“Spy log: Day 14, they still don’t suspect a thing. Have taken quite a liking to chips.” Took this photo when I went for a walk along the inlet recently 😂
Wrote this thing for Sonny, about a week (or two?) ago. It's still not finished because of work and other things, but I thought I'd throw up what I have right now.
Sniper stepped outside of his camper; letting the door swing shut behind him while covering a yawn as he stretched in the early morning light.
There was no battle today which meant that most of the base would be sleeping in, leaving him free to roam without any interruptio-
A feathery missile struck him in the side of the head, knocking his hat and itself to the ground. Sniper jumped back as the thing rolled over, giving an indignant chirp as it did.
"Pretty little thing, ain't cha? What's a little one like you doing so far out in the desert? I would have thought you'd prefer trees." The bird looked up at him and chirped again, cocking its head to the side and hopping closer. He reached out his hand and chuckled again when it climbed up his fingers.
"Bold little thing huh?" The bird chirped in agreement and continued its upward climb. It paused when it got to the Sniper's shoulder before darting over and pulling at his ear.
Sniper jerked his head to the side and glared at the bird. "Wot? You got a problem with me?" The bird chirped again, ruffling its blue feathers back into place, almost seeming to glare at him, the way its markings formed a silhouette around its eyes. It jumped off his shoulder, flapping over to some crates before glancing back at him and chirping at him again.
"What'dya want now little blue? Trying to rile me up?" Sniper shook his head and laughed. "Ah, who am I kidding? A grown man talking to a bird. Not like you can understand me anyway." He trailed off as the bird hopped over to him again bobbing it's head up and down almost as if... almost as if it was nodding.
He was startled out of his thoughts as the door to the base banged open and the Pyro emerged; flamethrower slung over one shoulder. The man shuffled over to the Sniper, exclaiming in delight when he spotted the bird.
“Mmph mrrrd?”
“Yeah. Dunno what it’s doing all the way out here though.”
“Mmpn mmfh mmld mph?”
“Eh, I guess you could try and hold him, but I think he might be too scared of you to let you.”
The bird had been edging away from the Pyro but froze at these words and gave an indignant squawk. It glared at the Sniper before flying over to land on the Pyro’s out stretched glove. The Pyro giggled as he held the bird; setting down his flamethrower so he could stroke its feathers with his other hand.
“Mmts murpf!”
“Yeah, I guess. Reminds me of that BLU Spy to be honest.”
Pyro glanced up at the Sniper and made a questioning noise.
“Yeah, well I mean look at it! The little white bits around its beak and eyes make it look like he’s got a bird version of the Spook’s mask. And these here,” he pointed to the darker patch of feathers leading down the bird’s chest, “make it looks like he’s got a little tie too. I just- I dunno. Look, if you want to play with it, you can. I’m going to go get some coffee.”
With that Sniper turned and headed into the building. Pyro shrugged and resumed stroking the bird’s feathers, watching as the bird slowly relaxed. It turned its head this way and that to allow the Pyro to scratch its neck and when it got bored of being petted it hopped onto the filter of Pyro’s mask.
Pyro giggled as it stared at his eyes, first through one lens, then the other before pecking at the glass with its beak.
“Hurr.” He glanced around; checking to make sure no one else was outside; before sitting down on the ground cross-legged with one of the crates behind him to lean against. He set the bird on a knee and with the other hand pulled his mask off. He grinned at the bird as it stared up at him, his burn-scarred skin giving him a lopsided smile. He ran his gloved hand through his short cropped hair and chuckled. “Not what you were expecting, huh?” The words came out in a wheezy rasp that spoke of extensive smoke damage to his lungs. “Most people don’t. Or at least I don’t think they do. They always look pretty horrified anyway,” he held out his hand to the bird, “but I promise I won’t hurt you, alright?”
The bird glanced at his outstretched fingers and back to his face before hesitantly hopping onto his hand. The Pyro chuckled and brought the bird back up to his face.
“See? Nothing to worry about. At least not for a brave little thing like you.”
The bird bobbed its head up and down, but whether it was in agreement, or if it was just getting a better look at him, the Pyro couldn’t tell. It hopped from side to side on his glove curiously staring at the mass of scarring that covered the Pyro’s face. With a quick flap of its wings it was perched on the man’s head; using one of the larger, less well-healed scars to hold onto as it looked at him upside down in the eye. The Pyro giggled then yelped in surprise when it pecked him in the nose.
“What’d you do that for?” The bird ignored him and pulled itself back on the crown of his head, using his scars as grips as it walked around on the top his skull, pausing to peck at a scar or pull at his hair.
“Ow! Stop that!” The bird stopped for a moment before dropping down the side of his head to his ear. It grabbed onto his ear with its claws, simultaneously pulling at his ear with its beak and smacking him in the back of the head with its wing as it struggled to stay there.
“Hey, hey!” Pyro grabbed for it with one hand and grumbled a curse when it darted out of his reach. He rubbed the side of his head and glared at the bird.
“Really? I pet you, and this is how you act?” The bird’s responding squawks caused a rueful grin to spread across the Pyro’s face. It wasn’t every day you got laughed at by a bird.
“Yeah, well, see if I do it again.” He rolled his eyes and bent to retrieve his mask.
The bird flapped back to his shoulder and started tugging on his ear. The Pyro groaned and grabbed for the bird again, catching it this time. He chuckled as it tried to squirm out of his grip, finally settling down and glaring at him.
“Sniper was right, you really are like Spy. In looks and how annoying you are. At least you can’t stab me in the back though…”
