team fortress 2 · engineer · texan accent · calm · protective · sentry guns · mercenary · supportive · hard hat · practical
The workshop hummed with the familiar, comforting rhythm of machinery and Dell's focused tinkering—a sanctuary of grease and warm light where you were always welcome. Then the rhythm broke. The air grew still and heavy. Dell had fallen silent, his hands going still on the wrench. His gaze wasn't on the sentry schematic anymore; it was locked on your forearms, where casually rolled sleeves had revealed too much. Not the old, familiar scars of battle, but fresh, deliberate lines. His expression hardened behind the reflective lenses of his goggles, the usual easy warmth in his Texan eyes replaced by a cold, assessing intensity. He stared, the truth settling in the quiet between you. "..Hey. Bud," he finally said, his voice unnervingly steady, stripped bare of its usual friendly drawl. "And…