Summary: Yes it’s that scene from Mulan but with a bit of a twist, the one I reference alot in my fics but it’s just too friggin funny to pass up
(Implied Tatum x Evanson)
“Yeah, yeah ok but what if somebody sees you?” Steve questioned as he paced back and forth.
“Just because you and I are Marines doesn’t mean we have to smell like them,” Tatum pointed out as he slung his drab olive greens over the tree branch.
“So what if a bunch of us don’t rinse out our socks once in a while, picky, picky, picky,” Steve rambled. “I mean hey once you get used to it, the cornchip smell isn’t too bad.”
Tatum completely ignored him and dove straight into the lake with a loud *SPLASH!*. Water fell right onto Steve’s head and into his eyes, soaking the back of his shirt.
“Ah this feels soooooo good,” Tatum sighed as he ran his hands through his shock of copper red hair.
“Ok, ok get on out of there before you start getting all prunie and stuff,” Steve told him.
What the hell was even his problem anyways?? They had spent months of fighting on a godforsaken island where heat waves never seemed to end and they stunk of their own body odor all the time. “Steve if you’re so nervous go stand and watch.”
“Yeah yeah,” Steve muttered. “Stand and watch Steve while I blow our cover with my stupid man habits. “Pfft......hygiene.”
“Hey I heard that!” Tatum retorted.
“Good to know!” Steve shot back.
He perched himself on a rock, letting the sun hit his face and blindingly pale skin. Better here than freezing our asses off in Russia.....he thought.
Steve watched as Tatum went under the water, only to bob to the surface, his red hair clinging to his forehead and his white t-shirt clinging to him, revealing the indents in his collarbone and shoulders. Steve didn’t want to admit half the things he felt, especially after what had happened at Iwo. One guy saves your life and you fall on your ass for him....?? Something’s clearly messed up in your head man.....
Steve slipped from his perch and into the water, the warmth washing over him and cooling his skin from the heat of the sun. Quietly he crept over to Tatum and grabbed him by the ankles, the two of them tackling each other and rolling into the water as a dunk war ensued. It was a tangled mess of playful yelps, yells and splashes before Tatum felt his back being pushed against a cool rock near the reeds.
“You good?” Steve asked him.
“Yeah no I think you hit me on the lip when you pulled me under,” Tatum chuckled.
Tatum pulled his had away as Steve ran his thumb over the skin to feel for breaks. There were none, but deep down he had missed the touch of another human being.
All of a sudden, the thunderous footfalls and yells of the rest of the company were heard along with the splashing of the water. “Fuck!! We’re doomed!! There’s a couple of things I know they’re bound to notice!!” Steve blurted out before diving under the water.
Almost all of the company had come barreling into the water, even John who was supposed to be recovering from life threatening injuries. “Hey Tatum!” he called.
“Oh uh.....hey guys I didn’t know you were here,” Tatum stammered, embarrassed that one of them might have seen him and Steve. “I was just washing so now I’m clean and I’m gonna go, BYE!!”
“Ah ah! Get back here,” John said. “Look I know you, me and Evanson kind of got off on the wrong foot here.”
Kind of? Who the hell was he kidding?
“Listen if this is about that whole ‘slap a jap’ thing I had nothing to do with it,” Tatum insisted.
“No that I’ve put behind me,” John told him. “What I meant was that the other guys haven’t really gotten to know you guys yet and they thought they’d introduce themselves, that’s all. See that idiot up there? That’s Manny Rodriguez.”
“How’s it man?” Manny asked.
“Uh, not bad?” Tatum replied, still slightly embarrassed and growing red in the cheeks.
“And that idiot over there is......”
“The king of the rock,” JP proudly declared. “And there’s nothin you fuckin girls can do about it!”
“Hey watch your mouth JP,” John warned him. “Tatum and I could easily knock you right off that rock.”
“I really don’t think I wanna,” Tatum said.
“Aw c’mon Tate, don’t be such a.......”
“JEEBUS FUCK!!! SOMETHING BIT ME!!!” John yelped.
“Maybe it was a snake,” Manny told him.
John, JP, Manny and the others were sent scrambling right for shore while Tatum swam his way into the reeds, hiding himself from view and relieved that nobody could see him. He felt something brush against his leg and caught a glimpse of something black and white gliding along underneath the water.
“Ok Steve,” he called out. “I think you can come up now.”
Steve broke to the surface, gasping for air and wiping the water away from his eyes. “Man that was close,” Tatum remarked.
“No,” Steve told him. “That was vile, you owe me big!”
Steve scooped up a bit of the water in his hand and swished it around in his mouth before spitting it out again. He turned his head to find a mischievous grin plastered all over Tatum’s face.
“Hey don’t look at me, I’m not biting any more butts,” Steve told him outright.
“Not even mine?” Tatum replied, feigning disappointment.
“Yeah, in your dreams Romeo,” Steve chuckled as they swam back to shore.
