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"Hello!"Palomo jumped at the loud voice right behind him. He spun around to find the giant that is Caboose. It was hard to tell since the nights were very dark underground, but someone this size was pretty recognizable.The young soldier held his hands over his heart, feeling it raging in his chest. He almost fell off the hill that he was admiring the quiet cave from. "Jeez, Captain Caboose, you scared me! How can someone so big and loud be so sneaky?" he whisper yelled with a cracky voice.The man puffed his chest in pride. "I am the king of sneaking! Even when I am not trying to. Though I scare people when I am quiet then loud." Palomo waited for his heart to slow back down before speaking. "What are you doing here, in the middle of the night? I thought I was the only one who comes here." He definitely had never seen a couple coming in this secluded part of the cave to have sex. And he definitely didn't stay anyway and just listened to them. It was their fault for coming to a public place instead of doing it in a storage closet like everyone. Not that he'd know, girls didn't seem to like him very much. No one seemed to like him, actually. If only he could be more like Captain Tucker. "Oh, yes. I was running and saw you so I wanted to ask." His voice lowered to a loud whisper. "Did you have a nightmare?" "Wha- how did you know? Are you a mind reader?""Oh, yes!" His arms flapped by his sides. "That would be so practical! Then I would be much better at knowing how people are feeling. But no, I am not. My friends are often in the kitchen at night because they had nightmares.""Okay, but why are you awake? Is your training routine that intense?" Was that why he was so big? Should Palomo run at night to get taller?"Yeah, no, sometimes I can't sleep when I get too excited." He was about to ask when Caboose kept talking anyway. "Well, I was feeling sad because I was a bit lonely in bed because Buttons isn't there." He fidgeted with his hands while talking. "Normally I would cuddle with Church or Agent Washington or even Raspberry Pie, but they aren't here either. And don't want to cuddle with dumb Tucker. He's mean and he sleeps naked." "So, what? Did being sad make you excited?" the young man asked, confused."Well, then I started thinking about all my friends and the good times we had together. Then I got excited about it and I was thinking about hugging them. And then I couldn't sleep and— well— you know— I needed to move. I don't have anyone to hug so I decided to run. Yeah, it usually works." He nodded to himself as he finished his little story."You miss your friends." The young man empathized. "I miss mine too.""You lost your friends?""Yeah. We weren't— we weren't really friends. We just— we shared a room. But now it feels.. empty since they left." He nervously fidgeted with his gloved hands, not used to talking about it. "They died in a mission. The room is too big with just me and two empty beds. When I had a nightmare I could always kinda talk to them afterwards and it felt nice." Really, he would try a conversation and they would snap at him to shut up and go to sleep, but it was still a distraction. "But now it's so quiet and I'm just alone with my nightmares." "You feel lonely." the tall man stated."Yeah. I don't have any friends I could spend the night with. People don't really like me. I'm not sure why."Caboose started a pensive hum. Whatever he was thinking about, he was doing it really hard considering the hum kept going for a full 30 seconds. Palomo wondered how big his lungs were in that oversized body of his. He stopped for breath but then started again, with a hand on his chin. Or where it would be, considering the helmet. He sometimes interrupted himself mumbling “thinking” like saying it out loud would make his brain work more efficiently.Palomo wasn't sure what to think of the man. He seemed to be disliked by many just like him. He couldn't really understand why. Sure, the man was a complete weirdo, everyone could see that. You just needed to be around him for a few seconds to notice he wasn't 'normal'. Still, he wasn't a bad guy. He seemed to be always in a good mood and was strangely nice to everyone. He was actually the most loved captain.Grif didn't overwork his men but he also never really did anything.Simmons was smart but he was too anxious to talk to his team.Tucker was a good soldier but he only had one private left.Caboose was a weird captain and was kinda out of it, but he seemed to genuinely care about his team. You could tell just from how Smith kept talking about him everytime he came up in a conversation. He even gave his men stickers when they did good. Where the hell he got stickers in the middle of a civil war would probably stay a mistery. Caboose snapped out of his heavy thinking with a loud "Ha!" Making the private flinch again."I'm lonely." he stated —too excitedly for that kind of statement— pointing a finger to his helmet."Uh, oka—""And you're lonely." He pointed to Palomo's visor. "So." He paused for a few long second. Maybe looking for his words. "If we're together then we'll be less lonely." His hands clapped, body jumping slightly up and down."Together. You mean—""Let's sleep together!" he said much louder than necessary, taking the youger man's hands in his own and hopping up and down. "Um.. I..." Palomo cringed, not knowing how to reject the war hero standing in front of him. "Look, I— Don't you have a boyfriend already?""I do." he stated simply. Everything seemed so simple for him."Right. So. I don't want for my first time to be with a man. Sorry. Even if it's a really cool war hero like you.""First time?" He paused in his hopping. Palomo vould almost hear the gears turning until he spoke again. "Oh, sleeping together. Gosh, why do things mean different things? This is so confusing. It's not that kind of sleeping together, silly." He squeezed the small hands in his. "I wanna cuddle. Or just talk and be in the same bed if you don't want the cuddles." "Oh." He freed one hand to scratch his neck awkwardly. "Right. That makes more sense." And one more tip for the Humiliating Himself In Front Of Important People™ jar."Ugh, what has stupid Tucker been teaching you?" he groaned exasperatedly. "But that's okay. It's confusing when words mean different things. It's hard for me too sometimes." He petted the hand still left in his grip affectionately. "So do you want it?" He paused the petting. "The talking. Not the sex."Palomo though about it. Caboose was kind and he did feel pretty lonely. A sleepover sounded nice after the few nights of quiet he's had since the mission. "Yeah, okay." he shrugged."Yes!" The tall man cheered before grabbing him and carrying him on his shoulder like he weighted nothing. Palomo could hear him mumbling excitedly about how awesome their 'slumber party' would be. He vaguely registered entering the dorm building and a room that wasn't his before getting —surprisingly gently— put down on a soft bed with many pillows."Please tell me anytime if you're uncomfortable or you wanna stop. It's important I know if you don't want something because I'm not very good at knowing that sort of stuff." he said, sinking into the bed next to him.The small man tensed. Wasn't that the kinda stuff some people said before sex? "I thought we weren't having sex.""Oh my god." He flopped on the bed with a groan. "What has Tucker been teaching you? Not everything is sex." He straightened back up, voice lower and serious. "We both don't want the sexy time with each other so it's not what's happening. We're gonna talk and maybe cuddle depending on what you're comfortable with. And if you change your mind you can go back to your room anytime. Okay?" Palomo's body relaxed slowly. It was the first time he heard captain Caboose sounding down to earth. He seemed like a considerate man. "Okay." he nodded."Do you want to keep the armors on or we take them off?""I think we'd be more comfortable with them off." Who the heck would keep their armor on for cuddling? Aside from very kinky people."Okay, let's do that."He saw Caboose taking his helmet off and started doing the same. They both worked quietly on their armor's latches. Silence only being disturbed by Caboose's enthusiastic humming. Once in their undersuits, he realized just how big Caboose was. Palomo looked way smaller out of armor, like most people he knew. They were all young and the armors were supposed to be thick. But Caboose. Caboose was huge. He seemed even bigger now that Palomo had his armor off, feeling stangely naked and small.Caboose started taking off his undersuit, revealing his big naked chest. He wasn't muscly like the other men in the lockers or the ones on magazines he would find in the abandoned cities. He was big. It wasn't just his muscles, it was also the flesh around them. His pecs almost looked like boobs to Palomo's eyes and he didn't have defined abs.He actually looked kinda chubby. When he leaned forward to free his legs from the undersuit, he revealed a rather round tummy. It looked squishy. Palomo didn't often get to see squishy people considering they were in a war and didn't have that much food. There were mostly thin people like him, and muscly people like the higher-ups. Caboose looked very huggable. Even though Palomo wasn't sure if his arms would be long enough to wrap around his torso. He got snaped out of his staring at the man's chest when he heard his voice. "Do you need help with yours? Oh, or maybe you're not comfortable out of it.""Uh. Oh, yeah. Could I get a shirt for the night?" He looked at a wall to avoid staring at Caboose's boobs pecs. They looked big but they weren't boobs. He definitely shouldn't feel weird looking at them."Oh, sure. I'll get one too." He turned around to rummage through his closet and Palomo used that occation to take a good look at his back. Still no defined bodybuilder-like muscles. The men in the magazines were good looking and attractive but Palomo would feel more scared to be in a fight against Caboose. Were people like him stronger? He didn't know much about muscles.Caboose gave him a shirt before pulling one over his own head. He sat on the bed and turned around to face away from Palomo. "I'm not looking."The smaller man had already changed and showered with other men anyway. He had never been embarrassed about showing his body despite his lack of muscle. Still, he appreciated the gesture. He was in the middle of taking off his undersuit when Caboose sparked up again. "Oh, I forgot the pants."Palomo snorted. "I don't need pants to sleep.""Are you sure? My Buttons doesn't like the texture of skin on skin.""I'll be okay. Besides—" He unfolded the shirt and had a look at it. It could easily fit three Palomos. "—that's already gonna be like a dress on me. I don't think pants your size would fit.""Right." Caboose agreed, sitting back down.He finished taking off the undersuit and pulled the oversized shirt over his head. It really was like wearing a dress. It almost reached his knees. He had already seen dresses shorter than that shirt. Caboose turned around when told he could and excitedly clapped his hands. "You are so small! You look just like my Buttons. How old are you, small green man?""Small green man? And I'm in my twenties." He was used to being vague with his age so people wouldn't keep the alcohol away from him."Yes because you are small and on green team.""You can just call me my name."Caboose nodded in agreement before pausing. "What is your name?""Wait, you don't know who I am?" Did Caboose just propose strangers to cuddle and sleep together often?"You are in Tucker's team.""I'm Palomo. I'm one of the four people you're training for the rescue mission.""Oh. Ok. So, are you ready to cuddle, Palindrome?" The young man chuckled at the word mix. He never had anyone call him that before. And probably never would. He wasn't sure that was even a real word. "Sure. Let's cuddle."He lied down on his back only to have the giant wrap his arms around him and pull him close against his chest, lying down as well. He wiggled a bit —struggling in the beast's hold— to turn around, his back against the other's chest.Caboose's legs rose to press against his thighs, enveloping him completely. It made hil feel small, but in a good way. In the middle of a civil war, no one was ever truly safe. But with this brick house around him, Palomo felt really safe for the first time since the beginning of all this. He vaguely remembered a time before the war. A scared child crawling in his parent's bed after a nightmare. He had long since forgotten what their faces looked like. He pressed his back further into Caboose's chest, melting in the embrace. Palomo suppresed a shiver when he heard the gentle low-pitched voice right behind his ear. "Is this okay?"He swallowed heavily, his throat feeling tight with emotions he hadn't felt in a long time. "Yeah, it's good." He still missed his parents."I like hugging people." His arms tightened a bit around the small man."And I guess I like getting hugged." Now he understood why some men had called him a 'little spoon'. This felt great."I missed this." He pressed his face in the younger man's hair. "It is very hard to go from many hugs to none, like that. Tucker, Simmons and Griff don't like it when I hug them.""You give really good hugs."The compliment made the man's legs wiggle happily. "Buttons said that a lot." "You talk about Buttons often.""Yes. We hugged a lot. It would often turn into sexy times, but I also liked it when we were just cuddling like that. I miss them." He started gently playing with one of Palomo's hands."You say 'they' when you talk about Buttons.""Yeah they're a They. Like how some people are a He or a She.""I've never met people like that.""I'm like that.""You're a They?""Well, I don't really understand how you choose the words. People always called me He so I go with that because if people said She, then how do I know they are talking about me and not another Caboose who is a She and GASP, SHE COULD BE MY EVIL TWIN!" Yes, he actually said 'gasp' out loud. "Yeah anyway, I don't mind what people call me because I don't really get it but I'm used to being a He. I think it would confuse me if people used the other ones but many things are confusing anyway. So I guess anything's fine." Silence fell on the two men like a warm blanket. Palomo was starting to get sleepy again, now that he felt safe.So, of course, he had to break the comfortable silence with uncomfortable questions. "So, how does it work? Do they have a rifle?""A sniper?" He could hear the metaphorical gears turning again."Yeah, yanno. A bazooka, a shotgun, a tank, a blowtorch? Or like… a vagina.""Oh, you mean a penis?""Yes.""Oh, yeah. Well tha— that is none of your business." He stated."Oh, okay. I was just curious."He felt Caboose nod against his hair. "Tucker got curious too when we first met them. Yeah, I think it is very rude. And why do people always use weird words to talk about sex?""Well it's cause.. it's… I— I don't actually know why." Palomo always felt ashamed when he didn't know something sex related. He didn't want for people to think he was innocent and oblivious."I find it very confusing.""Yeah, I guess."Caboose gently pinched the skin of the small hand as he spoke. "Is that why people think I don't know about sex? Because I don't understand when they use the words all weird?""I'd think it's mostly because of the way you act.""The way I act? What way?" He sounded genuinely confused."You know… childish." "I am not a child." He lifted his torso off the bed, unintentionally caging Palomo under him. His anxious eyes met Caboose's determined ones. He didn't look angry but his eyebrows were furrowed. His face looked more serious than Palomo thought possible for the always happy, carefree man. "I am an adult. I'm almost 30 now. Well— I mean, in a few years. But it's not because people treat me differently that I am a child." If anything, he looked hurt.Palomo held his hands up in surrender. "I understand, I get it. I was just saying that excitedly giving dog stickers to military men is kinda childish. But of course you're still an adult.""Smith did good when I took a accidental nap because I kept forgetting my pills. He deserved the shiny dog sticker." the man argued.Palomo heard about that incident. Captain Caboose suddenly falling down, unresponsive, in the middle of training with his men. He had seen the panicked blue soldiers running to the doctors yelling something about seizures. When he went to check, the man's helmet-less head was on Smith's lap while he gently pet his hair, talking comforting words to him. The scene was pretty cute, all things considered.Captain Tucker had seemed rather tense and irritated the days after that. He was probably just worried about his friend. Caboose lied back down behind Palomo without a word. He wrapped the small man in a strong embrace, amost holding him like an oversized teddy bear. He technically wouldn't be so oversized considering Caboose's size. The thought made him chuckle."What's funny?""You're so big, it's like I'm a teddy bear."Caboose nodded, chuckling too. "All my friends are smaller than me. The smallest one was mini Church. But he was transparent so I couldn't hug him. Oh! But look!" He let go of the man and turned around, looking for something in the blankets. He then showed him what looked like a small grey sim trooper plush. It was about the size of Palomo's forearm and had articulated limbs. "This is my little Church!"Palomo smiled. Plushies were adorable, even for adults. He looked at the goofy smile on the man's face and couldn't suppress his own. He seemed to be radiating happiness. Palomo raised a hand to move one of Little Church's arm up and down in the imitation of a handshake. He was worn out and a bit out of shape, probably from Caboose's rough loving and bear hugs. The stuffing was still really soft on the parts that were hugged less. "He looks cute. Where did you get it?" The only plushes left around were old souvenirs that sordiers kept from before the war, or some abandoned ones they could sometimes find on missions in deserted cities. He even remembered seeing an older sordier making one from scratch fabric and an old medical sewing kit."Buttons made it for me back in Blood Valley. They made a plush of me that talks so I asked them to make me a little Church. They didn't make him talk though. They said that Church refused to say my line about friendship and they didn't want to make him yell swearword like Church proposed. Thinking about it, I would have liked the swearwords. I miss Church."Caboose's smile faded to sadness and loss but Palomo would have none of that. "But you'll see them again. You guys managed to fix the stuff with project freelancer. Getting your friends back will be a piece of cake. We just need to beat up Felix and then you'll rescue them." He had hoped this would cheer him up but he seemed to deflate even more. "Not Church." He looked sadly in the plush's visor. "Church left us a long time ago. But then Epsilon came over. We spent a lot of time together while I was making him a body and I told him stories. He didn't answer but he was good at listening. Then I put him in the ball and he could— oh, he could shoot lazers with his eye. But then he left in the unit thingy. But then I brought him back with agent Carolina and he became mini Church and he is very small and cute even if we can't hold hands because he is transparent. But then he left again with her. But then agent Washingtub was nice and repared my face. Yeah, that wu— that was nice, and Freckles was happy. But then he got captured and now I'm left with Tucker and Simmons and Griff. An the— and they don't want to cuddle with me." He finished his ramble looking more frustrated about his lack of cuddle than the constant loss of his friends."You can cuddle with me." Palomo reminded gently.Strong arms wrapped around him again, squishing the old plush against him in the process. He felt his heart breaking when he heard the small cracky voice behind his head. "Thank you, Palindrome." Or maybe the pain in his chest was from the strength of the hug. He wasn't sure. They didn't feel lonely that night. And if one of them woke up from a nightmare before sunrise, he just cuddled against the other, feeling warmer than he had in a long time.