"If you were from, where I was from!"
Chapter 10 is here! Reviews are always nice btw ;)
Translations are in the bottom as always.
Enjoy~
Nick joined the others for dinner that night. Since he wasn't as afraid of Jack, he was perfectly fine and felt safe. He walked through the doors to the Rec Room and waved his hand in a friendly matter. The other team members smiled as the young Scout entered the room.
"It's very good to see little Scout wanting to eat with rest of team!" Boris clapped his hands together and smiled at the boy.
Nick gave a curt nod at the Heavy and grabbed a free chair between Jack and Michael, not without getting some odd looks directed his and Jack's way.
Michael leaned closed to Nick and whispered lowly, "Are you and 'Mr. Macho' suddenly friends? Last time I checked, you and 'General Nuts' were screaming at each other..."
Nick just gave a faint smile and shrugged lightly in response to the Scout's question.
Michael frowned slightly and leaned back in his seat. "Where is the food at? I'm fuckin' starvin' here!"
As if almost on cue, Sam walked in with a huge tray, filled with bowls of food. He placed the tray in the middle of the big table and started scanning around the table, while the team grabbed a bowl for themselves.
When the Engineer's eyes fell upon Nick, he looked relieved for a moment, but it quickly became a dumbstruck glance as he saw the Soldier he was sitting next to. He walked over to the boy and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him out of the room and first stopped further down the hall. "What in tarnations name are ya doing next to, Solly? You know he's a raging ball of fire, right?"
Nick ripped his arm from the Engineer's hold and found his notebook from his pocket. 'You don't have to worry, Sam. Jack and I cleared our problems between us, okay? Relax, man.'
Sam's brow arched as he read and crossed his arms. "Then what about that argument during dinner and having your jaw broken?"
Nick silently turned his head away from the Engineer, not wanting to answer in any way.
"I'm not trying to be the bad guy here. Just tell me it's not just an act."
Nick glimpsed back towards Sam. Then he wrote another note and handed to him: 'I had a talk with Jack. I think I understand him at bit better now and that's all. I'm okay and there is nothing to worry about anymore.'
Sam gave a nod in understanding, with a slightly relieved expression. "If you say so... Then let's go back and grab some grub."
Nick smile disappeared slightly and he pointed at himself, reminding the Engineer of his current problem with his jaw.
"Don't worry, kid, I made some warm soup for ya." Sam gave the teen a pat on his back and led them back to the Rec Room.
As they walked through the door, the men in the room stopped conversing and looked the way. Nick retreated back to his own seat and tried to make himself appear as small as possible. Sam, on the other hand, brushed it off and walked into the kitchen. Once the Engineer gave the bowl of soup to Nick, he sat back down on his chair.
Will, who was sitting next to Sam, leaned closer to him. "What was that all about, mate?" he asked in a soft whisper.
Sam looked at the Sniper and scratched his nose. "Nothing, just don't worry about it. It's all taken care of now." He said harshly.
Will realized that it was something that Sam did not want to talk about. He only nodded and shifted his eyes away.
On the other side of the table, Michael leaned over towards Nick, bombarding the smaller Scout with questions.
At first, Nick was fairly casual about Michael's usual behavior, but it was failing fast as the larger Scout became more annoying than before.
"C'mon, man, you can totally tell me!" Michael leaned towards Nick as the curiosity almost shined from his eye.
Nick almost felt like running away from the questioning as he heard Jack's voice from beside him.
"IF PRIVATE TWINKLE TOES DOESN'T WANT TO SHARE, HE DOESN'T HAVE TO! NOW SHUT UP, MAGGOT, AND GIVE THE KID SOME SPACE FOR ONCE!"
Nick jumped in surprise from the Soldier's raging voice.
Michael nearly leapt up as well, but managed to keep a calm expression as best as he could. "Okay, okay... I got it man. You don't need to yell or…HOLD IT! Did you just call him 'twinkle toes'?" Michael's calm expression quickly changed into a grimace, and then started to laugh loudly all of a sudden. "'Twinkle toes'! Oh my god! That is fuckin' hilarious! HAHAHA!"
Nick looked a bit stunned for a moment and looked at the men around him. Some were laughing along with Michael, others flashing a smile or just watching.
After the laughter died down Michael dried a tear from his eye and smiled at Nick. "Sorry, but that was way too fun! Oh yeah! Nick, I've been wondering…if you're not from the U.S, then where?"
Nick scratched his chin, unsure of answering the question.
"He is from Denmark, Herr Scout." Hans answered, wiping his glasses with a cloth and placed them back on.
"Denmark? Never heard of it... Hey, Doc, how did you know that?" Michael looked back at Hans frowning a bit.
Hans sighed, shaking his head. "I read all of your medical charts. You should already have known that, trottel."
Nick started to giggle, understanding the Medic's comment.
Michael frowned. "Yo Nick, what did he say? Do you have any idea what that meant?"
Nick just shrugged and continued to giggle a bit.
"Denmark is a small country in Scandinavia, Europe, it is just above Germany." Hans said and looked at Michael, who was pouting at Nick.
Sam scratched his chin in thought. "I have heard about that country before, but where? Hmm..."A notebook slid across the table in front of him and he looked at Nick, who just gave a faint nod. "Let's see then what the boy wrote...There are about five and a half million people living in Denmark and this country known for: The Little Mermaid statue in the capital Copenhagen, their huge export of bacon, the dog breed called Great Dane…"
Boris laughed. "Little country no good! Mother Russia makes vodka and-"
"I wasn't done, Chuck-Wagon," Sam interrupted, "there's more. The big opera house in Sydney was designed by a Dane, Vikings, Shakespeare's play Hamlet is about a Danish prince, the best restaurant in the world is in Copenhagen called Noma, the famous author Hans Christian Andersen is Danish, the windmill is an invention from Denmark… I could go on, but I'm stopping here."
Most of the men looked at each other, recognizing famous names and becoming impressed with the country's information.
"Not only zhat, zheir school and health care system is one of ze best in ze vorld. Zheir public schools are free, so are zheir hospitals, but of course zhey pay taxes instead. Ein sehr schönes Land in der Tat." Hans smiled a bit to himself, while some of the men looked at him oddly.
Nick smiled at Hans as he received his notebook back, he ripped out a page, wrote something down and handed it to Hans: 'Vielen Dank für die netten Worte.'
The Medic just nodded back in understanding at Nick.
Billy took another sip from his bottle of scrumpy and arched a brow. "Alright-y, lad. Now I've got ta know somethin'... Ya know English and German, anything else?"
Nick scribbled something on a note and gave it to the Demoman.
"Hmm... Ye understand and speak Danish, English, German, French, and some Norwegian? How da hell did ya learn all of these? You seem too know much for a wee little boy, ain't ye?" He threw the book back to Nick.
Nick wrote some more, but gave it to Michael, instead.
"So you're sayin' that your mom is half French, half American and you dad is Danish? And you also say that you learned German in school and Norway is a neighboring country to Denmark, and they sound a bit alike. Huh…interestin'." After Michael was done reading he looked back at Nick. "Wow, you really know a lot, dude, that freakin' sweet! I only learned English in school and that was enough for me. Hey, are you gonna eat that?" Michael pointed at Nick's soup bowl.
Nick just nodded and started to eat slowly. He did not mind answering questions, but it was starting to become too much to handle.
Sam was the first to notice the young Scout's feelings. "Hang on, fellas, give the boy some room to breathe. I think we have asked enough for tonight. We all better go get some shut-eye, we have a long day tomorrow, remember?"
Nick let out a sigh and waited for the men around him to leave.
Once everyone else had left the room, Sam came over and gently placed his hand on Nick shoulder. "I hope you're not feeling too bad about the guys askin' all those questions. They are just curious, that's all. They just didn't know anything about your country and the customs over there. So what'cha ya say, kid? Wanna get to bed?"
Nick smiled and nodded and raised himself from the chair.
As they walked down the empty hallway Sam started to look around a lot and looked almost nervous.
Nick carefully tucked in his shirt and tilted his head in a confused manner.
Sam sighed, placing a hand on the boy's shoulders. "Don't worry, son... I just am a bit edgy after today's fight. That BLU Spy bastard really sapped my machines and got me good. I guess that I should be more cautious now. I know it's ceasefire and we can't interact with the BLUs now, but I just feel as if we're being watched right now, and it's not right, either."
Nick's stomach churned uncomfortably. It had been a long time since he talked or even seen his former teammate, Claude. The last he had seen of the BLU Spy was the day of the transfer. Nick hated the fact that they had to be enemies. The thought of being alone made him sad as he lowered his head and stared blankly at the floor.
"Something wrong, boy?" Sam asked with a worried tone in his voice.
Nick quietly shook his head, but kept his gaze at the floor. He knew having personal feelings for the enemy was not accepted and had no interest of defending himself.
The two reached Sam's door and said goodnight to each other. Sam entered his room as the boy continued to walk down the hallway. As Nick walked the last part of the way to his room he shivered, feeling paranoid over Sam's words. As he reached his own room, he raced into his room and closed the door behind him as quickly as he could.
He leaned against the door letting out a relieved sigh and searched for the light switch, but felt something leathery against his hand instead. Before he was able to do anything else he was hauled up against the door, his crutches feel from his grip and felt another body pressed against his.
"Bonsoir, ma chère chaton." His captor had grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and held him over the ground.
The darkness in the room made Nick unable to see who it was, but he had a feeling that he recognized the guest.
"Vous avez un garçon nerveux! Je ne peux pas croire que tu changé côté sans même me parler! Est-ce tout ce que je suis trop vous? Qu'est-ce que vous avez à dire pour vous lâche?" The man snarled quietly.
Nick whined and groaned, not able to give an answer in the current situation. He brought his hands up, cupping them underneath the man's chin while he smiled. Gently he rested his head against the captor's and sighed.
The man let Nick down, but did not release his grip on his shirt. "Why don't you talk? Please, mon chaton..." He switched on the light and now Nick could see him. The BLU Spy, Claude, had a heart-broken and solemn expression.
Nick pulled back his hands, taking the notebook from his back pocket, and started to scribble on the paper.
Claude looked at him with an arched eyebrow and released the small Scout. "What are you doing, mon ami?" he inquired.
Nick slowly paced to his bed and slumped down. Once he was finished writing, he placed the notebook next to him and patted it, offering the BLU Spy to sit with him.
Claude stalked over, sitting next to Nick. He gave a smile with a curl of his lips to the Scout before he glanced at the notebook. He took the notebook calmly and began to read the note: 'I'm sorry. I was swapped to the RED team by the Announcer. I didn't' know about it before I woke up in the RED Infirmary in a box. I bet you could only imagine my face when I woke up and saw members from RED Team around me.' Claude frowned shortly and continued reading the note: 'I am really sorry... I never intended to hurt you in any way, Claude, and you know it, God damn it! You're my best friend! And some one kind of accidentally broke my jaw, that's why I am not talking right now.' The Spy's head snapped towards Nick and he glared at him, not pleased with what he read.
Nick jumped slightly back, startled by the Spy's quick movement and intimidating stare.
The Spy rubbed the bridge of his nose and looked away with an aggravated sigh. "Merde...How did it happen? It had better been an accident, or else I will hunt down the man responsible and gut him like a Cornish Game Hen!" He clenched both of his fists, looking quite frustrated and enraged.
With an awkward smile, Nick waved his hands in front of Claude in an attempt to calm him down. He took back the notebook and wrote some more: 'It really was an accident, don't worry. He was really sorry and apologized to me. It's really good too see you again, are you alright?'
After reading the note, Claude grabbed Nick's arm and pulled him in for a hug. He held him tight and smiled, nuzzling him gently. "I am fine my friend. Is your new team treating you well?" For a moment Nick forgot to answer, relaxing into the hug and smelling the cigarettes, cologne and Claude's own scent. He hummed into Claude's chest and smiled sweetly.
Then he suddenly drew away Nick and looked at him serious. "You have to listen carefully to what I am about to say, mon ami, d'accord?"
Nick nodded, allowing Claude to continue.
"Our Medic was furious after you were gone. He went completely insane in his office, yelling in German and rambling about. Promise me, mon ami, that you won't do anything stupid when you see him. Do not try to confront him or kill him. I want you to run away, return to the safety of your team and do not allow the BLU Medic to hold you in his devious hands! He will do horrible things to you like he did before. I don't want that to happen to my dear love." The Spy held the Scout tightly in his arms, comforting him.
Nick shivered upon hearing 'The BLU Medic' and squeezed the Spy, frightened of the wicked and malevolent doctor.
"Fortunately," Claude added, "BLU Medic does not know you are with the REDs now. He only believes that you were fired and sent back home. So when our Teams fight, do not go out in open areas! Keep yourself hidden from any human eye!"
Nick gave the BLU Spy another nod in understanding.
Claude took a brown cigarette in his mouth, and lit it with his lighter. He breathed in, smiling of content. And with a sigh, smoke escaped from his lips.
Nick shifted closer and leaned against the Spy, who placed his arm around him and relaxed. The boy took out his notebook and wrote again. Once he was finished, he gave the note back to Claude. 'Can I see you again? I really miss talking to you and just being around you.' The note read.
Claude gave the boy a genuine smile. "Of course you can. This will be our little secret, oui?"
Nick smiled and nodded happily, snuggling with his close friend.
"It's getting late, Nick. I'm afraid I have to return to my base before someone notices that I am gone. Remember, boy, je t'aime, mon ami. And never forget it." Claude whispered.
A slight tint of red colored the Nick's cheeks as he wrote again in his notebook and handed it to Claude. 'Je t'aime aussi, mon ami.'
Claude rose and hugged him one last time. He gave the boy a kiss on the cheek before he started to head for the door and vanished in his cloak. Nick immediately followed him to the door, still with red cheeks. He opened it for the cloaked Spy and closed it moments after, locking it. He grabbed his crutches headed back to his bed, placing them right next to the nightstand as he smiled to himself. The tired Scout settled himself in the bed, with covers over him. As he drifted off into a peaceful sleep, he could not stop thinking about his beloved BLU friend.
Translations:
Trottel – Fool
Ein sehr schönes Land in der Tat – A very beautiful country, indeed.
Vielen Dank für die netten Worte - Thank you for those nice words.
Bonsoir ma chère chaton - Good evening, my dear kitten.
Vous avez un garçon nerveux! Je ne peux pas croire que tu changé côté sans même me parler! Est-ce tout ce que je suis trop vous? Qu'est-ce que vous avez à dire pour vous lâche? - You have some nerve, boy! I cannot believe you changed side without even talking to me! Is that all I am to you? What do you have to say for yourself, coward?
D'accord – Okay.
Je t'aime – I love you.
Je t'aime aussi mon ami – I love you too my friend.