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Of all the mercs, Scout never quite got why Sniper was the one who could be judged so harshly. Maybe she just ended up around Spy so much, but when she thought about how the other mercs looked at Sniper she’d always imagine someone looking at her in disgust. And that just wasn’t fair.
Sure, it could be tough or annoying at different points. There were various points where it felt especially bad if it had been more than four weeks since she showered or washed her clothes. Yet, during those four weeks she certainly knew how to carry herself despite that grim.
All the mercs were involved with a job that had grit, and grime, and blood, and sweat, and a bunch of other gross stuff to it. They all were disgusting after coming back from a job. This was a thing that came with their job. And if Sniper perceived herself as being to a different standard than them in that playing field, who was to say that she was doing the wrong thing?
It wasn’t like she lived with them anyways. She came with her camper and just ignored the space that the Administrator had set aside for her. So it really only affected people when they were on the field, and even then she stuck to her roost.
Though, her reputation certainly became closely correlated with how she presented herself. She focused on the practical necessities that came with the job, not so much the more personal issues that could come with a lack of care.
As far as Scout was concerned, though, none of that really mattered.
Sure it took a bit for her to look at Sniper and see anything other than the blunt, serious, work focused, woman that she was first introduced to, but she eventually got there. Because it really didn’t make sense as far as she’d understood her life up to that point. Ever since she was a kid she knew that she was into boys. She and her Pa would talk about them all the time when she was young enough and still felt compelled to share everything with him.
Sure, there were a few times when she’d look at a girl in her school and think about how pretty she was. How her laugh sounded so sweet and the way she smiled was just so beautiful. But that was normal, right? Everyone had those thoughts, right?
Still, that was besides the point, she still had those feelings, and she wasn’t the best at keeping them to herself.
She couldn’t help but get into a silly goofy mood whenever she appeared. This big smile would appear on her face and whatever mood she’d be in before would switch into one of giddy excitement.
She was excited to see Sniper.
God, she felt so fucking stupid sometimes.
Still, when she’d look at Sniper she couldn’t help but wonder if she knew just how hot she was. Even if there was some obvious dirt of blood in some places, her face was still perfect.
Who were the other mercs to judge her for her she took care of herself? Scout wasn’t always the best at look the peak of femininity at all times. They didn’t need to look like that anyways since they were often stuck on an active battle field.
They were stuck in a dusty fucking desert, it was a minor miracle they were all covered in dirt all the damn time.
Maybe it was just Spy’s harsh remarks toward Sniper that she’d overheard a few times getting to her, but it wasn’t fair that she was being judged so harshly when all of them at their issues.
Sniper was hot, that was a non-negotiable at this point.
And Scout just couldn’t help but want to reminder her of that, even if it made things awkward.
“You know yur so fuckin’ gorgeous, right Snipes?”
She’d gotten lucky that Sniper felt the same too.
It was a complicated series of events between her confessing and Sniper likewise expressing her feelings, but they got there. Which led to a lot of late nights in her camper, a lot of late nights spent holding her in her arms, and a lot of time spent studying her face.
She was just so pretty.
Especially, when she was just allowed to exist.
“Roo, I’m not in the mood for sweet talk right now.”
Scout almost laughed at that. Sure, they were both just relaxing in her van, Scout was on the floor and and she was on the bed, but that didn't discount the fact that she looked good in any tank top she could pull out of her closet. Not to mention that when her hair was down, and framed her face just right, she could genuinely come off as etherial.
She looked good at the best and worst times for herself. Though, Scout wasn't someone to discount those moments when she'd just come back to base after killing someone with her machete. The blood splatters on her face and her outfit? Perfection. Truly, she looked like she could kill anyone in the team then and Scout would support her the whole way. Theoretically, of course. It was be a very different topic if it actually came to that, but for purely aesthetic reasons that was the conclusion Scout had come to.
“Whoever said this was sweet talk? I sure as hell didn’t.”
Sniper raised an eyebrow at that but her eyes stared squarely fixed on the ceiling. “Oh yeah? What other reason would you have fur sayin’ it then?”
“To state a fact.”
That got her eyes on her. Which she then gave Sniper a big ole grin, just to play up whatever preconceived notions she may have already had about this conversation. Of all the times to pull her leg during this conversation then was definitely one of the good ones, even if it did take away from the fact she was being dead serious.
She was just in one of those moods. One of those silly, goofy, moods that made her have the widest smile possible from even being able to talk to Sniper.
So who was she to stop herself from smiling then? Certainly not someone with good impulse control, that was for sure.
“Statin’ a fact and lyin’ are two different things. You’re Pa taught you that much, didn’t he?”
“Oh he sure did. He and all my brother’s sure as hell taught me not to lie.”
“You sure it stuck then?”
“Oh, naw, it’s stuck, more or less, it’s just that I’m not lyin’ right now.”
Sniper’s eyes narrowed. Strands of her hair curled down her cheeks before her pushed them behind her ears. They were greases and long, but they still had that ability to display beauty despite that. And that was what Scout was focused on.
It didn’t all need to come down to how someone took care of themself. Sure, that could help at points. Even Scout could acknowledge that she probably needed to shower more often or put makeup on for times other than a special occasion. But Sniper just was beautiful. Her face was built that way, her body was built that was, she was built that way.
She was like some kind of art piece that Scout could just stare at for hours, which was why she wanted Sniper to be just as aware as she was just how attractive she really was.
“Don’t bullshit me, Roo.”
“No bullshit here, Snipes. Just the cold hard truth of the matter. You’ve got the makins’ of somebody’s muse. Yur like a beautiful portrait that those old dorks in Italy woulda painted. Yur face is just so freakin’ good lookin’ that it takes me out of a fight sometimes. I’m just gettin’ sick of you not seein’ it, you know?”
Sniper’s face had progressively gotten redder as Scout continued her description. Each new layer making her pull into herself more and more. Her face did the most hiding as she pressed it directly against her chest so that her hair covered it.
“What? You really think I’d pull yur leg on this stuff? Snipes, yur my freakin’ girlfriend for god sake! Give me more credit than that.” She lightly elbowed her before moving from her previous position sitting on Sniper’s floor to being on the bed with her.
Her arms were wrapped squarely around Sniper’s waist as she rested her head against her shoulder. Her cheek nuzzled itself against the sharp edge of said shoulder, but she didn’t recoil from it at all. She was used to Sniper’s edges at this point, whether physical or internal.
“Come on, don’t be like that! I just wanted to let you know.”
“I didn’t need to hear it.”
“Sure you did. If you didn’t need to hear it then you wouldn’t be reacting like this.”
More of Sniper’s fell across her face as she kept trying to disappear.
“Know what? I wanna hear you say it now?”
“No.”
“Come on!” Scout began to shake Sniper just enough to jostle her, “Just this once, okay?”
“It won’t just be once. It’s never just once with you. If it was just once then you wouldn’t be sitting next to me.”
She rolled her eyes at that remark but kept shaking her. “I really wanna hear you say it though.”
“Scout I don’t–”
“Because you really are beautiful, Snipes. And I just want you to get what it is I see when I look at ya.’”
That seemed to strike a cord as Sniper slowly lifted her head back up. She took a moment to seemingly consider her options, before letting out a very long sigh. “Fine, alright, you win, I’m hot. Is that all you wanted?”
Scout’s grin, somehow, grew even wider as she promptly placed a kiss on Sniper’s cheek, as a reward. “That’s all I needed.”
She let her body curl up around Sniper as her arms stayed fixed on her waist, but her legs moved to be directly across her own.
Sniper let out another, smaller, sigh as she let her head lull against Scout’s. She placed a kiss on the top of her head for good measure before she whispered, “You’re pretty too.”
Scout’s cheeks began to feel hot at that compliment, but she buried them into the crook of her neck so that she couldn’t see.
She could dish them out but just as easily struggled to accept them too.
Maybe they really were meant for each other.