Tf2 Engineer Headcanons - Tumblr Posts
Could I please get some headcanons for Engie and maybe Spy with a smol, touch starved ball of anxiety S/O with abandonment issues? They always want to be holding the merc's hand, or hugging them, you get the idea. Whenever they have to be separated for long periods of time, there's a signing chance of the merc coming back to S/O wearing their clothes because "It smells like you."
Spy & Engineer with a touch starved, anxious S/O

Spy
At first, he’s fine with giving his S/O extra attention. Spy himself is used to being in close quarters with others when they ask, but doesn’t tend to prefer it.
That being said, having his S/O there all the time begins to get exhausting rather quickly, so Spy very likely tries different ideas to have some alone time every so often- be it a plushie, weighted blanket, assurances that he will be back-- seeing as he knows he’s an untrustworthy individual, it doesn’t hurt to reassure.
After realizing that it wouldn’t work all the time, he made the decision to either take his S/O with him, or stay with them.
Of course, it’d be a mixture of both, but while he was initially exhausted by all this, he learns to love it and does it because he feels better seeing his S/O smile.
His S/O is so nervous, he honestly wonders how they thought he was the right choice- but he doesn’t mind. Though, he does try and train their confidence- as well as training them in self defense in order to help alleviate anxiety from trying to look far into the future towards things they don’t know will happen or not.
Being a romantic though, he enjoys toying with his S/O’s touched starved nature. Seeing his light touches while training in a waltz-like fashion send shivers down their spine, or returning to the base invisible, the only knowledge of him having arrived coming from a kiss by a walking ghost.
Engineer
Absolutely bonkers over his S/O. His S/O means the world to him and he is going to show it no matter what. As shy as he is about romance, he’s very genuine and upfront when it comes to asking about their wants, needs, etc.
Crafts a lot of gifts for his S/O to keep them company while he’s gone. Machines or stuffed animals, whichever makes his S/O happier. Maybe even makes some cute devices to contact each other with even easier besides just by phone.
While he’s a bit of a workaholic, he’s not opposed to having his S/O around him, be it sitting in his lap, standing behind him with their arms around his shoulders, etc. Though, if he’s doing something more dangerous like welding, he definitely tries to keep ‘em at a bit more of a distance. That, or he tries to bring his S/O into his activities to keep them engaged and by his side, but he’s very, very cautious about doing so. Can’t have them getting hurt, not on his watch!
Coming back from battle to see his S/O wearing one of his hoodies from his work with administrator, or a pair of his overalls that are, of course, way too big on them, he can’t help but melt right where he’s standing. He’s just thinking to himself over and over, “G-d, you’re adorable...”
Definitely makes sure to “accidentally” leave out his most comfortable clothing when he has to go somewhere after that. Usually things like his work hoodies, plaid shirts, stuff like that. He’s a blushing mess about it too, because he knows for a fact he’ll come back to his S/O wearing it.
Could I perhaps get engineer, sniper and demoman with an autistic S/O who got really overstimulated and Is Not Okay? I need,,, for purposes.
Yes, yes you can!!!
Demo, Engineer, and Sniper with an overstimulated autistic S/O:
Demo:
Demo recognizes that his S/O is overstimulated pretty quickly. The base is always messy regardless of any attempts to clean it, there’s a lot of noise, especially chatter and gunfire during the day and even moreso at night during complaining or celebrating with the entire team.
“Ye alright? Ach, who am I kidding, ye look right terrible at the moment, love. No offense.”
He takes his S/O to somewhere quieter, probably his room as there’s at least some sense of familiarity and homeliness there for he and his S/O.
As someone who needs quiet to focus on tinkering without blowing something up, he’s got some ways of keeping the room from just being the equivalent of another hallway thanks to the paper thin walls.
If it still doesn’t help, he sticks by his S/O’s side and refuses to move away for the others until they’re able to process things more clearly again.
If they’re stimming to try and release the tension and overwhelming energy of the situation, he’ll literally just start mirroring them and stimming as well.
If they need something to focus on that isn’t their surroundings, he’s got a large amount of folklore and myths he can talk for hours about instead of whatever jabbering caused them to be overwhelmed in the first place.
Engineer:
Once he figures out what’s going on, he quickly tries to diffuse things and get his S/O to a place where they feel more comfortable.
Engineer commands a lot of respect, and most of the mercs know not to challenge him when he puts on a genuine serious face and asks for things to be done.
Quiet down, hush now fellas, can one of ya’ll get S/O a blanket? Hm? Yeah, they said somethin’ to hold would do.
Does his best to balance their current needs with social interaction; since he’s aware that taking them out of it entirely might cause them to break down further.
Instead, he lassos in the conversation and quiets things down as much as possible, then reduces the amount of stimuli by sending a glare to anyone making more noise than necessary.
As for sensations, he’ll hold his S/O’s hand if it helps, usually with his normal hand unless they prefer the feeling of metal, wiring, and electric circuitry to focus on. Warm or cold, his hand envelops theirs and acts as an anchor.
If anyone dares pipe up about it or anything else related to the situation, he’ll keep his cool. That is, until next time they need his help on the battlefield.
Sniper:
While he doesn’t necessarily understand a lot about it, Sniper is still very familiar with needing and wanting his space, where things are just how he wants them. Regardless of if he consciously realizes it or not, he might actually be the best person to go to about it when his S/O is having a rough time and is overstimulated.
At first, he’ll probably try things that help him calm down, but if a lukewarm cup of coffee and a polishing kit don’t assist—or taking a hike into the nearest area empty of people—then he’ll start quietly asking questions while internally panicking.
He doesn’t want to overwhelm his S/O further, but he also wants to fix or make the situation a bit better for them. Afraid that he’ll make it worse, he kind of ends up awkwardly throwing ideas at the wall to see what sticks.
Whatever ends up appearing to work first is what he doubles down on, before trying to branch out from there. If his S/O manages to calm down a little, he thinks, then they can help him help them a little more too.
It’s a very slow but sure process, and he gets there eventually. By the time he figures out what works, it’s probably far past when they were too overstimulated to function. After that point he’ll know what to do and is much quicker and more confident about lending a helping hand.
If they’re getting overstimulated and it’s just the two of them, he’ll do his weird too-long-legs thing and hug them to him in a way where they’re closed off and safe in his arms. He’ll end up a bit flustered about it later, but they calm down a lot more quickly that way since he’s able to just shut them off and ground their brain to the hug instead of what’s bothering them. It’s not foolproof, but it’s shocking how often it works.
This was a lot of fun to write! I hope I got this right and did well with the prompt, haha. Personally going with what would be nice when I’m overstimulated, though I don’t believe I’ve shut down fully because of it. That must suck a lot when it happens :(
The last one about Sniper is a personal tidbit I think would work really well on me, because I imagine what he does is like a really comfortable tight hug where noises are kinda shut out and the pressure would kinda keep you from moving y’know?
It’s like the ultimate “calm the FU—“ move and I love it but it also looks like it’d be really comfortable ;—;