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“Damnit, Jeremy!” You yelled as you fell into the thick snow, a snowball squished against your now stinging cold cheek, parts of it crumbling back down onto the thick sheet. Scout was cracking up at the sight, his eyes brimmed with joyful tears. His chunky boots clambered through the snow, each step making a satisfying crunchy sound that scratched your brain the right way, looking down at you with a mischievous grin. He folded his arms over his chest.
“Sorry, toots.” He held out his gloved hand for you to take. Something about how he towered over you made you feel a certain way, which didn't go unnoticed by Scout; he could see how your cheeks dusted a rosy pink and how your eyes widened slightly at the sight of him. He was far too internally flustered and bashful to be cocky about it though. (And it wasn't exactly internal, because you could see the red tint on his cheeks and how he became a little stuttery.)
You took his gloved hand, feeling yourself getting lifted from the thick blanket of snow.
"Too cold to build a snowman?" He flashed that typical boyish grin at you, wiping away a little fragment of melting snow that was above your upper lip. He let his touch linger for a little before cupping your cheek.
"Mm," You hummed in thought, cocking your head to the side a little. "I think I can last a little longer out here. But after, can we go inside?" Scout beamed at your agreement to build a snowman, nodding profusely, happy that you were willing to build one with him despite the frosty temperature outside. He was cold himself, but he really wanted to build one with you.
"I'll go get da stones!" He ran - at least to the best of his ability considering the snow - to go and find some stones. It was rare for there to be snow, considering that Teufort was in New Mexico, so seeing snowfall especially at this thickness excited Scout. He loved snow days as a kid back in Boston, always begging his older brothers to make snowmen with him or to have snowball fights with each other. If he was lucky, they'd reluctantly agree, but more often than not they'd respond with an irritated grumble and say no. His Ma would try to cheer him up by joining him or giving him a cup of hot chocolate, though. So it wasn't all too bad.
One of his favourite moments during the winter season was when one of his brothers actually agreed to build a snowman with him. He remembered it quite vividly: it was the beginning of December so his neighbourhood was beginning to become more festive, various Christmas lights being strung outside. Although it was a pretty rough area, it felt a little warmer when the crime began to decrease for the season (with the exception of people robbing some unfortunate houses for Christmas presents that they couldn't afford) and when the houses were noticeably decorated. He liked Christmas. He was around 7 at the time, still believing in Santa and missing some of his baby teeth, and he was helping his older brother build the biggest snowman he could make. His brother did most of the work since he was in his mid to late teens, but allowed Scout to roll up some snow and gather the sticks and stones.
"Jere! Hang me over those sticks, would ya? We need to give him some arms!" He called to little Scout who was across the front yard. He responded with a pleased 'okay' with a wide smile, gathering some little twigs that had fallen from the bare trees. He was wrapped in multiple layers to battle the cold Boston air, a big bomber snow hat that he had likely swiped from one of his other 7 brothers and a striped scarf draped around his neck. Some flakes of snow were clinging onto his coat, but he was far too invested in snowman building to notice. As he collected the dark sticks, he giddily ran over and ended up face planting in the snow.
His brother was quick to laugh at Scout's sudden fall, receiving a pouty and aggravated expression from him. But despite the sharp frostiness that made his face feel numb, he still enjoyed building a snowman with his big brother. It was gone after a day or two, likely from the asshole neighbours kicking it down, but Scout viewed the memory fondly anyway. It made him feel a little less lonely.
You began to roll up the snow into a large ball for the snowman's base, Scout gathering stones like a little bird as you did so. He held some in his gloved hands after finding a good amount, then the idea for him to help you suddenly came into his mind.
"Lemme help ya, Y/N!" He began to run back through the thick snow, nearly dropping his bundle of stones in the process and almost face planting into it like when he was younger. Scout was going to use this as another opportunity to impress you, whether that be his snowman building skills or his ability to simply roll up a big snowball. He didn't care for what it was in particular that he was showing off or flaunting, he just wanted to make you proud.
"I used to do this with my older brothas," He recalled, his breath's warm contrast with the freezing air creating a little gust of steam. "...wheneva they actually decided ta do it with me." You didn't fail to notice his expression drop a little once he finished his brief recollection. Hearing more about Scout's past loneliness made your heart ache, but also kind of proud of yourself for easing the insecurities he felt and filling up that empty void.
"Well you know what? I'll do this with you every time we get snow, Scouts," You reassured warmly. "And that's a promise." Scout beamed, not hesitating to tug you into his arms for a tight hug. One of his hands remained balled into a fist to keep the stones safe, but you didn't mind. He smelled vaguely like cinnamon, you noted. He definitely didn't steal some of Spy's cologne.
"Thanks, doll," He pulled away, happily and sweetly kissing your forehead, and your lips for a brief moment. "I'm more than happy ta be doin' this with ya."
"Now let's get this guy built, it's starting to get too cold!" You exclaimed with a laugh, your boots satisfyingly crunching against the snow. Scout insisted on working on the bigger section of the snowman's body to - again - impress you. Even though he didn't even have to because you were already head over heels, he still wanted to make you feel proud of him. For you to see him as this big, strong, and impressive guy who absolutely adores his girlfriend. Maybe one day he'll realise that you'll see him that way regardless, even if he isn't the most muscular guy.
You reluctantly let him work on the larger part despite you being more than capable to do it yourself, because you know that he'd be super persistent about it. But whatever, it make him all happy, which is what you wanted. While Scout worked on the bigger snowball, you started to roll up the smaller upper torso. He even tried coaxing you into giving him that part after he finished building the main body, but your protests easily overpowered his need to show off his 'snowman building skills'. Both of you decided to work on the head once you had stacked the upper torso on top of the bigger snowball, Scout 'accidentally' chucking some snow at you as you both rolled snow on the head. Once he 'accidentally' did it a few more times, it blew into a whole snowball fight and the head was unintentionally abandoned.
"W-Wait, Scout-" You chuckled with a shiver while you were crouched down in the snow, trying to point out the headless snowman to him, but a ball of snow had been slammed right into your face before you could finish your sentence. Scout almost instantly regretted it, falling to his knees and crawling over to you and wiping away the large specs of shivering snow.
"I'm sorry, toots!" He cradled your head in his gloved hands, looking at you like he was a big sad puppy. You reassured him quickly while he continued to remove the remains of the snowball from your face, but he still felt bad about it.
"What were ya gonna say?" Scout smothered your face with gentle and slightly sloppy kisses as a way to 'warm you up', which didn't exactly do the trick considering his lips were far from warm. But you appreciated the gesture.
"I was just gonna say that the snowman's been decapitated or something." You huffed, grinning from his lips being against your skin. He paused the kissing, turning his head to see the snowman having no head, then suddenly remembered that you both had completely forgotten about building it during your little snowball assault. He laughed at the sight.
"A BLU snowman musta gotten a helluva good headshot on him. Poor fella." Scout joked, looking back at you with another one of his dorky, toothy grins. His smile grew once you laughed at his joke. He really did love making you laugh more than anything. Well, not more than he loved you.
"Let's jus' put the stones and twigs on it, den we'll go back inside. Dat good with ya?" He got back up on his feet, towering over you like how he did before. God, was it doing things to you. You quickly nodded before you could get too distracted by the sight, taking his hand and starting to put the dark stones on the torso and the twigs on the side. You and Scout stepped back to admire the snowman you had just built, feeling satisfied, even with the missing head.
"Are you sure he won't backstab us for this?" You huffed in amusement as Scout draped one of the thickest blankets he could find over both of your figures, his arm snaking around your shoulder to pull you closer by him.
"We'll be fine, babe. He's away for some contract anyway." He reassured. Currently, you and Scout were sitting in front of the warm fireplace in Spy's smoke room. It was the only place in the whole base that had such warmth - considering the typical weather in Teufort needing constant air conditioning - so Scout figured it would be the best place to retreat to get all cosy with each other. Not to mention, the atmosphere felt kinda romantic. Perhaps it was the plush velvet furniture or the brooding and low lighting.
You felt the hot flames radiating against your skin, melting away the previous frosty coolness from being outside in the snow. The warm colours gave a familiar glow to your face, reminding Scout of the sunset confession just a few months ago, those emotions flooding back into him.
"Yer so beautiful, y'know dat?" He softly praised with fond and affectionate eyes, his hand reaching up to card through your hair. You hummed at the contact, mirroring his gaze. The way he looked at you was something you could never get sick of: it would always be something you'd constantly crave.
"Your face is like a handsome painting." You complimented back. Scout could feel his heart squeeze and do laps at your sweet words; his face was like a painting? He'd never been complimented in such depth. You'd given him those sort of more unique and almost poetic compliments before, and it never failed to have him doing double takes. To think that he'd be seen as something as comparable to a carefully crafted art piece felt extraordinary to him, even with his pride in his looks. It got him all weak and wobbly like jelly.
"Agh, stop it." He nudged you with an adorable blush brushed on his cheeks, a sight you loved to see. A reminder that you and your words had such a nice effect on him, and also that it was generally a good look on him. Sometimes he'd still struggle to take your compliments or find the right way to respond, but he tried his best.
"So warm..." You mumbled as you snuggled closer to him, your arms enveloping over his waist and securing your closeness. He chuckled, his hand going over to your shoulder to gently rub it. Scout's head tilted to rest on top of yours, watching the flames burn the thick lumber in the fireplace.
You found your eyes growing heavy and your drowsiness increasing, as did Scout. Since Spy was on a contract, you assumed it would be fine to take a little nap before he came back, buying you and Scout time to scramble out of his smoke room and haul yourselves into one of your rooms. The cosiness of being next to Scout and the nearby fireplace had you feeling as peaceful as ever. Silently, Scout leaned back so he was laying on the soft - and expensive - rug, pulling you down with him. He laid on his back, holding you close like the treasure you were. He smiled at the sight of you, gently kissing your forehead after you got comfortable in your shared embrace. You let out a soft, content exhale, feeling loved as always.
Contrary to your initial assumption, your little nap turned into a good night's sleep. Spy had returned to you and Scout sleeping in each others arms in front of his fireplace. He rolled his eyes at the sickeningly sweet sight, yet it tugged at his heartstrings; another reminder of what he had with Scout's mother, and he felt his heart warm at how tenderly Scout was treating you. Perhaps not the most romantic lover, he definitely didn't take after Spy's suave and sultry traits, yet he still loved you in the right way. It was more goofy for sure, but it was tender and sweet.
Perhaps Spy should tell him soon. He doesn't want him making the same mistake as he did with his mother, but at this rate, he doubted Scout would do such a thing.
He decided to leave the pair of you be. He didn't want to intrude too much on his son's love life.