The slow rocking of the train had lulled me to sleep and the eight hour ride passed by in a dream. I was woken up by the harsh screech of the wheels scraping against the tracks and the sudden jolt forward as it came to a stop. I looked out one of the windows and saw a complete giant of a man with a buzzcut and a string of bullets flung around his shoulder waiting for me. His obvious size compared to mine made me waver a bit, but I shook it off.
I tied my long hair up in a ponytail and patted my chest down, reasurring myself. I then strapped my Fat Man to my back, which looked much too large for someone of my size to be carrying. But, it was an easy lift for me.
I stepped off the train and greeted this giant with a kind smile.
"Oh," he said, upon seeing me, "you are tiny leetle man, but you hold such big gun! You are small, but no baby, no?"
The Russian accent in his voice was thick and almost a bit intimidating, but I knew he ment well. I nodded with a confident smile on my face, taking the large cannon from my back and holding it with ease.
"Ahaha!" The Russian giant laughed heartily, almost cheerfully. He patted me on the back, perhaps a bit harshly, but that may have been due to his size. I stumbled a bit but regained my composure quickly. "You are good then! Will be good addition!"
A sudden happiness rushed over me, and I chuckled along with the happy man. "Thank you, I look forward to it! I'm the Nuker, it's nice to meet you."
"I am Heavy Weapons Guy! New friend call me Heavy for short!"
I nodded again with a cheerful disposition, happy to have already made a new friend around here.
"No mission for five days! You come to 2fort at right time! Come, leetle man, you must be hungry after long train ride! Come get sanvich with me, and then I show you rest of the team!"
I hadn't realized how hungry I was until he mentioned food, and I politely accepted. "Sure," I said, "sounds nice."
I strapped the gun back to my shoulders and followed Heavy to a small dining area of sorts. "You wait right here, I bring back sandvich!" And he walked to a corner with various kitchen appliances and came back with two sandwiches, handing one to me with a genuine smile.
Taking the sandwich, I gave him a shy, grateful nod, and we ate.
After satisfying our hunger, he showed me around 2fort, introducing me to the different members as we passed them.
Engineer, Sniper, and Spy seemed incredibly welcoming, as well as Demo-Man, who suggested we all drink tonight to celebrate my joining Reliable Excavation Demoltion. Pyro didn't say anything behind his gas mask, to which Heavy told me "he doesn't talk much anyway."
Things didn't exactly go as well when I met Soldier and Scout.
"No one told me the new kid was gonna be a frail, long haired hippie!" Soldier spat, shooting me a deranged glare under his helmet. He inspected my ponytail intently with a harsh persona, making me feel a tad uneasy.
Scout watched him do so, stifling a laugh.
"Man, kid," the boy said, with a slight Boston accent, "you're fucking tiny. You actually expect to be able to do anything around here? You're fucking weapon is twice your damn size!"
Heavy growled at them. "Be nice to new friend! Is good and strong leetle man, no hippie baby!" He showed his fist at them and the shut up... for the mean time.
"No worry about them," Heavy patted my back. "They are rude members! They warm up eventually. Now you meet Medic!" He smiled again. "Medic is credit to team. Medic is Nuker's partner, yes?"
I nodded, slowly regaining some confidence.
"Good!" He cheered. "I take you to Medic then! Docktor may seem insane or scary, but is kind man!"