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“Shit”, Fuse says.
Bloodhound, standing to his left, turns to their right to see who the third squadmate will be and immediately understands Fuse’s reaction. Maggie is chewing a toothpick, strutting up to her spot on the dropship to the right of Fuse.
Smirking, she says, “I don’t make ya nervous, do I?”
Bloodhound wordlessly looks straight ahead. After all, they’re a true warrior that can’t be bothered by Maggie’s quips. But, her sharp tongue gets under Fuse’s skin.
“We’re on the same team, just try to play nice. Eh, Maggie?”
"Don't get your knickers in a knot, Wally!"
Fuse hates that nickname but he bites his tongue, deciding that Maggie is just picking a fight. He looks to his left at Bloodhound and thinks he’s lucky to have them on the squad. He doesn’t want any issues among his squad, but with himself and Maggie together, there’s bound to be tension. They should focus on fighting the enemy and not each other, he knows that, but Maggie’s never ending barrage makes it hard to focus. Bloodhound’s quiet stoicism serves to remind him of what he is (and isn't) here for.
The platform begins to lower and as soon as they’re soaring through the air, Maggie calls out a spot with high-tier loot but equally as high stakes.
“Go here,” she says.
“Yeah…nah,” Fuse disagrees.
Bloodhound chimes in pointing the other direction, “I say we land there”. It’s safer, still high tier loot, and more central.
“Righto”, Fuse responds.
Suddenly, they’re dropping to the ground. Maggie has made her decision disregarding her squad. Their descent is quick. Normally, Fuse would be amped up for a match and Bloodhound would be wishing the squad a good hunt, but multiple other squads are headed the same direction they are. Fuse and Bloodhound are on edge. Bloodhound veers right and lands at the doors of a building, Fuse lands at a building nearby. Maggie lands in the middle of a few supply bins a short distance away, but it’s clear she’s outnumbered by the other enemy squads that land on top of her.
“An egg landed near me,” she says.
She grabs a weapon quickly and puts up a good fight, but within a few seconds she’s down.
“Ohh ratties. I’m down,” Fuse and Bloodhound hear over the radio.
“Saw that one comin, ” Fuse mutters under his breath. He finds a Peacekeeper with some shotgun ammo and sees Bloodhound climb on a nearby roof. “Whaddaya see up there, Houndy?" he says over the radio.
They're looking through the scope of a Sentinel to get a look at the situation Maggie wound up in. “Marking our surroundings,” Bloodhound scans the area. They count 5 enemies. Some are hiding and gathering weapons, others are shooting at Maggie’s knockdown shield.
“Hurry up, would ya-”, Maggie yells but her cries are cut off. Another squad eliminated her and their only choice now is to revive her.
“On our way, Mags,” Fuse makes his way towards Maggie’s location. Peering around the corner, he sees enemies and Bloodhound marks more that they see through their sniper scope.
“Launching me knuckle cluster,” Fuse says and fires grenades at the area. Bloodhound snipes some enemies down and Fuse’s grenades are doing damage, but there’s just too many.
“Bein’ shot at!” Fuse shouts while he runs to find cover and recharge his shields, but another stray bullet hits him.
“Bugger, I’m down.”
In the meantime, Bloodhound jumps down from the roof and hurries towards Fuse. They knock a few enemies on the way but it’s not long until their shields are low too. Bloodhound slides to where Fuse is bleeding out.
“Fear not, my mate. I am here,” Bloodhound says as they revive their teammate.
“Heh heh, mate, eh?” Fuse replies as they both pop a shield cell.
"Recharging shields. Walter, we have ten seconds," Bloodhound says in a serious tone.
Fuse sees Maggie’s timer is expiring soon. He turns to look at Bloodhound and then back to the action. At least two squads are still fighting around Maggie’s box. They have to make a decision.
“Sorry, Mags,” Fuse says with a pang of guilt. He knows it’s what Bloodhound is thinking, too. The only way to survive is to leave her behind.
Bloodhound looks past him to see the carnage, nods once, and starts to head the other direction. Though they can’t hear Maggie’s radio anymore, they can imagine the profanity she’s screaming at them for leaving her behind as her timer expires.
They make their way out of the area and head towards the next ring. They find survey beacons along the way that Bloodhound uses to guide their trek towards the center of the map where the rings narrow in size. Bloodhound finds an area with mid-tier loot and tells their remaining teammate, “Looting here to strengthen our fight.”
“Reckon I’ll come along for the ride,” Fuse says. " Though, I'd probably go along with any ride if Houndy was calling the shots ," he thinks to himself.
“Med kit, here. Evo Shield here, level 3,” Bloodhound says while pinging loot for Fuse.
“Mate, how do you always know?” Fuse responds after picking up the loot. His voice sounds far off, like he's thinking of something else. Soon enough, they’re both stocked with better gear, guns, and grenades.
“Shoulda landed out here in the first place, eh Houndy?”
“Mmm, agreed. Maggie’s approach can be…too strong, at times.”
“You’re too soft on her, call it what it is. She’s a maniac who only looks out for herself!”
“Walter, she can still hear us,” Bloodhound cautions.
“I don’t give a rats arse, she about got us killed too!”
Bloodhound doesn’t reply, but they know Fuse is right. If they had landed together, collected better loot, and taken a more calculated approach to attack the remaining squads when they were at their weakest, they might have fared better rather than losing a teammate so soon. But, Bloodhound is a hunter at heart who understands the patience of the hunt. Fuse is learning to wait until Bloodhound can scan the area for enemies instead of launching grenades everywhere he can see, but Maggie is still as wild as she was when she got here.
As they’re looting an area, gunshots start pinging off the sides of buildings. A few hit their mark and damage the two’s shields. “Joker’s shootin at me,” Fuse says. Their opponent clearly isn’t a good shot so he’s not worried, but ducks into a nearby building to quickly recharge his shields. Bloodhound joins him inside and points their sniper out a window. “Target over there,” Bloodhound says. They see Revenant far in the distance pointing a Spitfire at the building they’re hiding out in.
Fuse charges over to the location Bloodhound is pinging, “Oh hell yeah, Matey.” As much fun as he’s having with Bloodhound, he’s dying for some action.
“Careful, Walter. Another enemy in the distance,” Bloodhound says as they ping Newcastle’s location.
“Whaddaya mean, Houndy? I’m always careful!” Fuse says in a sarcastic tone. He hears a low chuckle over his radio in response. “Did I just get Houndy to laugh?” Fuse thinks, “Maybe that wasn’t quite a laugh, but that was somethin’!” A grin spreads across Fuse’s face as he positions himself behind the enemy squad while they're distracted by Bloodhound.
Revenant is struggling to find the members of their squad but Bloodhound’s sniper finds Revenant perfectly. “The gods favor my aim today,” Bloodhound says as their Sentinel damages the enemy.
"Motherlode’s comin’ - cover ya staches, ay?" Fuse says from behind the enemies as he traps them in a wall of flames.
Fuse unleashes grenades while shooting at them. Bloodhound still has a clear shot from their distance and fires at them until they both eventually fall.
"Our enemies have met their fate. That squad is out,” Bloodhound says.
“Looks like that was another two mate squad. Nice kill, ya bloody ripper,” Fuse responds.
“You as well Walter, we make a good team,” Bloodhound says as they exit the building and head towards Fuse.
“Aw get over here ya softie, and get your share of this loot,” Fuse says.
They encounter no other squads during their trek to the ring but find plenty of death boxes to loot. As they approach what has to be one of the final rings with only four squads left, Bloodhound suggests they find a spot on a roof to get a good look at the enemies that remain. They pull out their sniper and frequently scan the area. Fuse follows their lead for a little while, but he grows impatient and bored, of course. He sits back with his arms stretched out behind him.
" Three squads remain ."
Fuse looks over at the hunter to the right of him. Bloodhound’s body is tense and rigid, but their movements are careful and at ease. Fuse knows they might never loosen up from their on-edge, hunter nature but he’s still holding out hope. Though, he's appreciative of how many times they've saved his ass due to how careful their movements and thinking are. They'd probably both be eliminated by now if it wasn't for Bloodhound's serious demeanor and quick decisions in this match.
He notices their jacket is fitting tighter than usual around their arms. Fuse wants to ask " You been workin’ out, Houndy? ", or ask them to ditch the jacket all together but holds himself back. They'd get so flustered, they'd probably fall off the roof. Fuse loves to push Bloodhound’s buttons and listen to them try to stammer out responses to his teasing. When they first met, Bloodhound barely spoke to him unless it was about the hunt. Now, they even crack a joke at him on occasion. It makes him feel a tad warm and fuzzy inside knowing that they trust him enough to open up this much, though he always finds himself wanting even more.
He also knows better than anyone that this serene, watchful part of the match is their favorite and all, but…
“I admire your patience Houndy, I really do, but I’d love to be out there launching frags right in their faces and givin’ em a good scare,” he chuckles.
“Walter, you should embrace the hunt. Our enemies will come to us, we must be ready.”
“Yeah, yeah..I get ya,” Fuse sighs in agreement.
As Bloodhound shifts to get a better angle on the enemies firing at each other a far distance away, Fuse sees a sliver of tanned skin peek out of the space between their mask and the fur scarf of their jacket. He wants to ask, though he'd probably have to beg, to see more of that sun-kissed skin. Fuse’s eye lights up with a better idea.
“Two squads remain.”
“Say, Houndy, if we win this match…how about you show me what’s under that mask. And if we lose, I’ll show you what’s under this eyepatch,” Fuse says with a smirk.
Bloodhound’s body freezes. They lower the Sentinel and slowly turn to look at Fuse.
“That doesn’t seem fair, Walter," Bloodhound says sincerely.
Fuse bursts with laughter at their reaction to his proposal, “We got a deal?”
Bloodhound sighs, “I don’t remember the last time I have shown my face. Why does it matter?”
“You’ve seen my face, hell I think you’ve even seen me half naked. You’re my best mate and I’ve never seen what’s hiding under there.”
Bloodhound’s body relaxes a bit at Fuse’s coaxing.
Fuse leans closer to them, so close that he can smell the woodsy, natural, and enticing musk that always surrounds Bloodhound. He gently asks in a softer tone, “What are you afraid of, mate?”
Bloodhound is quiet but takes a breath, ready to answer, when a flurry of shots rain through the sky. Fuse barely even feels his own shields being hit; he’s distracted by Bloodhound’s shields shattering. Bullets plunge into their shoulder. Bloodhound slides down the back of the building, body limp, with blood dripping out of their open wound. Fuse jumps down with them in a panic and watches the way they calmly inject a syringe, so practiced. He knows they’ve done this a million times but he can’t help but be worried with the blood pouring out of their arm. Fuse’s mind races like a live wire. Where did those shots come from? Who are we fighting? Why did they go for Houndy first and not me?
Focus Fusey…The shots probably came from where the other squads were fighting. They must’ve seen us on the roof and known Houndy could find their location and decided to aim for them first. What am I, chop liver?
“Taking a moment to heal,” Bloodhound says with a strained voice. “Are you hurt, Walter? My apologies, this is my fault for losing sight of the hunt.”
“Just a scratch, worry about yourself, mate. It’s my fault for prodding ya,” Fuse says regretfully as he pops a shield battery.
Suddenly, before Bloodhound can fully recharge their shields, they hear Valkryie jetting up and excitedly saying, "Fox 3 - I got radar lock!" from the air. Before her missiles can reach them, they both slide down a hill nearby and end up in a stream. Fuse stands and points his gun high, firing at Valkryie. His shots connect and she falls from the sky nearby.
“Recharging my-,” Bloodhound starts but gunfire echoes through the valley.
“I have fallen,” Bloodhounds says, sounding defeated. Fuse knows they have more fight left in them and starts bounding towards their location.
He spots Loba firing at Bloodhound’s knockdown shield. Fuse launches grenades at her, and slides towards her while firing off his trusty Peacekeeper. Soon enough, she’s down. He keeps firing at her until her knockdown shield is depleted and he’s sinking bullets into her bloodied body. Eliminated. He probably went too far since there’s only one member of the squad left and they’re nowhere near to revive Loba. But, the back of Fuse’s eyelid is stained with the image of Bloodhound cowering under their knockdown shield while she relentlessly fired on them.
Fuse turns to where Bloodhound squats under a set of stairs. He rushes over to them and punches the syringe into their chest.
“Fusey here to pick your butt up. No smacks in the works! Heh heh…”
He grabs Bloodhound’s hand and helps them up.
“Walter, now is not the time for jokes.” Bloodhound says while using a Phoenix kit.
“If you wanna thank me, buy me a round after,” Fuse laughs.
Bloodhound sighs with a smile behind their mask, “That is a deal I can make…bless me with sight,” they say while scanning the area for the remaining enemies.
They see one enemy is down, the Valkryie that Fuse shot out of the sky, and one more running towards her. Bloodhound and Fuse rush towards the two enemies to see Bangalore popping smoke to revive Valkryie.
"I bathe in the blóð,” Bloodhound says in a steady voice.
A smile rips across Fuse’s face, “Here we go, Houndy!”
The two charge into the smoke, Bloodhound fires directly on Bangalore having perfect vision in the smoke and Fuse follows where Bloodhound is shooting. Finally, Banaglore falls and they hear from above,
“ You are the Apex Champions.”
Fuse lets out a cheer and Bloodhound turns to look at him, breathing a sigh of relief. Fuse claps them on the back and with a wide smile says, “Nice shootin, Houndy. But I’m holding you to that drink.”
Before Bloodhound can respond, a grating voice comes through their radio.
“You know I can hear you two flirtin' even when you can’t hear me? The both of you left me in the dust to barely even get any action in the fight! What’s the point if you eggs are gonna sit back and sweet talk each other the whole damn match-” Maggie drones on.
- - -
Later in the evening, Bloodhound and Fuse walk into the bar usually frequented by legends after matches. Bloodhound has been here very few times but it’s a venue Fuse knows well. Bloodhound isn’t sold on Fuse’s drinking offer, but they owe him one for reviving them.
“Come on Houndy, they got plenty of fruity juices of your choosin. Just humor me this once and buy me a cold one.”
Fuse finds a seat at the far end of the bar and Bloodhound chooses the chair to his left. Their corner is dark and secluded, far from the entrance. It’s basically empty this early in the night anyways. Fuse gets a bottle of beer and Bloodhound orders a water. Fuse hasn’t stopped teasing them about it since the bartender passed a water over the counter.
“You could live a little, it wouldn’t kill ya! Heh heh…”
Bloodhound brushes it off, they’re used to Fuse’s relentless poking fun and teasing. Normally during a hunt, Bloodhound would encourage Fuse to focus on the match. However, there is no harm in letting the man have his fun. Fuse seems to enjoy this, and Bloodhound enjoys seeing Fuse’s smiling face. Bloodhound noticed long ago how the skin around Fuse’s eye and eyepatch crinkles up when he’s really happy and a dimple will sometimes show when he laughs. Bloodhound doesn’t always understand what humors the man. But, sometimes, he laughs so much that he’s bent over trying to catch his breath while choking on his own laughs. Those are Bloodhound’s favorite moments with Fuse.
But this time, Fuse’s face is pink from his alcohol and he has a dopey grin plastered across his face. Bloodhound is unsure why he is so content, maybe it was their victory today.
“I enjoy fighting with you, Walter. You make a wonderful mate. Um, fighting…mate.”
Fuse’s eye widens for a second, then crinkles, “You too. Cheers, mate.”
Fuse clinks his beer bottle against Bloodhound’s glass of water.
“Though, Walter… I owe you an apology for not being of greater help today. You were hurt because of me, and for that I am-” Fuse cuts them off before they can finish their sentence.
“Don’t worry about it, really. You’re a better mate than Maggie ever was. In fact, I couldn’t ask for a better one.”
Bloodhound sighs, content with Fuse’s forgiveness. “I appreciate your kind words, Walter.” Fuse beams back at them.
“Well Houndy, off with it. We had a deal. I’m finding out what’s under there tonight,” Fuse says as he reaches out to lightly tap the side of Bloodhound’s mask with his knuckle.
“I didn’t agree to this, Walter,” Bloodhound says in a huff.
Fuse sips his beer, “I have a feeling you were about to, and that might as well count, eh?”
Fuse is raising his eyebrows at Bloodhound, his lips pulling up at the corner and resting on the opening of his glass bottle.
Bloodhound swallows hard and reaches under the mask to pull it off their head, then their goggles. They set them on the bar in front of them, dropping their hands in their lap. After a beat, they finally turn to look into Fuse’s deep coffee-colored eye. Usually in the sun during their hunts, flecks of amber and orange can be found in the brown abyss that isn’t covered by his eyepatch. But tonight, with only the colorful neon lights in the bar to reflect off his dark irises, they look almost pitch black. Bloodhound has looked into Fuse’s eye innumerable times in the hunt, but without their goggles it takes on a new intensity that sends a shiver down Bloodhound’s spine. Maybe, because that eye is looking right back into theirs with such fervor.
Fuse’s eye is wide now and that light, teasing smile has dropped. A cherry red blush spreads across his high cheekbones. Bloodhound slightly flinches back at the sight of his changing expression, studying Fuse’s every move. They feel vulnerable like this. When was the last time someone saw their face?
On the other chair, Fuse’s agape expression is gradually turning into something sweeter. A wide grin spreads across his cheeks and his eyes crinkle, irises conveying something unreadable but what feels to Bloodhound like pure affection.
“You know, Houndy…you’re a real looker.”
Bloodhound feels electricity starting at the crown of their head racing down to their toes. They feel like the back of their neck is baking in the summer sun on Talos, equally as hot as their cheeks. Their chest feels tight and constricted but their heart is beating so loud that they can hear it in their ears. Fireworks, no, grenades ignite in their stomach. Before these feelings can go farther south, Bloodhound catches themself. How could they feel so much from the reaction Fuse just had, from a statement so simple?
Bloodhound’s throat has gone dry and their mind is blank. They have trouble finding the few words, “Th-thank you, Walter,” they manage to stammer out.
Fuse’s smile grows impossibly wider until his eye is fully closed. He chuckles, “I’d ask you to tell me your real name too, but I think you’d lose it if you opened up any more.”
Bloodhound looks away from Fuse’s face for the first time since removing their mask. They feel a blush blooming again, but this time from shame. They think, “ I feel such a deep bond forming between Walter and myself, he’s the one I feel closest with here. Have I really shown him so little of myself? I tend to keep to myself, but I’ve made it this far with Walter. I want…to tell him more. Tell him everything…”
Bloodhound looks back up at Fuse’s face to see him looking even more entranced than before. He seems peaceful and relaxed while studying each of Bloodhound’s features with his eye before moving onto the next. Bloodhound feels warm again under this affectionate scrutiny.
But, Fuse’s face suddenly drops as he looks past Bloodhound and towards the door that they hear creak open. He jumps out of his seat to quickly put himself between Bloodhound and the crowd of people entering the bar. He peers down at Bloodhound, “Fun’s over, Houndy. Unless you want the rest of the crew to see that pretty face of yours.”
Then, Fuse leans in close. So close that Bloodhound can hear his gravelly voice barely above a whisper in their ear. His warm, sweet breath washes over their bare face making their skin tingle with little sparks. His eye is focused on scanning the skin of Bloodhound’s neck as he growls,
“But I’d like to keep this between you and me, mate. Maybe next time I can see that smile of yours I’ve heard behind the mask.”
Bloodhound feels heat explode across their face as they dive for their mask and goggles sitting on the bar before Fuse can see the ridiculously unnatural reaction they just felt. Clearly, Fuse notices judging by the thunderous laugh that erupts from his chest.
At Fuse’s roaring laugh now filling and echoing through the room, Mirage pokes his head up from the crowd and yells over, “Look who it is, old man Walter Fitzroy!”
Fuse leans an elbow over the bar, now facing the crowd. His wide frame nearly hides Bloodhound completely as he chirps back to Mirage, “Oi watch who you’re calling old! I see a couple a grey hairs sproutin’ there.” As Bloodhound finishes replacing the mask over their face, Fuse peeks over his shoulder and winks once Bloodhound looks up at him. Luckily, Fuse can no longer see the unending blush that feels like it’s starting to stain Bloodhound’s cheeks.
They can hear Mirage approaching as the floorboards creak beneath his feet. Once he is sure Bloodhound’s mask is back in place, Fuse steps aside and reveals Bloodhound to Mirage. He is clearly taken aback by the surprising figure in the bar.
“Bloodhound?! What are you doing here? I’ve never seen you come out and be social after a match…” Mirage trails off. He looks up at Fuse, back to Bloodhound, back up at Fuse, back to Bloodhound. He nods a few times and says, “Well I’m glad to see you out here buddy. I would've had it in the bag if it wasn't for Loba knocking me while I was fixing my hair. Seriously, who does that? Anyways, congrats, you two. On the win, I mean. Uh - of course, that’s totally what I mean.”
He smiles easily, throws finger guns at both of them and leisurely strolls back to the crowd of other legends.
Fuse peers down at Bloodhound looking totally content, a small smile gracing his face, “Shall we join them, Houndy?”
“Yes, Walter, I would enjoy that.” Fuse can hear the smile in Bloodhound’s voice and tries to imagine what the sight would look like.
Fuse and Bloodhound walk together towards the crowd and are greeted again by Mirage. Many of the other legends are surprised, but excited, to see Bloodhound after a match.
Maggie sits on the other end of the bar eyeing the two, thinking they look awfully chummy. She sips her drink, and crushes a toothpick in her hand.