An hour or two later, dinner was ready and Scout was sent to get everyone, much to his displeasure. Scout knocked on Archer's door.
"Yo, dinner's ready."
"Okay, I'll be there in a sec." Scout, hungry, did not have the patience to escort Archer and just ran to the mess hall.
"Oi, where's the sheila?" Sniper asked, already at his seat with his coffee.
"She's coming, she's coming. Keep y're pants on," Scout said, walking to his chair.
"The lil' miss doesn't know her way around yet, Scout," Engie said.
Scout thought for a moment and then face palmed. "DOH!"
"Zere is nothing to worry about, gentlemen. I already gave mademoiselle Archer a map. She should find her way around here." Spy put out his cigarette in a nearby ashtray.
"And I did." Archer smiled and walked over to them. Her hoodie has been replaced by a red tank-top which revealed a black tattoo, to much surprise to the boys. The tattoo ran down her right arm, reaching down to her elbow. The design was abstract; they couldn't make out what it was or what it represented. Archer sat in the empty seat between Sniper and Heavy. She took out a ribbon from her pocket as a plate of a freshly cooked meal was placed in front of her.
"Thanks Engie," she said as she tied the ribbon like a headband, to keep her bangs out of her eyes.
"No problem lil' miss." Engineer tipped his hardhat and served the rest of the team.
"We should have a *hic* celebration for da new l-*hic*-lassie…" Demoman drunkenly said, taking a swig from his scrumpy.
Medic groaned. "Dummkoph, ve haven't even started eating yet, and you are already drunk!"
"Ey, nothing' like a good drink before a meal is what I always say." Demoman burped after he drank once more.
"The idea is much appreciated, Demoman, but I want to get to bed early so I can get ready for tomorrow's battle. Maybe next time we can," Archer said with a kind smile.
"Heavy likes leetle girl's way of thinking," the Heavy Weapons Guy said, taking a bite from the cooked chicken leg.
A tension that weighed on the mercenaries' was soon lifted; things started going back to normal, in a sense. Demoman talked with Soldier, Medic talked to Heavy, and Scout and Engineer chat it up sometimes, with Spy intervening sometimes which causes him and Scout to get into a verbal fight. Pyro stayed in his/her room during the meals. Sniper mostly stayed quiet. Actually, he did not say anything during the meal. He just ate and speculated the conversations. All Archer ever heard from him that night was what sounded like a sigh of relief.
Soon after dinner was finished, things began to calm down. Archer was the first to leave the mess hall, and the first to the showers. Thankfully, there were stalls so Archer felt some type of comfort in showering. Her pajamas simply consisted of red sweatpants and a white shirt. She walked out of the showers drying her short black hair when she bumped into someone who seems to be in a rush to enter the showers.
"Oh geez! Watch where you're going!" exclaimed a young Bostonian accent.
"You watch where you're going. I mean, c'mon kid, where's the fire?"
"What the- I am not a kid!" Scout yelled, a light blush rising to his cheeks.
"Aw, someone's embarrassed," Archer said in a sing-song voice with a grin. She ruffled his short, brown hair and began to walk away. "See ya kid, and don't cause too much trouble." She waved without turning to him and kept her white towel on her shoulders and her dirty clothes under her left arm. She took out the map that Spy gave her earlier that day and looked at it. She swear she heard something, but she pushed the thought away, until a hand was placed on her right shoulder.
"Mademoiselle." Archer turned to look at the RED Spy."Hey Spy," she said half surprised.
"Do you need help finding your room?" he asked in his French accent.
"How should I know? I just started looking." Spy smiled, putting out his cigarette. "I appreciate the offer, but I should be fine. You did draw me a superb map, anyway." She turns around and starts walking away. "See ya."
Spy watched Archer leave, and then he shook his head, smiling.
After Archer got to her room, she placed her dirty clothes in a hamper that was located in the corner of the room, and hung her towel behind her door. She cracked her neck and stretched her arms, and then looked at the time.
"9:30... I should get to sleep early so I can do a lil' training." She massaged her shoulder. "But first…"
She entered the mess hall, making her way to the refrigerator. She hummed to herself as she opened the fridge. Sniper looked up from his newspaper in curiosity. It seems that his presence wasn't noted. He watched as Archer poured herself a glass of milk. Ready to leave, she turned and faced Sniper.
"Oh, Sniper. I didn't know you were here. I see you're doing some late-night reading." She walked toward him and sat on the table, facing him.
He nods. "It's something oi do ev'ry night," Sniper says, putting down the newspaper, folded. "Do you always drink a glass of milk before bed?"
"Yeah. I don't know why, but a glass of milk always makes me sleep well at night." She takes a sip, then heard Sniper chuckle. "What?" He simply pointed above his lips and Archer blushed with embarrassment as she wiped the milk-mustache off.
"Oi know it's your first day and all, but how're you adapting, mate?"
"Pretty well, actually. There are still some things I need to get used to, such as Soldier yelling in my ear, Spy creeping about, Scout running around energetic, and Demoman and his drunk self." The Australian chuckled at this.
"What about you? How does it feel to have a woman on the team?" She asked, suddenly getting her face close to his, looking straight at his eyes. Sniper was taken by surprise and leaned back a bit, blushing slightly, and feeling uncomfortable. "Huh?" Archer placed her hand on her hip, making herself look tough. This little gesture made Sniper sweat drop.
"Oi, uh, oi only wonder why a sheila like you is in this war." She smiled and leaned back, to Sniper's relief.
"Simple. I had nothing better to do. Plus, I don't want to waste the skills I have acquired over the years." She took a long sip from the glass and made sure to wipe off any remains. "Well, I'm going to turn in now. I need to wake up early for some early morning training and exercise," Archer said as she got off the table.
"Alright, sheila. Have a good night."
"Same to you, Sniper." She left with half a glass of milk in hand.