Work Text:
Soldier sat upright on the stool, patiently waiting for the engineer to come back.
Piles of differing swatches of face-paint had been carefully placed onto the work bench he's sat at, alongside a messily taped, flared cone helmet and dusty metallic scraps of metal armour.
They thought up the idea of having matching costumes for this Halloween, dressing up as their beloved weapons. Engineer as one of his sentries, and Soldier as his rocket launcher.
But, Soldier impulsively thought of another addition to his outfit, much to the engineer's chagrin. A fully painted upper body consisting of camo and the flag of his great homeland, America.
He heard steps descending from the stairs, turning his head around.
Engie appeared out of the narrow stairwell, adorning a metal sentry head as a hat and a scowl. Soldier could tell he hadn't put all of his costume on, having to adapt to his last second change. Engineer worked really hard on conceptualising his outfit, courtesy of his perfectionism, aiming for the best of the best.
Soldier's heart panged with guilt. He made an effort to stuff the burdening emotion down deep into his gut, he'll deal with this later, he thought.
Engineer rolled his favourite swivel chair infront of Soldier, as he sat down with a huff.
"So, you want me painting on some camo on ya?" His voice carried a gruff quality.
"Affirmative, as well as the American flag." Soldier added.
The engineer sorted through the choices of paint, sorting the colours into categories Soldier would guess as useful and garbage.
Engineer focused on a specific container, commenting, "The hell does yellow bring to the table? There's no yellow in any of the things ya want."
"Just in case," He said.
He sighed, putting the container aside, popping off the lids of the actually useful colours.
"Can ya atleast warn me next time you go and change something? I'm no miracle man." Engineer sighed, "Communication goes a long way, Solly."
The guilt he pushed down travelled back up his throat with a vengeance. The engineer looked at him with disappointment in his eyes, disappointment.
Not disappointment, his brain supplemented, this is the look of tiredness, you've done this before.
He didn't know how to respond, the bubbling feeling of shame felt like it was choking him. Soldier mustered up a hum, with a strangled quality to it.
Engineer dabbed a wet sponge into the paint jar, "Let's try and get this done before the party, yeah? It's not too long away now."
Soldier nodded.
The engineer began to apply a faint green layer of paint to his skin. It wasn't the best quality of face-paint out there, the colour coming out patchy, but it didn't stop Soldier from feeling excited. It satisfied his patriotic hunger, feeling like one of the soldiers from the covers of the thrown away magazines he scavaged during the time when he was nothing but a ratty kid living on the streets, advertising the American war efforts during the second world war.
But guilt ate away at his shocked nerves, crawling up his neck like a twiddly worm.
He took a steady breath, "Engie?"
Engineer stopped applying the paint. He looked up, an eyebrow likely quirked from behind his goggles.
"Yeah, soldier?"
"I…apologise," He murmured.
Engineer gave a lopsided smile, his cheeks noticeably flushed. "I know, Solly."
He sat down properly onto his swivel chair, putting his hands on his knees carefully, trying to avoid getting paint on his denim overalls.
He said, "Let's just get this over with, yeah? Afterwards, I need 'ta show you something I was working on for the party, I think everyone's gonna enjoy it."
"-Except scout, of course." He added with a grin.
Soldier barked out a laugh, the unpleasant feelings that were building inside his gut faded.
"I'm sure it's gonna be great, engie."