Work Text:
Scout awoke to a faint whine.
At first, he brushed it off as something from whatever dream he'd been having. But then there was movement from beside him. His eyes opened slowly, blinking as they adjusted to the darkness.
After a moment, he remembered that he wasn't in his bedroom — he'd been staying in Sniper's camper that night. The sound of crickets chirping could be heard directly outside. The tiny window on the back wall of the loft gave a spectacular view of the starry sky and full moon, shining faintly into the van and providing just enough subtle light for Scout to see. He was facing the ceiling, likely having rolled over at some point during the night. He rubbed his eyes. Why was he awake, again?
Another quiet whine pierced the night air. Scout looked to his left. Sniper was still laying next to him, but something was off. He had kicked off most of the blanket and was left in just his sleepwear — black sweatpants and a red t-shirt. His back was facing Scout, so he couldn't see him that well, but he appeared to be hunched over. His legs were curled inwards and it looked like he was trying to make himself as small as possible. He was extremely tensed up and his breaths were coming out in strained gasps.
Scout sat up, all feelings of tiredness suddenly replaced with worry. “Babe?”
Sniper groaned, sounding annoyed. “Go back to bed, 'm fine.”
“What's wrong? Ya look hurt.”
“I said I'm fine.” Sniper said sternly, turning his head towards Scout but not moving the rest of his body. He flopped it back down onto the pillow with an exhausted-sounding sigh.
Scout was no genius, but he knew for a fact that Sniper was not fine. His neck had a sheen of sweat on the back of it and his hair was sticking to it like it was hot out, but the cold air of the night should've made that impossible. Scout leaned forward so he could look at his face; his eyes were closed and the rest of his features were twisted into a pained frown. The tense rise and fall of his chest was even more noticeable.
“Snipes, c'mon. Tell me what's wrong. Are ya hurt? Or is it somethin' else?”
Before he could reply, a sharp inhale left Sniper as he folded in on himself, like his body was answering Scout's question for him. He turned away, burying his face in his pillow to muffle another involuntary whine. Now that he was really looking, Scout could see that his arms were wrapped tightly around his middle.
He gently put his hand on Sniper's shoulder. “Please, Babe? You're startin' to scare me…”
At that, Sniper sighed loudly. He turned away from the pillow to speak;
“'S nothin'. Just my stupid bloody body trying to bloody kill me, is all.”
“Huh?”
“…My period, ya drongo.” Sniper said, annoyed.
Scout nodded. “Right, right. I knew that.”
He'd totally forgotten that it had started yesterday, which is why Sniper hadn't wanted to do anything beyond kissing and cuddling before bed. Well, at least it wasn’t anything super serious like he'd first thought.
He pulled himself closer and wrapped his arms around Sniper, planting a kiss on his neck.
“Anything I can do to help?”
Sniper paused for a second, readjusting himself to be closer to Scout. “Move your hands down.”
Scout didn't question it, immediately moving his hands downwards until they were right above Sniper's stomach. “This good?”
Sniper hummed. He gently took Scout's in one hand and guided them slightly lower.
“There.”
Scout nodded. He began rubbing his belly with his thumb, not really sure what else to do but not wanting to just sit there. Sniper's shoulders eased up just a little as he snuggled into Scout's hold without a word. He reminded Scout of a koala — a very tall, lanky koala who smelled like earth and leather, but it made him smile.
“Clingy tonight, huh?” He teased.
Sniper growled, but there was no true malice behind it. “Shut up, mate.”
He whimpered suddenly and turned in on himself once again, a low groan leaving his throat. Scout's smile faded.
“Ya sure you don't want me to get you somethin'? I can heat up the hot pad for ya, if you want.”
Sniper exhaled shakily. “Don't wanna make you get up.”
“Riiiight… so, you wanna get it then?”
“…Fine. Bugger.”
Scout sat up and placed another kiss on Sniper's cheek this time, a snarky grin on his face. “Love ya too, hun.”
He unwrapped himself from his lover and crawled over him as gently as he could to get to the ladder. Once there and down, Scout made his way to the tiny kitchenette and flicked on the overhead stove light so he could see where he was looking. Despite coming in here on the regular, Scout still couldn't remember what drawers held what.
As he searched the cabinets, he could hear fabric shuffling up above coupled with Sniper's noises of pain. Scout could tell that he was still trying to keep them quiet despite them both being awake now, which gave him a weird pang in his heart. He knew he didn't have to hide it anymore, right? So why was he?
He finally found the hot water bottle (which was more like a weird rubber pouch, in his opinion) and filled it up before setting it in the microwave. As he waited for it to heat up, he glanced up at the bed. Sniper was facing away from the ledge now, moving his body around to try and get comfortable. Scout frowned. Man, having a uterus must suck ass.
The microwave beeped and Scout collected the bag before wrapping it up in a nearby tea towel and hopping back up the ladder. As he kneeled onto the bed, he could see Sniper's face clearly this time. His eyes had dark circles beneath them, like he hadn't slept even a little. His forehead was speckled with sweat and his eyebrows were knit together in discomfort. Once he felt Scout's presence, he opened his eyes.
Scout offered the bottle to him. “Here. Careful, it's hot.”
Sniper took the bottle and immediately pressed it to his stomach. He gave a loud sigh of relief that would've probably sounded embarrassing in any other context as his shoulders relaxed and he seemed to melt further into the bed, falling onto his back.
“Thank you.” He said softly. His tired gaze fell to Scout and Scout felt his heart skip a beat. Here his boyfriend was, in agonizing pain yet so cozy and warm and grateful and just looking at him with such gratitude in his eyes. Scout wanted to look at that face forever.
“Yeah, yeah, no problem.” He said with a smile. “Ya need anything else?”
Sniper closed his eyes. “A good hit to the head so I can get some bloody rest.”
Scout laughed. “That bad, huh?”
Sniper didn't laugh or even respond, he simply sighed and readjusted himself so he was back on his side. He winced again, pressing the bottle further into himself. Scout frowned. He wished he could do more for him.
“Are you in, like, a… ‘get the hell away from me’ type of mood? Or a ‘get over here and hold me’ type of mood?” He asked. “'Cause whatever you need, no questions asked, I can-“
“Just shut up and lay down, Roo.” Sniper said without moving.
“Alright, alright. Your wish is my command.”
With that, Scout snuggled under the blanket, pressing himself against Sniper's back. He wrapped his arms around him once more, placing his hands over Sniper's. The hot water bottle radiated a pleasant warmth even through the towel, no doubt giving relief to Sniper's aching insides. Scout gently pressed his fingers into the bottle, causing Sniper to sigh contentedly.
“Thank you. I hate these stupid bloody things.” He muttered quietly.
“Y'know you could just have Medic cut it out, right?”
“Don't want him to.”
“Why not?”
Sniper hummed. “Feels too invasive. Don't want him pokin' around my insides.”
Scout nodded. “Yeah, that's fair. Gettin' Archie outta my chest wasn't fun, either.”
Sniper chuckled. Scout smiled.
“Hey, that got a laugh outta ya!”
“Hm. S'pose it did.”
They laid like that for a while. For once, neither of them were talking. Scout was silent because it was still very late at night (around 1 AM, if he read the clock right) and he was tired while Sniper was just… well, Sniper. And Sniper was usually always quiet. That is, until a question left his mouth.
“Love?”
“Yeah, Babe?”
“…This doesn't bother you, does it?”
Scout lifted his head, confused. “Does what bother me?”
“This.” Sniper said, lifting a hand so he could gesture to himself.
Scout scoffed. “Babe, we get blown to pieces every freakin' day. I've seen my own fuckin' insides thanks to Medic. If you think I'm gonna throw a fit because of blood that comes outta your-“
“No, no, not that. I mean… this. Takin' care of me 'n all that.”
“And why the hell would that bother me?”
Sniper paused. “I dunno. Just…” He sighed. “I'm just not used to having someone here. Don't want you to feel like you have to be here. Don't want you gettin' tired of me or some shit.”
“Snipes, Babe, listen.” Scout started. “If you can put up with my yappin', I can put up with you not feelin' good. This? This is nothin'. Plus…”
He pulled himself closer until he was right next to Sniper's ear. “It gives me a reason to get all up close to you like this.”
Sniper's face turned beet red. He elbowed Scout with a barely-suppressed smile as he turned his head away.
“Ha! You're totally blushing!”
“…Shut up.”
“Make me.”
At that, Sniper looked at Scout. “Mate, the minute it stops feelin' like a knife is in my insides…”
Scout resumed his position behind Sniper, once again wrapping his arms around his abdomen. He kissed his neck again.
“I'd love to see you try.~”