them, large enough that they couldn't be doused easily.
It was almost completely dark now, and the bright yellows and whites contrasted amazingly with the dark blue of the sky. There were embers being picked up by the wind, being blown through the air, making up for the lack of stars.
Pico was really starting to understand Darnell's whole fire obsession. When you put the time and effort into it, you really could make something beautiful.
He glanced away for a second, and found that for once Darnell wasn't focused on the fire, which was fucking weird considering he'd spent all day setting this up. Every other time they'd done something like this, he was completely enchanted, hardly able to look away. The most he'd do was tear his gaze away for a few seconds to comment on how pretty Pico looked in the light of the fire.
This time however, his eyes were glued to Pico. He was staring expectantly, like Pico was supposed to have a different reaction than normal, and that was a little confusing. Sure, this was bigger than what they normally did, but it was still just a fire. It couldn't be anything too special. (Or maybe he was an asshole for thinking that? Maybe he didn't understand Darnell's interest in this at all. Maybe this was really important to him and Pico was unintentionally being a complete dick)
So he looked again, swept his eyes across the entire landscape, really took it all in. It was certainly impressive, but he wasn't sure what he was supposed to be-
Oh.
Pico's breath caught in his throat, his eyes widening.
The fires were forming letters. Bold, blazing letters that spelled out 'will you marry me?'
He looked them over several more times, making sure he wasn't just seeing things. Maybe it was a trick of the light? There was a lot of that right now.
But no, he wasn't mistaken. He saw what he saw, it was exactly what he thought it was.
His heart was beating so hard he was half sure his chest was gonna crack open, and his face burning for a reason completely unrelated to the fire. He'd started breathing again, thankfully, but it was way more shallow than normal.
He looked back at Darnell, who was a lot more nervous now that he knew Pico had caught on. Pico glanced between him and the fire before whispering "What the fuck is wrong with you?"
Naturally, Darnell flinched at that, finally turning away. "Is it too much?"
'Is it too much?' Pico really should punch him right now.
"Yeah, sorry." Darnell shrank away, looking thoroughly embarrassed. "You can say no if you want."
At that, Pico snorted. He didn't even bother trying to suppress it, letting it build up until he was cackling, sitting there clinging to Darnell and losing his mind. He probably sounded like a witch, or a generic anime villain, but he couldn't find it in himself to care right now.
Darnell, no doubt very confused, didn't make any attempt to push him away or stop him. Just sat there, awkwardly patting him on the back.
Once he'd calmed down enough to do so, Pico asked "Why would I say no?" staring at Darnell curiously.
Darnell looked like he wanted to argue, point out how Pico's initial reaction was not promising maybe. But before he had the chance to say anything a pair of lips crashed against his own.
Pico kissed him for a good minute, only pulling away when he needed to breathe. Then he started up again, softer this time. Eventually he strayed from Darnell's mouth and smooched his jaw, chin and cheeks. Just everywhere he could reach. The whole time Darnell was too shocked to react, staring at Pico with wide eyes.
It took a while, but Pico tired himself out, nuzzling his face into Darnell's neck. "You're so fucking stupid... Of course I'm gonna say yes." Saying no never even crossed his mind. He honestly couldn't think of a single reason he'd do that, when he'd asked that had been genuine.
What were the reasons other people turned down marriage proposals?
They didn't love the person proposing to them, that was an obvious one. That didn't apply here though, he loved Darnell. He hardly ever voiced it, sometimes had trouble showing it, but fuck he really did.
It was too soon? That didn't apply either... Pico didn't think, at least. It didn't feel rushed to him. Although to be fair, he wasn't even sure exactly how long they'd been together. Before they were officially dating they'd had a friends with benefits thing going on, and it had taken them ridiculously long to realize that they liked each other as more than just friends. Pico wasn't sure if the time they spent pining over each other like lovesick fools counted, or if their relationship only started after they'd admitted how they felt. He was also pretty sure it didn't really matter.
Fear of commitment? Pico guessed that kinda fit. He sometimes had a hard time accepting good things, afraid that something terrible would happen and tear it away from him. Or that he didn't deserve it and he'd end up ruining it for himself. And admittedly, he did feel those things, even now. He'd felt them the whole duration of their relationship. But he was doing a good job of ignoring those feelings, trying to get the fuck over himself and just let himself be happy. Not to mention, if he ran away then that would hurt Darnell, maybe more than whatever would end up ruining things in the future. And he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he were the one to hurt Darnell. (He'd also done the whole 'breaking up with someone to prevent them from getting hurt in the future' thing before, and it was maybe one of the worst decisions he'd made in his life. He was pretty sure he'd hurt his ex far more by doing that than whatever would've ended up ruining their relationship later down the line)
So yeah, there was literally no reason for him to say no.
Darnell finally snapped out of his stupor, and then he started laughing too. Not as hard as Pico had been, just a few chuckles. Then he tilted Pico's head up and kissed him. Passionate and slow, to make up for not reciprocating any of Pico's earlier ones.
They stayed like that for a while, muttering quiet 'i love you's in between kissing each other breathless, letting themselves get warmed by the fire and also each other.
They probably would've gone farther than just swapping saliva, but before too long they heard sirens in the distance. And they realized this really wasn't the place for that, they needed to get the fuck away.
So they did. They stood up and began hauling ass, hand in hand and laughing the whole way.
(Later, Pico would learn that Darnell had forgotten to buy rings, and he wouldn't be able to stop himself from howling. Because of course, of fucking course this dumbass would plan the most elaborate proposal in the goddamn world and somehow forget the rings)