#also i couldn't figure out how to put this in without Shoehorning it but daniel is missing part of his arm in this au | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dxppercxdxver · 1 year

Text

teeny little study for that thing with @chiropteracupola :)

shining on the inside

Despite the fact that he was thousands of miles from a home he felt quite certain he was never to return to, Daniel was always his most comfortable sat round a fire, turning a skewer with a quiet satisfaction.

Golden sparks leapt into the sky, ferocious, yet fizzling out before they could touch the sun-scorched leaves looming over their encampment. The last dregs of the summer evening hung thick and heavy in the air. Sighing, Daniel shrugged his shoulder and wiped at the sweat coagulating in his beard; it was a pointless gesture, really, it was sure to return in but a moment, but neither could he resist it. He was far, far from Georgia, and the heat still clung to him, a specter of the swamps, the mansion, the family he left behind.

On this summer night, Daniel and a small collection of his compatriots were rather rudely stationed deep in the woods of New Jersey, pitching tents and keeping watch while a strike force of their remaining team hobnobbed with the high society folks he had done his best to avoid for the rest of his earthly existence. He was content with that arrangement, of course, but a part of him longed for a mattress and the privacy of four sturdy walls, both of which were decidedly scarce in the wilderness.

Daniel’s spectacles were beginning to escape down his sweat-slicked nose.

Hand occupied with what was to be their dinner, he had no real way to coerce them back to their proper place, and could do very little else beyond contorting his face into all manner of expressions, before gloved fingers grasped the end of the spit and freed him of his duty. He mumbled a quick thanks, scrambling to replace his specs before he lost them again. When he looked up, Prometheus sat cross legged on the ground next to him, flames glimmering in the dark glasses they wore as they stared into the embers.

“Thank you kindly,” Daniel said, gently taking the spit from them to continue turning the cuts of venison Mundy had secured for them earlier in the day. Grease popped and spit, and Prometheus continued to examine it with what Daniel presumed to be detached curiosity. They clasped their hands in their lap, wiggling their boots and leaving small tracks in the dust. While they watched, their focus never broke, not even when an uproarious guffaw echoed from somewhere near the edge of camp.

Smiling softly, Daniel lightly tapped Prometheus on the shoulder.

“Y’like fires, don’t you?”

Prometheus seemed to brighten, straightening up and nodding enthusiastically. Their hood bounced with the gesture, loose curls of dark hair escaping from under its frayed edge.

“Thought so.” There was something horribly endearing about the way their silent firebrand, so capable of carnage on a level previously unknown to most, could find genuine moments of peace in the breathing space between battles, even if it was to be found in gazing longingly at smoldering logs with the reverence of a congregation for its priest. Of course, Daniel was familiar with Prometheus’s work—had been a rather vocal proponent of recruiting them to the team in the first place—but the figure behind the pamphlets was a far different one than he could have ever expected. Now, he was being allowed a peek through the curtain, to view their adoration of fire on a personal level, not just a political one.

Nudging Prometheus with his toe, Daniel said, “I do too.”

And it was true. Fire had been one of Daniel’s lone comforts when he had burned his final bridge, funnily enough; it had kept him warm, guided him to welcoming homes, and most of all, been printed in the pages of the writings he kept tucked in a pocket close to his chest. He propelled himself forward with the flames under his heels, wielding it to create, and build, and forge. Even here, roasting dinner over a meager blaze and sweltering in his woolen coat, the warmth was a touch of reassurance, careful hands cradling his face. It was nice to share the company with someone of a similar mind.

“You know,” he mused, bouncing his heel against the ground, “you’re a right fine fellow, lightning bug.”

Prometheus shimmied in their seat, knocking their head into Daniel’s knee with a muffled, “Mmmmph!” Toes tapping the stone circle that contained the fire, this was the most engaged Daniel had ever seen them, cheerful and alive.

Laughing, Daniel looked at the patch of empty dirt next to them. “Y’all got any room down there?”

Within seconds, Prometheus was shuffling aside, patting the ground and sending up little plumes of fine dust. The invitation was clear.

Daniel braced the spit under his upper arm, while Prometheus took his hand and guided him to his seat, settling hip to hip, knee to knee, shoulder to shoulder.

When Daniel looked at them once more, now level with their masked face, he could swear he saw the glint of soft, dark eyes behind the sparkling tinted glass.

#FIRST ENGIE FICLET. I'M LOVE HIM.#he is so fun to write :)#weather in the story brought to you by me Sweating My Ass Off even though it's only like 70 degrees #ANYWAY who hasn't stared at a fire absolutely hypnotized for like an hour #but also they're Bonding #i really wanna write more about pyro also since they're just. ough they <3 #this one's a little less Smooth in terms of integrating source with prose but truly i cannot be bothered to course correct #so it is how it is!! hallelujah!!!#also i couldn't figure out how to put this in without Shoehorning it but daniel is missing part of his arm in this au #everything under the right elbow is gone #so. now you Know. hopefully this will come up with more substance later but it is important that everyone be Aware of this #disabled-to-disabled communication occurring with these two for real #but. yeah #title from incandescent ruins by the mountain goats :)#flintlock fortress #team fortress 2 #the engineer: daniel conagher #the pyro: prometheus #radio free junebug #my writing

9 notes · View notes