Pistola dell'amore

by cyrogenics

Summary:

Electroshocker has a not so good history with Freezer. And he wants to make up for it, because according to everyone around him, he's the "purest tower in the TDS". This process however will be a lot more difficult than Electroshocker originally anticipated..

Notes:

ps electroshocker and engineer work together to make the weapons. you'll see that mentioned a few times.
also English isn't my first language sorry for typos lol

Chapter 1: No one ever taught you how to be a real man

Electroshocker opened his eyes, groaning as he registered the feeling of the cool pillow underneath his head. Struggling to get his beauty sleep, he reached up to rub his eyes, complaining to himself. "I haven't slept in like.. 72 hours! Fuck this," He plastered his hand over his face, muttering something in a language nobody else at the base understood.

He stretched his arm outward, feeling around the rough, messy bedside table for his phone. He grimaced at the sandpaper-like feel to his fingertips, eventually curling his fingers around the device.

Flashbanged by it automatically turning on, he squinted at the unfamiliar brightness in the dark room. He skimmed over the time, the numbers bolded on his screen. 03:45, it read, clear as day. With a yawn, he chucked the phone onto the ground, making an unintentionally loud thud as it landed. 

Immediately regretting that action, the electrician internally panicked. 'Is it broken?' he thought to himself, 'That was louder than usual!' He threw the blankets off of his body, sitting up in bed. As he scrambled to check on his phone, he was interrupted by a knock on his door. "Come in," he responded.

The door would open— making a creaking sound which Electroshocker grimaces at— to reveal a sleep deprived Mortar, still in his pajamas. "What was that bang?" The other slurred out, it doesn't take a genius to tell he was under the influence of some sort of drug. Assuming by the smell, Electroshocker could guess it was weed. "Sounded like it came from your room."

The electrician fidgeted with the strings of his hoodie, internally crafting an excuse. Mortar, having spent much time around the other, could read him like a book. He was trying to bullshit his way out of something. "I have never once snitched on you. You'll be fine, just tell me," he persuaded, a twinge of annoyance in his tone at Electroshocker's distrust.

Electroshocker gives in, getting off the floor and standing up while clutching his phone to his chest. "Ehh, can't sleep. I got real annoyed, cause I haven't slept in like 3 days, and I threw my phone," He summarized the events, receiving a scoff in return for the explanation. "Seriously?" said the cliff tower, biting his cheek to stifle his laugh.

The other replied with a slightly embarrassed nod, flicking his own side. His attention was diverted from Mortar as he noticed a short tower— one could assume he was around 158 cm, more or less— discreetly walk past him, seemingly heading for the kitchen. Electroshocker walked up to his doorframe, nudging Mortar out of his way, and attempted to do a favor. He hollered at the sneaky tower, "You know we're on curfew. It's only best you get back to your room before Commander notices and gets mad."

The mysterious man, who Electroshocker observed to be shivering despite wearing thick, probably comfortable pajamas and a beanie to top it off, lifted his hand to his headphones. He moved the earmuff off of his ear, responding with a soft "Hm? Why are you up, then?"

The voice is.. oddly familiar, despite the fact that Electroshocker has never interacted with this troop before. He turned to Mortar, who whispered in a fast, hushed tone, "Isn't that Freezer?" The other internally facepalmed, how could he forget?

The rest of the night was a blur to the electrician. The only thing he could recall was the bantering he and Freezer did, which started due to Electroshocker's insane hypocrisy. Although unable to remember what exactly he did, the argument ended with a pissed Freezer walking away while holding up a middle finger. Bad first impressions, he thought.

It also seemed like the last impression, because they never had any interaction after that bicker if you disregard the stares they gave each other in the hallways.

 

---

 

Electroshocker was snapped out of his trance, his laptop buzzing loudly with a large warning that read 5% BATTERY REMAINING. He reached over the desk for one of the many chargers, jamming it into the dirty charging port, and once he heard a small 'ding' indicating his laptop was indeed charging, he didn't hesitate to grab another cord. 

"Riiightt, fixing Freezer's weapon," The electrician thought out loud, fumbling as he tried to locate the port on the gun, eventually finding it underneath the trigger and connecting the cryogun to his laptop via the cord clamped around his hand.

Engineer, a tan woman with dyed purple hair thrown back into a ponytail and works as.. well, the base's engineer, was humming a tune as she worked on repairing Pursuit's helicopter. He could infer that something with the propeller was broken, considering she was on top of the vehicle. She stopped her murmur when she heard Electroshocker talk. "You say something?"

"No," Electroshocker responded, locking his gaze onto the laptop and staring at the code before throwing his head into his arms. Why did Hacker have to be sick, why did he have to deal with her responsibilities? 

Engineer simply smirked, noticing the reluctance in his voice. "You suuree you're not thinking of anything?" Her gaze never left the helicopter as she repaired it, but she sure was focusing with her ears on the conversation at hand. The thing was, they have been working together for years. They can read each other like a book, and they knew each other's deepest secrets. 

"Shut up!" The man retorted, grabbing the gun in defense. Engineer knew how.. odd Electroshocker's thoughts could get. It was an entire new realm of strange. Eventually, he pulled his head back up, fixing his posture and messing with the wires. He finally responded to Engineer's question. "Just, just Freezer. I've only interacted with him once, and that interaction wasn't positive, so I highly doubt he likes me, and I really don't think he's ever gonna live down the fact I made him do like 10 more pushups that next day," he stressed the final part, being met with a moment of silence from Engineer.

"I see," Engineer responded, unscrewing something as she spoke. "Wishing you luck. I've never interacted with him myself, only his sister, but he seems like a lot." She laughed, throwing the screw onto a nearby plate and somehow landing it with insane accuracy.

Electroshocker smiled a bit too, turning his attention back onto repairing the cryogun. He switches between typing out a storm on some coding program that Hacker used, fingers rubbing along the plastic keys, and reaching over to rewire the weapon. While mending the unfixed gun,  he pondered as to why Freezer didn't give him his weapon earlier.

Why did he stall letting me upgrade it? he thought, Is he just attached to this useless piece of plastic? Or does he just hate my guts? He stifled a laugh at his thoughts, trying not to gain the attention of Engineer again. He really didn't want to explain this time around.

The electrician eventually utilized some sort of keybind that saved the newly written code, and unplugged the cryogun. He bit his cheek in slight boredom while he slammed his laptop, Freezer's gun held firmly in his hand, and walked out of the garage. Well, some people called it the craft room. Electroshocker couldn't care less about what others called his workroom, though. 

Now, his objective was to get this weapon to Freezer, and pray nothing goes wrong…

Notes:

edit: yes i rewrote this chapter LOL i didnt like how it fit with the rest of the story

Chapter 2: Our problems are so aggravating

Electroshocker walks into the lobby, which is directly connected to the garage. Many bored towers were on their phones, a couple familiar faces waving. He looks down at the gun, then at the large plaque on the wall honoring the TDS' work. 

Where is Freezer's room? He asks himself, he seriously does not know. The electrician refrains from asking anyone else as he does not want to seem like a creep either. Guess I'll wait til dinner and go from there. 

In the passing few hours waiting for Commander to get on the speakers announcing dinner, he does everything he can to kill time. Talking with friends, drawing, playing a game of Monopoly. He lets out a sigh he didn't even know he was holding in when the anticipated alarm finally blares through the base.

He makes his way to the buffet-like setup, where he grabs some medium well steak and some odd looking yams. He rolls his eyes, thinking about Demoman's cooking. It's not twice as bad, it's just very, very spicy.  

He sits down at his seat, looking up. Freezer is sitting as far away as humanly possible, it seems like. He's really making this difficult, huh?

Electroshocker bites into one of his yams, the freeze gun stuffed in his pocket. He manspreads while chewing, not so discreetly staring at Freezer. He shrugs, noticing 100 things at once. He was so focused on observing the man that he didn't even realize when he got up for seconds.

He snaps out of his thoughts and chews on another yam when he sits back down, looking at his plate and wondering why exactly the cold boy was eating alone. Isn't he friends with everyone? People made it seem that way.

The electrician stuffs his face with food, finishing it as fast as possible. He looks up at Freezer when he quickly realizes that the other is staring at him. A strange look, to say the least. A suspicious one. He rubs the back of his head and puts his plate in the dishwasher.

He then silently takes his notebook out once seated again and writes something in his language, which used the Cryllic alphabet, on the bottom of the page while creating a rough sketch of Freezer eating. He takes special detail to his large, brown eyes and other facial features, as well as the fact he's always wearing a cap and 'hiding' his hair in a sense– whether that be a beanie or a bonnet. It makes him question why he hides it; religious reasons? Makes him comfortable? Or something else? 

When Electroshocker looks up, Freezer is departing from the cafeteria. Perfect. Now he needs to confront him, without seeming like a creep. He walks out behind him and watches the exact pattern he takes to his room, discreetly watching him open his door and walk in behind a wall. Once a reasonable amount of time has passed, he knocks on his door.

Shuffling can be heard echoing around the room before the door latch unlocks and is opened with a whoosh of air. Freezer, who's covered by a blanket, is standing there. Once he notices it's Electroshocker, he groans before slamming the door shut on him. 

"DAMMIT!" Electroshocker yells from the hallway, punching the wall dramatically before taking out his phone. If he knew anything about Freezer, he knew that he had a twin sister. And his twin sister wasn't bad at all. 

He digs for his phone, making an inaudible 'ha!' sound when he finds it. He then opens the contact labeled Cryomancer on his texting app, and quickly shoots a message. "You awake? If so, get Freezer to talk to me rq, he still has a grudge against me." He then shoves his phone back in his pocket, leaning on the wall. He feels a vibration from his phone followed by a bit of bickering coming from the twin's room, when Freezer opens the door again reluctantly. Cryomancer is behind him, eavesdropping. "First of all, how did you find my room? Second of all, what the HELL do you want?!" 

Guess someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed , Electroshocker pondered, before finally explaining himself. "Your weapon's finished. And your sister gave me directions, to answer your question," He holds his hand out, which is loosely gripping the now upgraded freeze gun. 

Freezer snatches it back like it's his baby. Not even a thank you? Damn. He holds it up and experimentally freezes Electroshocker. This makes him stay still like a statue in an ice block for a good 3-4 seconds, which to the other feels like years. He snorted, placing his gun on a table inside his room when Electroshocker was unfrozen. He is now shivering like mad.

"Not funny, Freezer." Electroshocker rolls his eyes, about to flick him then remembering the terms they are on. This is not a playful situation, and the flicking would probably just poke the bear. So he backs off. Before he walks back to his own room, Freezer speaks up. 

"I saw you staring at me during dinner, by the way.. and what were you drawing?" SHIT. Electroshocker stops in his tracks like he was frozen again, and looks him directly in his eye trying not to display anxiety. "Just.. concept art. Of a character for my friends show, yeah." 

Despite the fact Freezer could see right through him, he didn't have the energy to waste his time on questioning someone he doesn't even like in the first place. So he just took the lie and shrugged. ".. Okay, whatever you say." The boy rolls his eyes and closes his door, shooing Electroshocker off nonverbally. 

Electroshocker trots off to his messy room, which was on the floor above Freezer's. A million thoughts flood through his head once again, but one stands out as he unlocks his door and nearly trips on a shoe left in front of it; damn, that didn't start any friendship at all. So, what DOES Freezer like? What CAN start a friendship?   He throws his body in his bed, coming to a quick and simple conclusion. I'll worry about that later.

Chapter 3: Don't wait for the tide just to dip both your feet in

Electroshockers sleep, the first time it was actually decent in months, was interrupted at about 2:30 AM when an alarm rang through his room at maximum volume. As he forcefully withdraws from his dream, he grunts and shoves his head in his pillow. "God dammit! I forgot I set that," he speaks to nobody. He then stretches his arm over to his bedside table and plays a small game of whack-a-mole until he finally touches the large "STOP" button on his phone.The attempt to go back to sleep had no avail.

Around 4:00, he loses the last bit of hope of sleeping and finally rises from his oh so comfy bed. He ambles out of his room groggily, presses a glowing button to take the old elevator down to the lobby floor, and continues his way to the kitchen. He opens the refrigerator and grabs a pack of instant dumplings, and places the plastic inside the microwave. His stomach growls while he clicks some buttons to set it for 2 minutes, the microwave starting automatically. The tray inside illuminates and begins spinning, while the man leans on the counter in exhaustion.

Electroshocker averts his gaze when a familiar face, the same one he dealt with a couple hours ago, Freezer, pushes the other out of the way to access the fridge. The electrician scowls in utter disrespect, before tiredly snapping. "Who raised you? At least say excuse me,"

Freezer shoots an offended, and equally as tired look. He crosses his arms, turning around to face Electroshocker. "Y-y-you're too mu-m-mmuch o-of a bitc-bitch for m-me to c-care as-asking." He spurts out, stuttering due to the fact he had absolutely 0 energy left to mask it. The stuttering however both surprised yet agitated Electroshocker more.

"And how am I a bitch? You're the one who froze me and hates me for literally no reason." He justifies, Freezer is in the middle of replying when the microwave beeps to signal his food is done. Electroshocker grabs the dumplings out, listening to the rest of the other's rambling. "..a-and y-y-you m-mad-ma-made me.. d-do mo-more laps t-tha-that one tim-time!!" 

Electroshocker simply cackles at this comeback, grabbing chopsticks and dipping the dumplings in a cup of soy sauce. "Hey, that was your fault for getting mad at me for trying to save you. If you listened to me, you wouldn't have needed to do those laps." Before Freezer can defend himself, the other shoves the dumpling in his mouth, an effective way of muting him temporarily. The boy's eyes widen, before he chews it and swallows. As much as he'd hate to admit it, the dumplings WERE good.

"N-ne-n-never do-o tt-t-th-that a-a-again." Freezer complains, grabbing a popsicle and then walking back to his room with one more thing to say, "I c-cc-can f-f-f-fe-f-feed m-my-my-m-myself."

Electroshocker rolls his eyes, and while ignoring him, chews the rest of his dumplings silently. He then disposes of the tray and strolls to rest in a pillow covered chair, drawing something until the rest of the towers wake up. Well, one specific tower.

---

Another alarm goes off on Electroshocker's phone at around 5:30AM. He reaches into his pocket, feeling around until he clicks the orange stop button. About 3 minutes later, the tower he was looking for finally comes out. Cryomancer. Freezer's sister.

She's walking out with that one creepy girl that collects the enemies bones. Her name started with Hallow, that's all Electroshocker could recall. He didn't care to talk to her. Instead, he called Cryomancers name out. "Cryo.. can I talk to you for a moment?"

Cryomancer looks his way, her giggling with the other girl coming to a halt momentarily. "Sure, what's up?" The girl questions, walking towards him and then sitting on the couch with a reasonable distance from him.

Electroshocker sees both girls sit down and questions with himself why they were so close. He closes the thought to speedily get to the point, not wanting to waste time. "What does Freezer like?"

Cryomancer makes eye contact with him, under her breath muttering why are you asking this , but answers anyway. "Uhm, good question. As far as I know, he loves foxes. He also likes the snow, writing, and taking walks. He collects bird feathers if that answers anything." She shrugs, looking over  at the other girl sitting next to her.

Electroshocker lets out a sigh of relief, noting it down internally. He acknowledges the look the two girls are giving each other and decides to tease them in the meantime. "You two a bunch of lesbians?" The look that the unknown girl gave him was intimidating, to say the least. "Ay, chill out creepy girl," He holds his hands up, subconsciously scooting away. 

Cryomancer looks pissed as well. "Firstly, we aren't dating. Just.. close friends. Second of all, she has a name." The boy looks around with a nervous chuckle, it feels like he struck a nerve. He arises from his seat, closing the notebook. "I-I don't know her name, sorry-" He quickly makes out a half assed apology before running up to his room, as the scary woman yells out "It's Hallow Punk, dumbass!" 

Electroshocker comically hyperventilates when he finally enters his dorm, once again tripping over a shoe in his room after slamming the door shut. He really is scared of them.. but he had some work to do, so he got up and grabbed his laptop from his counter.

He began to search "cool fox facts" and other things, to try and impress Freezer.  He scratches the ones that stand out to him down in his notebook, and once he has a couple pages filled to the brim with facts, Commander miraculously comes on the announcements to state that the communal dinner is prepared. Perfect timing , he thinks to himself. He walks down to the dining room, and according to his eavesdropping, it's Paintballer's cooking. Wonder how that tastes! 

---

 

He takes two chicken legs as well as a handful of brussel sprouts and decides to walk over to Freezer. This action isn't taken nicely for the other boy. "Go away, why do you keep bothering me..?" What happened to his stutter? Electroshocker asks internally, sitting with him anyway. 

Freezer takes his freeze gun out, holding it at Electro's direction. "Go," He threatens, in which the other defensively takes his taser out and holds it to him. This alarmed Freezer enough for him to put his own gun away. "Sorry," he holds his hands up innocently, "but what do you want now?" 

"I heard you like foxes?" Electroshocker cocks an eyebrow, chewing the chicken leg. Not bad. Freezer simply stares at him with an are you serious look plastered on his face, before answering a moment later. "Yeah. I love them."

Electroshocker hides a grin, simply nodding. "Did you know that uhm.. they occur in Europe, North America, Asia, and Africa naturally?" The other, despite already knowing this, lights up. His grudge against the other suddenly disappears. "Yes!! And that they're currently being naturalized in Australia," Freezer adds on, grinning ear to ear. 

Electroshocker nods once again, just glad he's finally speaking to him outside of arguments. He listens to what he has to say. "Silver foxes are also being domesticated in northern Asia.." Freezer has a look of adoration on his face by just simply thinking about them. This causes Electroshocker to presume that damn, he's passionate. 

They talk about foxes until Commander kicks them out of the cafeteria to clean. Then Freezer departs to his room, prior to a wave goodbye. As fast as that 'stupid ass smile'(according to Electroshocker) came, it was gone. 

Electroshocker, instead of following in his footsteps and going to his own room, walks over to the couch. "I wonder if that was just a one-time thing.." He ponders out loud, stifling a scream when Mortar retorts. "Knowing how serious that grudge is, that is reasonable," he goes on, "but foxes are a huge soft spot for him. It really could have been repaired that easily." 

"Fuckin' hell, never sneak up on me like that again!" Electroshocker pants, "But I guess, I wonder why it would be THAT easy though. With Freezer and how anxious he is 99% of the time, there's just no damn way," He doubts, looking down at the checkered floor. Mortar cocks his head. 

"He's not that evil, y'know. He might ignore you for a few days, but he might willingly talk to you again. He's unpredictable. Not even his own twin sister knows his next move at any given time." The other states, tapping his foot on the ground. Electroshocker at this reassurance lets out a strangled breath, that there's a ever so small chance he didn't screw their terms over even more. 

But twin sister? Freezer and Cryomancer are polar opposites. That news, despite not being new, never failed to surprise him. "Thanks," he mutters under his breath, before going on his phone. Engineer's blowing the device up with "Where are you?? Get to the garage now," and other notifications along that line. He groans, gets up, and makes his way into the garage.

Notes:

i actually have no idea what to title this chapter it will probably chang elike 40 times

oh yeah, also Freezer has a stutter. it's mainly cuz in this au he has GAD. but he usually hides/masks it due to insecurity so you probably wont see it much :,)

Chapter 4: I don't think that's legal in the state of California

Notes:

omg i am so sorry for taking so long, like what, 8 months? to get this out. ive been so busy this entire year that i havent been able to work on it!! i'll try to update it more now that my lifes more sorted out lol. enjoy!!!

Electroshocker made his way to the garage reluctantly. As he stepped foot in the room, he was met with blistering heat and Engineer making her way over to the male. He noticed the woman was holding a basket full of other tower's weapons.

"When will the AC be fixed?" Electroshocker asked, wiping sweat off of his forehead as he spoke. He was met with a snort by Engineer, her response being "Probably never." 

"Pfft," The electrician scoffed, the familiar voice cheering him up ever so slightly, "The higher-up's hate us, don't they?" He joked, making Engineer emit a laugh and reply with a nod. "Can't be more true."

"But anywaayyysss," The woman elongated her words, "what I needed you here for, is to help me with these. They got to be done by tomorrow, and I doubt I could finish 'em alone." 

Electroshocker nodded in understanding. The man took the basket from Engineer's grasp, and placed it on a nearby table. "You better be sorry for ruining my off day," he grumbled lightheartedly, before realizing he left his work laptop in his room. "God damnit," he complained under his breath, before calling out to Engineer, "I'll be right back."

He didn't care for the other's response, as he speed-walked out of the garage. He trotted through the labyrinth that was called the base to get to his bedroom. The electrician took his phone out as he moved, not paying attention to the obstacles in front of him.

As Electroshocker was about to enter the elevator to escalate to the second floor, he accidentally bumped his shoulder with someone. At the contact, he looked up from his phone and audibly yelped, "Sorry!" 

It was too late, however. Before he could whip around to face the person he ran into, he was frozen in place. Through the ice, he could hear a laugh and the faint sounds of footsteps. Through his impaired vision, he had to watch the elevator door close.

Practically giving up on his original mission, when the ice thawed and shattered, Electroshocker made it his goal to find whoever the hell just did that to him and get back at them. The man turned his body away from the elevator and using his ears, went in the direction of the footsteps.

The electrician, from a distance, saw who was the culprit of the acts. Of course it was Freezer, he thought to himself, That bastard hates me! 

From his belt, he grapples his taser, walks a bit closer as stealthily as a man like him could, and points it at the unsuspecting man. He puts his pointer finger on the trigger of the weapon, and once he gets the perfect angle, he deploys the cartridge.

"AGH!" Freezer yelled out, falling to the ground as his muscles spasmed. The taller man walked over and kneeled down, putting his hand in his hair and tugging his head off the ground. "You good?" Electroshocker asked sarcastically, when the shock wore off he was met with a middle finger.

"Fuck you!" Freezer howled, backing up and stumbling in the process. He looked like a deer in headlights, eyes wide and brows furrowed. This got a good laugh out of the other man. "Just go back to doing whatever you were going to do." 

Electroshocker then walked away, a smirk plastered on his face as he caught the elevator, and walked to his room. Once inside his room, he took his phone out again and texted Engineer. "HEy sorry for taking so long. Had an encounter. Check the cameras of E-4 if Hacker gives u access to them lol"

He finally grabbed his laptop, and made his way back down to the garage.

---

Electroshocker logged onto his computer with a sigh. From the bin, he grabbed some random weapon and a cable, connecting the device to his laptop. Once the page had completely loaded, he read the name of the device. "Cryomancer_3.adb," it read, so he raised an eyebrow. 

The man revised her weapon's programming, and saw nothing wrong with it, other than a few minor issues he needed to tweak. He called Engineer over, "Engi? What's wrong with this weapon?"

The girl with dyed hair made her way over, and looked at the cryogun. "If I had to guess, something with the trigger not working properly." Electroshocker shot the gun experimentally at the wall, noticing how the substance that was ejected from it leaked once off.

"Speaking of Cryomancer, do you know anything about her?" he questioned, hands occupied with the task of fixing the gun currently in his possession. He grabbed a screwdriver from the supply shelf, and opened the weapon to expose its insides.

Engineer returned to her working space as she answered, projecting her voice a bit louder so Electroshocker could hear, "A bit. What do you wanna know about her?"

The man shrugged, his eyes fixating on the nozzle that contained the emitted substance. He gently pried it out of the gun as he spoke, "I don't know. Maybe about her relationship with Freezer? I know they're twins b-"

"Ooooh?? Why do you want to know that? Have a little crush?" Engineer interrupted in an overdramatic lovey-dovey voice, causing the electrician to flip the woman off. "HELL no! I'd rather kill myself than date that useless sack of meat!"

Engineer laughed a bit, grabbing one of her assigned weapons and beginning to repair it. "Okay, being serious, from what I've noticed, Freezer's mental stability relies on her a bit too much," She spoke, opening her own laptop and logging in. This answer piqued Electroshocker's interest, and he continued questioning. "Go on?"

"Basicallyyy, he's one to act before he thinks about it rationally. Cryomancer forces him to think it through. That's why he hasn't launched at you by now." Engineer explained, typing the password to her computer and connecting the weapon with another cable. She bit her tongue to not let out a giggle at the amusing thought of Electroshocker getting jumped. "Plus, he's generally a sensitive person. I assume she helps him pull himself together and stay composed."

"I see," Electroshocker replied, noticing a leakage in the nozzle. He grabbed some waterproof tape and covered the leak, and then reinstalled the nozzle to the rest of the gun. After attaching everything, he lightly pressed down on the trigger, facing the wall, and watched the snow-like substance eject itself. He shrugged when he let go of it and it stopped instead of leaking. 

The electrician grasped another weapon that needed to be mended, and worked on it until 3:30 PM. That was usually the time he got off from his work, so he grabbed the completed weapons— about 4— and decided to drop them off early, before dinner, instead of after. An unusual act from him.

The electrician gave his acquaintances their repaired and upgraded weapons, getting met with a "you're the best!" or "thanks!" by some. He sighed when he looked in the basket and saw one left— Cryomancers. He took out his phone to text the woman to return it, fearful to approach her room. He recalled how her and Freezer shared a room all too well.

"Engi please give Cryomancer her gun for me I'm scard to go to her room," Electroshocker typed using one hand, nearly quivering at even the dreaded thought of getting in the vicinity of Freezer. Just as fast, Engineer half-assed a reply, "im busy do it yourself"

The man grumbled, and made his way to the shared room. He carefully knocked on the door, backing up in case Freezer decided to maul him. He let out a breath of relief when Cryomancer answered, making a "hm?" sound and looking at Electroshocker.

"I have your cryogun," Electroshocker stated, trying to hide the shake in his voice. As he was handing it over, it seemed as if he blinked and he was thrown onto the ground. Freezer was on top of him, about to hit his face, when Cryomancer pulled her brother off of the other man. 

"Cryomancer!!" Freezer complained, being held in place by his sister as the electrician got off the ground. He stumbled as he regained his footing, backing up. "I haven't even done anything to you!" Electroshocker argued, holding his taser up in an act of defense.

"Yes, you did!" The shorter man retorted, trying to break free from the woman's hold. "Are you going to forget what you did earl-" Freezer is cut off by Cryomancer using her other hand to cover his mouth, effectively silencing him. "Both of you guys. Cut it out." 

Electroshocker sighed, and picked up the older siblings' cryogun from the ground. He observed Cryomancer dragging Freezer inside their room, and closing the door on him. This inflicted a small chuckle from Electroshocker. "Sorry about that. But uh, thanks," She took a hold of her weapon and nodded as a silent way of thanking the man, in which he nodded back. 

He then walked away from the chamber, and caught the elevator up to his room. Once he was inside, he collapsed on his bed and groaned. Opening his phone up and pressing the call button on Mortar's contact, he muttered under his breath, "Please pick up,"

After a few seconds, Mortar connected to the call. "Mortar. You'll never guess what happened.. my god." Electroshocker said instantly after, catching the other man's attention. "What? Don't leave a singular detail out.."

The electrician then told his friend everything, from them attacking each other in the hallway to the conversation with Engineer to finally their recent encounter ending in Cryomancer having to break it up. 

Mortar, intrigued, covered his mouth once the other finished speaking. "Oh my. And I thought you had made up to him!" He yelled ecstatically, he was a sucker for drama. Electroshocker scoffed and returned,

"It's gonna be hard to get him out of his shell, that's for sure."

Chapter 5: We'd end up like always

Electroshocker was rewiring the base's air conditioning, recollecting the instructions he was taught in his high school HVAC classes. He nearly slipped off the ladder he was balancing on as the loudspeaker blared through the room, "All towers report to the cafeteria for supper."

The electrician audibly groaned in relief, a break was well needed. He not-so-carefully hopped off the ladder, rubbing his knee as an ache erupted inside it. "Dammit," he spoke to himself, limping slightly to the cafeteria. He lit up, injury gone as he recognized the look of the food. It was Pyromancer's cooking? What a lucky day!

His plans to wait for Mortar— and his other friends— were quickly abandoned as he grabbed enough food to feed a family. It was unusual for him to eat much outside of a few bites, so a couple towers gave him a confused look. He was smiling like he hadn't eaten in days. 

Mortar entered the cafeteria not long after Electroshocker found a seat. He rolled his eyes at the sight of how much food Mortar was getting. "Fatass," he said to himself, a small smirk on his face. Mortar always ate a lot, it was almost a miracle on how he kept his slim physique.

Mortar looked around the cafeteria once he plated all of his food— two plates worth— to find somewhere to sit. The absurd amount of food was enough to make the electrician burst into laughter, the sound of it causing the other man to spot him. He immediately walked over, pulled an unoccupied chair over, and sat down in it.

The man placed the food onto the table, simultaneously saying  "What's up?" Electroshocker took a moment to compose himself, before replying in between gasps for air, "Nothing. Why the hell do you eat so much though?"

Mortar laughed, smiling as he answered, "I'm just constantly hungry. Everyday I thank god for a fast metabolism." The electrician continued laughing, head thrown into his arms as he teared up. When he lifted his head, he felt someone staring at him.

Electroshocker looked around to check if it was just his overthinking tendencies, He turned to his right and found that Mortar was too busy chomping down his food, and everyone else he could spot was in conversation, or eating. He turned to his left and saw an angry Freezer death-staring him. 

The electrician made eye contact, then turned his head to face Mortar and said his name to get his attention. "Mort," he spoke, before continuing quietly, "Look at Freezer."

Mortar perked up and whipped his head around to face the enraged man. Electro scolded this action disapprovingly, "You couldn't have been any more obvious with that?" in which Mortar quickly mustered up a "sorry" while grabbing another chicken drumstick. He took a bite out of it and swallowed as he made eye contact with Freezer.

— 

Freezer embarrassingly looked away as he made eye contact with Electroshocker's friend. "Bastard.." the man whispered under his breath, staring down at his food in which he was barely picking at. He looked up at his sister, Cryomancer, who was occupied with the task of conversing with Hallow Punk, seated next to her. 

Freezer couldn't help but let his guard down, kicking his legs subconsciously as he zoned out looking at the food. When Cryomancer looked over, she waved a hand in front of his face and snapped him out of his trance. "Are you alright?" His sister asked, in which Freezer nodded quickly, replying with an aura of slight annoyance.

He couldn't help but let his eyes fall back on Electroshocker, face roughening again as he gazed at the energetic man.

—

Electroshocker got that same old feeling that somebody was watching his every action as Freezer's eyes laid upon him. He looked over using his peripheral vision, then placing his focus on Mortar, who was rambling about something useless. ".. And then he HIT ME!! I was just doing my job, dammit!!-" The other man noticed Electro's serious look. "Did I do something?" Mortar asked, intimidated by the thought of unintentionally irritating his friend.

The electrician got out of his seat, pushing the cool chair in and returning the question with, "Not you. Give me a moment." He then walked over to where Freezer was sitting. Cryomancer noticed the approaching man and rubbed her forehead. "Don't do anything stupid, both of you," she anticipated, scolding them like a tired mother dealing with her two toddlers that refuse to get along. 

Freezer turned his body around to face Electroshocker, speaking with a huff, "What do you want?" The taller man put his hands in his pocket, speaking firmly, "You know exactly what I want. Why are you death-staring me?"

Freezer rejoined in annoyance, getting off his chair and looking up at Electroshocker. "You won't leave me alone." The other man simply laughed, raising an eyebrow as he objected, "Me? You're the one getting all up in my business."

The shorter man placed his hands on his hips as he objected confidently, "You're the one that never leaves me alone! Every time I try to get away from you, I SOMEHOW end up right where I started!" He got on his tippy toes, getting up close and personal with Electroshocker's face.

Electroshocker pushed him away, speaking before he thought about his words, "Jeez, I'm sorry I work around the base! I'm sorry seeing you is INEVITABLE!" he apologized, backing up ever so slightly.

"Sorry?" Freezer followed him, moving his arms to point at the electrician. "You are FAR from sorry! If you were sorry, you woul-" Electroshocker interrupted the other with a shove. "I'm fucking SORRY!"

"No you aren't!"

As Freezer said this, other tower's heads turned to face the commotion. Some watched from their seats, some getting up and circling around the two. Electroshocker glanced around quickly, recognizing a few that were creating a makeshift barrier. Engineer, Sniper, Minigunner, and of course Mortar. 

"Don't even think about recording this," he mouthed to Mortar, before returning his focus to Freezer. He ignored his listing of reasons why he wasn't sorry, and once Freezer was finished, the electrician got close to him. 

"Listen. Calm the hell d-" Electroshocker tried to fix the situation, but was met with a slap by Freezer, who yelled something in a language he didn't understand. Electroshocker, having entered fight or flight, tackled him to the ground. A swarm of shouts from the circle rose, Mortar going against Electro's wishes and taking out his phone, pressing the pretty little record button.

Freezer struggled as he kicked and flailed underneath the taller man. He used all his strength to get out of Electroshocker's grip, eventually succeeding and getting on top of him. He grasped at Electroshocker's neck, depriving him of oxygen.

The electrician reached up and let out an asphyxiated yelp, scrambling to get Freezer's hands off of him. Screams echoed through the cafeteria as the spectating towers witnessed the brawl. As Electroshocker began to lose consciousness, the shorter man thankfully let go and simply kicked him in the balls, followed by him walking away from the scene like nothing had ever happened.

Electroshocker gasped for air, opening his eyes to see that Freezer was no longer present. He made eye contact with Mortar, who sneakily put his phone in his pocket and had a smug grin plastered on his face. The tight circle from watching towers loosened as one by one they each went off to gossip about the interaction. 

The man eventually got off the ground, dusting his backside off before making his way over to the table, grabbing his phone in one hand and the now cold food in the other. He threw the meal away, placing the tray onto the dirty stack and walking to his room. 

Once in his comfortable, yet messy room, Electroshocker checked his phone to see 200 unread messages from the TDS' group chat, well, excluding Commander. He groans in annoyance, wondering what he missed out on. Probably some new battle plan.. but boy was he wrong.

He scrolled up to the first message, noticing it was sent by Mortar, and then shortly after, realizing it was a video. His finger hovered over the play button, debating internally over the action yet reluctantly tapping it.

What played was a video of the fight, with front row seats, even after Mortar promised Electroshocker he wouldn't record. Electroshocker bit his cheek in agitation, reading what other towers had to say about it. Some replies had rudeness in its tone, others had a humorous tone. All that he knew was that he had 100% lost.

The final message was from Scout, where he was clearly upset. "Why cant we all just get along?" he typed with a teary eyed emoji at the end. Electroshocker skimmed over this, chuckling before thinking out loud, "Life doesn't work like that."

Shortly after, he got a notification from Commander in private messages. "Electroshocker. Come to my office tomorrow morning, 10 AM on the dot." it read, in which the electrician left him on read. He chucked his phone across the room, and shortly after, rubbing his temples. "God dammit Scout," he whispered, already knowing what was to come.

Notes:

i will continue this when i feel like it , sorry if it takes a while for future chapters to come out