Work Text:
Night Comfort
After their gruesome fight against the fallen army, which they won, the troops decided to celebrate this great triumph together. Pyromancer turns on his grill and cooks a bunch of delicious barbecue for the troops. Minigunner, Scout, Ranger, and Soldier are sitting around the campfire, singing songs and telling each other their own tales. Engineer and Accelerator are fixing the weapons that got broken in the fight. The DJ played some amazing tunes to celebrate their victory. The injured ones are getting treated by the Medic, after all, she’s the one in charge of the troops' well-being. The rest are simply enjoying the celebration, laughing together, dancing, and spending this moment with their loved ones. But even after their glorious triumph against one of the deadliest army, their leader, Commander, is still doing his boring paperworks, alone, in his office. Realizing their leader isn’t there with them, Scout and Minigunner decided to check out on him.
They knock on Commander's office door. “Hey Comm, what are you doing there? Quit those boring paperworks and come join us will ya?” Scout teased. “Yeah he’s right, just do it later, you surely don’t want to miss out on this one. C’mon, let’s clear your mind off” Minigunner adds. Then, Commander opened the door and looked at them with his sleepy face. “These documents are important, and they are due really soon. I’m okay anyways, don’t worry about me. I promise I will join you guys after I'm done with these documents.” Commander replied tiredly.
Knowing their stubborn leader, Scout and Minigunner decided to just give it up and report it back to Commander’s assistant, the Dispatcher, who will take these matters into her own hands.
Dispatcher knocked on Commander’s office door. “Comm? Are you there? May I come in?” she asks softly. “Oh, it’s you. I know you’re the one who sends them to check up on me. Come in” Commander replied. Dispatcher opened the door and greeted with Commander’s messy office. Papers and documents are scattered everywhere, the small trash can is beyond full, and of course, the one and only, Commander, is sitting on his chair, working on a pile of unfinished documents with a glass of coffee on his desk. “Such a mess you have here. And you’re a mess too! Your face looks very tired, your hair is messy, and especially your uniform,” said Dispatcher with full concern. “Well? I don’t have time to clean up, these documents won’t finish themselves,” Commander replied, still with his messed up face. “Which is not a reason for you to not take care of yourself!” She scolds him. After that, she sighs and decides to clean up the mess he made. Kneeling down, she picked up all the scattered papers and documents and put them on their respective folders. She also takes out the trash can, emptying it and putting it back beside his desk. That’s just how much she cares about him.
Seeing this, Commander smiled a bit. “Thank you. You don’t have to, you know?”, he said with full gratitude for having someone as caring as her. “It’s okay. But you better start to take care of your well-being. When are these ‘Important’ documents due anyways? Knowing you, I know you’ll say soon, which actually is like a few days, or even a week.” She scolds and teases him at the same time. “It…It’s still due in 3 days…” he replied nervously, knowing he’ll get scolded again. “See! This is what I meant! You overthink too much! That’s it, no more working on these boring ahh documents, you’re coming with me to celebrate with the others!” she replied with a commanding tone. “Fine…but I am not in the mood to talk with the others. Just bring me somewhere calm.” He said with defeat.
Dispatcher slowly guides Commander out of his office, bringing him outside to meet the others. Some troops greet him but Commander dismisses them, until they arrive on a grassfield, away from the loud party. She sat on the grass, patting a spot beside her, signalling him to sit there. Commander nodded and sat beside her. The night is rather chilly, cold winds are blowing through them, with only the moon and stars lightening up their night.
After a moment of silence, Dispatcher looked at Commander with her blue eyes which sparkled under the moonlight. “You should take care of yourself better. You know that right? You are overworking yourself a lot lately and you always try to put up a tough facade in front of others. Don’t think I didn't notice.” She scolds him, but with a rather gentle tone now. “I know…it’s something I really need to work on.” He admitted, with a slight hesitant tone in his voice. Hearing his hesitant response, Dispatcher decided to push him to open up to her. “Tell me Comm, is there anything bothering you lately?” She asked. “Oh…nothing is bothering me. I'm okay” “Don’t lie to me.” “I’m seri-” “Comm.” “Okay…okay…i will tell you. But promise me to never tell anyone about this.” he pleaded. She smiled and nodded. “Promise.”, she replied. “Well…how do I even start? Being a commander…is really tiring. I feel like it's starting to take a toll on me. Leading the troops…and everyone looks up to you. Don't get me wrong, I love the troops. They're like my own children. But still, with their different personalities, traits, and abilities, it can get out of hand sometimes.” he said with a hint of vulnerability. A soft smile plays on her lips. “It's clear that you care deeply about your troops. They mean so much to you huh…”. “But sometimes I think I whine too much about this, I'm their leader afterall, it's a cost I have to pay for being a leader.” He continued. She nods in understanding, her expression softens with compassion. “I can only imagine the responsibility and the toll it takes on you. And it's truly admirable that you are willing to bear those burdens. But that doesn't mean you have to hide them and put up a tough facade in front of everyone. You need to find a balance between leadership and self-care. You can't lead your troops properly if you're always exhausted and overwhelmed from these burdens.” She explains, her concern is growing. “You're right.. you're awfully always right…” He admitted. Hearing this, she smirked and decided to tease him a bit. "Hah! I know I'm always right…." She pauses for a bit. “But seriously Comm. You need to start to do the things I've told you. And you need to open up more. Maybe to the other troops, maybe with me? Whenever you feel something bothering you, don't forget to open up, don't just bottle those feelings or else they'll explode one day..” she reminded him, her expression softened up even more, her hand patted his head. Feeling her hand stroking between his hair, Commander's heart skipped a beat, he went silent and enjoyed the feeling. After a while, he said “Okay…I'll try to open up more…but only with you though…I don't trust the others with this side of me…” he replied softly. Hearing his confession, her heart skipped a beat, she tried to keep her composure but ended up smiling sheepishly. "I'm honored that you trust me enough Comm. I promise it'll be only between us…”. “Thanks for caring about me. I know I could be harsh and cold sometimes but even then you are still willing to help me…” he thanked her with a hint of vulnerability in his voice. Her hand moved from his head into his hand, she intertwined hers with his. “Don't forget what I've said earlier okay? I want to be someone who you can lean on too. I want to be there for you Commander. Not just as your assistant, perhaps as your friends, or maybe even something more…”. He brings her hand closer to him. “I'm looking forward to it.". With eyes full of gentle care and affection, she responded. "Me too Commander. Me too.".