Work Text
“Why you up so late?”Pyro flinched before snapping around to see Heavy standing in the hallway nearby. He relaxed a little, not fully though. Nightmares were the worst they always set him on edge and made him scared even when he couldn’t remember the details, he hated them. If only he could burn them, let the rainbows consume them and leave nothing behind but ash to be blown away in the wind.“Pyro?” Heavy said when he got no reply.Pyro shook his head to clear it. “Nightmare,” he said, forcing himself to speak clearly so he could be understood through the mask. Which actually helped to steady him a little. Being near Heavy helped too, he was big and strong, Pyro was always safe with him.Heavy thought for a few seconds before speaking again. “You want to sleep in my room with me tonight? Is good way to get rid of nightmares, yes?”Without hesitation, Pyro nodded, he liked that idea. Cuddles were good, especially if it was with Heavy, and it should help him get back to sleep. With Heavy by his side he’d feel safe and secure.“Follow me.” Heavy led the way back towards the sleeping quarters. Pyro followed close behind.He held the door open for Pyro once they got to his room. Inside was two beds, a big one and a small one right next to it. On the small bed was… Sasha, Heavy’s minigun. It was tucked in too, adorable.Pyro clapped at just how cute it was. He’d known Heavy took good care of his gun but hadn’t known it extended that far. It was certainly odd of course but everyone on the team had their own oddities as well, Pyro chief among them.“You like?” Heavy said with a chuckle. “Most people laugh when they see.”“I like it,” Pyro replied. “Can I… can my flamethrower join Sasha?” It was a cute idea, Pyro would be snuggling with Heavy tonight, so his precious flamethrower could ‘snuggle’ with Heavy’s beloved minigun. If Heavy was okay with that.“I… do not know what you said.”Pyro repeated himself, being careful not to mumble this time and miming the action of holding his flamethrower and putting it next to Sasha.“Oh yes, go ahead. Sasha wouldn’t mind company.”Pyro clapped again before running off to his room to retrieve his flamethrower. He kept it in a special case under his bed that he’d made himself. His flamethrower was his livelihood as well as his pride and joy, he needed to take good care of it.He had to resist the urge to strap on the gas tank and hook it up to the flamethrower. As wonderful as the rainbows were, in the middle of the base was not the time to play with them. And sleep was a necessity, Heavy was waiting for him. So, he left the gas tank where it was and hurried back to Heavy’s room, skipping.Once there, he carefully moved the blanket and placed his flamethrower next to Sasha before tucking it back in. Maybe he should come up with a name for his weapon too? Like ‘Rainbow’ or something similar. Hmmm… he’d have to think about it more later.“Very good,” Heavy said with a chuckle. “Now you ready for bed?”“Yes.” Pyro nodded. He probably didn’t need this anymore, seeing Sasha in the little bed and being allowed to let his own weapon join her had cheered him up considerably. But he still liked cuddles no matter what kind of mood he was in especially from Heavy. It meant he couldn’t take off his suit and mask but he slept in it quite often these days anyway, he was used to it.There was just enough room for both of them in the big bed if they snuggled close. Pyro had thought he’d be too excited by everything to be sleepy but it was late, far later than he was used to being awake during. And thus not long after he was as comfortable as he could get he was starting to drift off, safe and secure in the knowledge that Heavy was there with him.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Pyro was awoken by the feel of Sniper shifting in the bed beside him. It didn’t seem the same as his occasional restlessness and a small almost whimper confirmed it; something was wrong. Pyro sat up to get a better look. It was dark but the starlight coming through the windows of the campervan provided enough light for the fear filled expression on Sniper’s face to unmistakable, he was having a nightmare.Pyro put a hand on his shoulder and gently shook him. Nightmares were the worst and Sniper always woke him from his, now it was Pyro’s turn to return the favor. Except Sniper was a deep sleeper, he didn’t wake up, making another sound of distress instead. So, Pyro shook him harder.It took a while but eventually Sniper awoke at last with a loud gasp as he shot up into an upright position, ready to attack. He paused as his eyes met Pyro’s, letting out a sigh of relief. “Hey,” he said, his voice a bit shaky.“Hey,” Pyro returned. “You okay?”“Yeah, I’m fine.” Sniper grimaced in a failed attempt to fake a smile as he shifted to sit on the edge of the bed. “Sorry about waking you.” He put his head in his hands.Pyro scooched close and wrapped his arms around Sniper’s middle, resting his head on his on shoulder. Sniper tensed up at first before relaxing with a sigh, even leaning into Pyro a little.“Want to talk about it?” Pyro whispered.“It’s nothing.” That wasn’t a real ‘no’ but Pyro wouldn’t press, he himself didn’t like to talk about his nightmares. Some people did though and for some people it helped, if Sniper was one of them, he’d surely share, right?“It’s okay now, it was just a dream,” Pyro said, mimicking what Sniper often said to him whilst comforting him after a nightmare. “You’re safe and I’m here with you.”Sniper grunted acknowledgment, putting a hand over one of Pyro’s. They stayed like that for a few minutes, Sniper taking slow steady breaths, getting through the lingering sense of terror nightmares often left behind faster than Pyro could.“Thanks,” Sniper finally said, his voice gruff. “Love you.”Pyro squeezed him a bit tighter. “I love you too. Ready to go to sleep or you don’t want to yet?” Pyro almost never wanted to attempt sleep right after a nightmare, he liked having at least an hour or so to wind down completely from it. Sniper didn’t seem to be the same, he was calm now.“In a bit.” Sniper shrugged and was silent for a while before speaking again. “You ever get those nightmares where there’s something chasing you but you can’t physically turn around to see it? All you can do is run but it’s like you’re running through sludge so there’s no chance you’ll get away from whatever’s chasing you.”“Uh… no, sounds scary though.”“I haven’t had it in a while but I used to get it all the time. It was real bad this time. It’s not a big deal though.”“It was just a dream,” Pyro repeated.“Yes. Let’s go back to sleep though.”They lay back down and Sniper cuddled a bit closer than he normally did. Pyro didn’t mind though, he loved it.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
A knock on Pyro’s door roused him from his maintenance on his flamethrower. He stood up from his desk and put his fireproof suit back on with practiced ease. Next came the mask and gloves before he was finally ready to answer the door, a process made quicker by how often he’d performed it.He lifted the bar, undid the deadbolt and chain before finally the door could be opened. It was Soldier! Always happy to see him, Pyro hugged him. Soldier squeezed him tight in return“I have a gift for you,” he said once their embrace ended. Pyro perked up as he shut the door behind Soldier, turning to face him again. “Ooh, what is it?” Gifts were always nice.Soldier reached into his pocket and pulled out a string tied in a loop with… severed human ears on it. He held it towards Pyro as if he expected him to take it. Clearly this was the gift.It was certainly an… interesting gift. Pyro had never seen severed body parts while not in the pink happy place before. It looked very… different as a result, ‘gross’ was probably a better word. It didn’t disturb him much or make him upset but still he was not a fan. But it was a gift from his boyfriend, how was he supposed to decline it without hurting Soldier’s feelings? So…“Thank you,” he forced out as he accepted it. What was he supposed to do with it? Hang it up somewhere? And why was he being given this of all things?“It’s good luck to wear the ears of your vanquished foes around your neck,” Soldier said as he took it back and put it put it over Pyro’s head so that it hung around his neck like a necklace. “Or so I heard somewhere. It can’t hurt though and it makes you look fierce.”Well, Pyro liked the thought of looking fierce. He was a paid mercenary after all, it was his job to be fierce and burn his enemies to the ground. Yes, he did that by spreading the rainbows around and smashing people’s skulls with a giant lollipop – it wasn’t really a lollipop though, was it? But his axe that just sometimes looked like a lollipop – but rainbows and lollipops could be fierce too sometimes.A string of severed ears was still a bit gross though. They’d undoubtedly start to rot soon too, ugh.“You’re gorgeous,” Soldier said, pride in his voice and stance as he looked at Pyro. It made him happy though so… Pyro would wear it for now but would take the first opportunity that presented itself to dispose of them, probably in a fire.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Whenever Medic fed and took care of his birds, he always baby-talked them. It was adorable and Pyro desperately wished he could understand what Medic was saying to them. He didn’t speak German though and he couldn’t ask Medic since that would involve coming out of hiding. Medic might not appreciate the fact that Pyro liked to hide in his lab’s medicine closet so he could watch him taking care of the birds.That was the kind of thing many people considered creepy, right? And Pyro wasn’t creepy, he just liked Medic a lot and liked watching him interact with his lovely birds. He wanted to be out there too with Medic, feeding the birds and petting them and just… spending more alone time with Medic. He couldn’t though, he had to content himself with just watching through the crack in the closet door.This time though, Medic had barely gotten started before he was interrupted by a knock. When he answered it Pyro was too far away to hear what they were saying but a quick peek revealed that it as Demo. He looked hungover, sagging against the doorframe, shielding his eye from the bright light of the lab.Their conversation didn’t last long before Medic was turning back into the lab. And… he was headed straight for the medicine closet, Pyro’s hiding spot.Pyro pulled the closet door closed, there was no lock though. What should he do? There was no chance of him getting out without Medic seeing. All he could do was hope and pray that Medic wasn’t headed for the closet after all, though there wasn’t much else on this side of the lab. And…The closet door opened. “Hello Pyro,” Medic said as if the sight of Pyro hiding in his medicine closet was one, he’d fully been expecting. “Hand me the little white bottle with the red label on your right.”Frozen, Pyro just stared at him. Why wasn’t he mad or something? Or at least surprised? Had he known all along? Why hadn’t he ever called Pyro out if that were the case though?“Quickly please,” Medic said, gesturing with his hand.Uh… Pyro pointed to a bottle that fit the given description.“Yes, that one.”Pyro grabbed it and handed it to Medic. He took it and… left, even closing the door again. That was… odd, maybe the oddest thing that had happened to Pyro since he’d started working here. Confused, he opened the door and poked his head out. There was no need to maintain secrecy anymore when Medic clearly already knew of his presence here.On the other side of the lap, Medic was handing Demo the little white bottle. He was saying something to him, probably giving instruction on the proper dosage of whatever was in the bottle. Demo nodded along before taking the bottle and leaving as soon as Medic was done talking.“You can come out if you want now Pyro,” Medic called out as he closed the door and wondered back towards the center of the lab.Pyro stepped out of the closet and sheepishly approached, hanging his head and wringing his heads together. Now would be the anger and reprimands for spying? “Sorry,” he said preemptively, forcing himself to speak clearly enough to be understood through is mask.“No need to apologize.” Medic waved off his apology as if it didn’t matter. “I must confess, I know you’ve been watching me feed my birds for a while. I don’t mind.”Almost not daring to hope, Pyro looked up at him. “Really?”“Yes, really, you are more than welcome to continue watching if you like. I enjoy your company.”Pyro hugged him, squeezing him tight with joy. Even better, Medic hugged him back. He was for sure going to be taking advantage of the invitation, spending time with Medic was one of his favourite things.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
As Pyro put his foot down on the gas pedal Engie’s truck jerked into motion much faster than he’d anticipated.“Whoa hey, maybe start slow,” Engie said from the passenger seat.Pyro pressed the other pedal and the truck jerked to an even more abrupt halt. Driving seemed to much harder than it looked. “What do I do?” he asked, turning his head to look at Engie.“Don’t press so hard on the gas or break, be gentle with it.”Pyro tried again, this time only tapping the pedal. They barely moved an inch. But tapping it some more got them moving… in a stuttering motion but still moving.But he was doing it, he was driving a real-life car for the first time. And better yet, with a bit more practice and a few more pointers from Engie he kind of got the hang of and had them slowly cruising forward.“You’re doing good,” Engie said. Pyro would’ve hugged him if he didn’t need to keep his hands on the steering wheel and eyes on the road. Well, it wasn’t really a road but a big empty parking lot, the principle of the matter still applied though.Turning, just like with the actual moving part of driving, looked easier than it was in truth too. The truck was big and heavy, Pyro could feel it as he turned the wheel. It was exciting in a way, he was in control of this big powerful thing but… it was also kind of scary. He could easily accidentally kill someone or himself or anyone in the car with him, in this case Engie. All it would take was for him to lose control or not see something. With as big and unwieldly as the car was those were both very real possibilities, especially if they were going at faster speeds.But he ignored that low hum of anxiety and focused on driving. As soon as he’d revealed casually in a conversation that he’d never driven before, Engie had offered to teach him. How could he possibly say ‘no’ to an offer like that? Especially since it meant more alone time with Engie. After about an hour or so of practice he had it pretty solidly down. Like with a lot of things, it was mostly a matter of getting a feel for it and just practice from there.“You think you could drive us back to the base?” Engie aske. “Roads should be mostly empty ‘round this time.”The base was a fair bit away though and it was a real road. They might encounter another car on it and Pyro might crash into it. Or they might encounter a pedestrian and Pyro might not be able to stop in time to avoid running them over. He wasn’t ready to take a risk like that yet so…“No thanks,” he said shaking his head.“All right, park whenever and wherever you feel like and we’ll switch seats.”Pyro nodded his assent, He could keep going for a bit more before stopping. “Thanks for bringing me out here and teaching me.” Again, he wanted to hug Engie but the duties of being a responsible driver prevented him from doing so once more. “This was fun.” Even if it was also a bit scary.“Anytime, was fun teaching you. And whenever you want to go out and practice some more, tell me, long as it ain’t a work day I’d be more than willing to take you.” Oh, he was getting the biggest warmest hug as soon as Pyro was able to do so.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The woman in the picture looked similar to the one engraved on one of Spy’s guns. Pyro had assumed it was just a cool design but apparently, she was a real lady and Spy apparently cared enough about her to keep a picture of her tucked away in his bedside drawer.Should Pyro be jealous? Upset? Should he suspect Spy was cheating on him? But he trusted Spy, there had to be another explanation, right? … Well, Pyro couldn’t know unless he asked so he’d wait to make any judgments until doing so. So, he went back to poking around Spy’s stuff, waiting for him to return from his spying mission.There were a few more pictures of the lady in the drawer. In one of them she was holding a baby. And then there were a few pictures of just the baby and then a toddler then a young child, presumably the baby grown up a bit. It was fascinating and Pyro probably shouldn’t be looking at them but it was a bit too late to do anything about it. Hopefully Spy wouldn’t be too mad at him about the accidental – and then not so accidental – invasion of privacy.It was almost an hour later before Spy finally returned. “You feeling any better?” he asked as he closed his bedroom door.“Yeah, a bit.” Pyro was hanging out in his room because he had a cold and coughing and sneezing were made even worse while wearing a gas mask. His only options if he didn’t want to deal with that were to hang out in his room alone all day or hang out in Spy’s room where he’d have company most of the time. He’d chosen the latter which is what had led to his discovery. Now how best to bring it up?He waited until Spy had made himself a bit more comfortable to do so, taking off his mask and the jacket part of his suit. “Please don’t be mad at me, I was bored and I found this.” Pyro held up the first picture he’d found which he’d lain facedown on top of the nightstand.Spy grimaced, even flinching a little. “I suppose that’s my fault for not hiding it better.”“Who is she?”Spy sighed as pulled a cigarette out of his pocket. He didn’t light it though out of curtesy for Pyro. “Scout’s mom,” he said, flicking it uselessly with his fingers.Ah, that made sense. That meant the baby and subsequently the young child in the pictures was Scout. He’d been a cute kid, with Spy’s permission Pyro might try to embarrass him with the pictures later. Maybe Spy would even join him in it, that’d be fun.“I’m sorry,” Spy said as if he thought Pyro were mad at him for some reason. “I promise me and her aren’t together anymore I… still have some feelings for her though so I haven’t been able to get rid the pictures of her.”“That’s fine, I just wanted to know.” Pyro’s call had been right, Spy would never cheat on him or with him.“You… seriously don’t care that I keep pictures of my ex in my bedside drawer?”“No. I trust you.” They trusted each other enough to feel comfortable taking their masks off for each other so Pyro could easily trust him to be honest about their relationship. His feelings for Pyro weren’t any less real because he still had lingering feelings for the mother of his son. “You also have pictures of baby Scout which is cute.”Spy sighed, a lot of the tension leaving his body as he sat on the edge of the bed. He even put the unlit cigarette away. “Yes, he was a cute kid. It’s just a shame he turned out so annoying.”Pyro’s giggle turned into a coughing fit. Being sick was the worst. “Sorry,” he said once he was able to breath again. “Are you mad at me for invading your privacy? I didn’t mean to, I was just bored and it kind of just… happened.”“It’s fine. Considering where I keep those pictures, I’m surprised you didn’t find them before this. So, don’t worry about it Mon Cheri, I’m not mad.”Pyro wanted to hug and kiss Spy for that but couldn’t without risk of spreading his illness to him too, which would be rude. So, he settled for a “Thank you,” instead. “Love you.”“I love you too.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“So, this is the kind of stuff you see while in battle, huh?” Scout asked as he looked down at Pyro’s drawing of the happy place. “Lollipop trees and… pink grass and stuff.”“Yes,” Pyro said. His art skills weren’t as good as Scout’s but he’d done a good enough job to get his point across. He’d wanted to tell Scout about it for a while now but hadn’t been sure what words to use but then the thought had occurred to him to just draw it, a picture was supposedly worth a thousand words after all.“And like, you only see this stuff while we’re in battle?”“No, whenever I play with fire, I go there.” Pyro fidgeted, glancing around Scout’s room instead of looking him in the eyes for this next part. He almost missed his suit and gas mask but this was the kind of conversation best had without that safety blanket. “That’s not a bad thing… is it?”“What?”“The happy place and the pretty rainbows that take me there are okay? You don’t think they’re bad? That I shouldn’t be seeing them? That I… don’t need them to be taken away?” Pyro hated thinking about it but he had to know Scout’s thoughts on the matter. He used to be more open about the happy place and the fires that looked like pretty rainbows that took him there, gladly sharing his experience with anyone who wanted to listen. But everyone he’d told had told him he was insane, that he needed ‘professional help’ to ‘fix’ him and take away the rainbows. He didn’t need fixing though because he wasn’t broken… right? “You don’t think my mind is broken… do you? That I need to be fixed?”Scout took a few seconds to think about it before answering. “No, you’re not broken, you don’t need fixing.” He spoke with enough conviction to ease Pyro’s fears a little. “As for all to this,” he gestured to Pyro’s drawing again, “I don’t really get it but if it makes you happy and isn’t hurting anyone then it’s not a problem or a bad thing. You’re perfect just the way you are.”Pyro got up from his chair by Scout’s desk and sat on the edge of the bed with Scout to hug him. “Thank you.”Scout put an arm around him. “Anytime pal and uh… thanks for trusting me enough to tell me about this. It’s nice to know more about you and stuff, you know?”“I love you.”Scout paused for a moment. Oh no, it was the first time Pyro had said that aloud to him with the mask muffling it to incomprehensibility, what if it had been too soon? What if Scout wasn’t ready for that yet? What if… “Oh, I love you too,” he said, sounding pleasantly surprised and genuine.Pyro hugged him a bit tighter before pulling back to kiss him on the cheek. He couldn’t be happier than he was right now.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Demo sagged heavily as Pyro helped him stand. “Thank you darling,” he said before kissing the side of Pyro’s gasmask. “You’re the greatest.”Pyro pulled Demo’s arm around his shoulders, putting one arm around his middle so Demo could lean into him as they walked. “You’re the greatest too but it’s time to go,” he said as he started guiding Demo towards the exit.Several of the bar’s patrons watched them go. None of them said anything, this had become a usual enough sight that all the regulars had all seen it numerous times by now.Outside, the sun had just finished setting, casting the town of Tuefort into twilight. Engie was waiting by the car parked in front of the bar and opened the back door so Demo and Pyro could get in, Pyro helping Demo all the way.They weren’t even halfway back to the base before Demo fell asleep, his head resting on Pyro’s shoulder. Which was sweet until upon reaching the base, Pyro had to wake him up, easier said then done. Pyro managed it though, he was getting good at that.“Huh? What? We back at base already?” Demo asked, looking around as if confused. Why he liked to drink so much when it had so many negative side effects would forever be beyond Pyro’s ability to comprehend.“Yep, now come on.” Pyro opened the car door and slid out. Demo followed and drunkenly gripped onto Pyro for support almost as soon as his feet hit the ground.He mumbled incoherently as Pyro guided him into the base. Demo’s room was a bit closer so that’s where Pyro took him. As soon as he had the door shut and locked, Pyro helped Demo sit down before gratefully slipping off his gasmask and fireproof suit. It was always a relief to be able to take it off at the end of the day while also not having to sacrifice companionship.“You’re beautiful,” Demo said, looking at Pyro with drunken adoration in his eyes. “Sorry I’m such shit.”“You’re not…”“Nah, I am,” Demo interrupted. “I drink too much, you shouldn’t have to put up with that.”How was Pyro supposed to respond to that? He agreed that Demo drank too much but… “I don’t mind.” Pyro had his own list of things that Demo put up with for him, Pyro could return the favor.“I know, you still deserve better though.” Demo sighed. “But… I’ll think about it more when I’m sober. For now, I need sleep.” He rose shakily to his feet and staggered to the bed. He collapsed face down onto it, perpendicularly, he was softly snoring within seconds.Pyro sighed and shook his head fondly before pulling Demo’s shoes off and gently moving him so that he’d lay properly on the bed, even tucking him in. If he remembered their conversation in the morning and was serious about cutting back on his drinking – or perhaps even stopping altogether – Pyro would be more than willing to help with that too. But for now, he’d just focus on hanging out for a bit longer, before crawling into bed himself.