After Janine introduced herself to the mercenaries, there was a long silence. Some of the men looked at each other with silent whispers.
She decided she'd try again.
"Um, hi, I'm The-" much to her surprise, she was unexpectedly squeezed by the loud Scott, who was laughing victoriously. "What did I tell ya, lads?! Thassa lassie if I ever seen one!" This comforted Janine a bit, as she hugged him back.
"I'm sorry I'm not what you expected. At least not what most of you did." She said, looking at the men and then at the Scott. "Do we go by first name basis here or by our roles?" She asked.
Everyone's introductions answered her question as they consisted of the Frenchman being The Spy, the tall and lanky Aussie being The Sniper, the loud Scott being The Demoman, the short Texan being The Engineer, the masked and fully suited individual being The Pyromaniac, the big Russian man being The Heavy, the muscled and bucket wearing man being The Soldier, and the thin young Bostonian introducing himself as The Scout.
"We are called by our roles and not by our real names to keep our identities secretive," The Spy explained as he took a breath from his smoke.
Janine nodded, as she saw that Spy appreciates himself remaining a secret by the balaclava she saw on his face. This gave her a sudden urge to touch his face and take off the mask, but she resisted nonetheless.
The men led her to the meeting room where the welcome party was set up. Some of the men cheered loudly while others talked normally to her, welcoming her to the team. This helped Janine grow more comfortable in the base, and most of her worries had already vanished. She noticed that The Scout looked at her often and she returned his gazes of interest with smiles and waves as she sat on the couch and chatted with the others.
Suddenly, Sniper heard her counting out loud. "I see one, two, three...I thought there were nine mercenaries before I came here?" she asked as she looked around in confusion. Maybe they're just not interested or too busy to join the others.
"Oh, there are." The Aussie answered. "Medic's off doing some work or out cold from staying up all night working."
Janine nodded again. She sat in silence eating the cake that Engineer had divided for the team until Scout finally approached her. "So, waddya do, sweetcheeks?" He asked with a smile as he sat unexpectedly close to her. The nickname caught her off guard, as she furrowed her brows while swallowing a bite of cake and asking, "um, what do you mean?"
"Oh, like, how ya fight and all dat." Scout cleared up, taking amusement in her confusion. This made her eyes light up in acknowledgement and she thought of a way to answer. Before she could speak, she felt a pat on her back. "Da, Heavy wonders how leetle girl will fight war!" She looked behind her and saw Heavy looking at her with a friendly smile.
Heavy's sentence had sparked curiosity in the other mercs in the room, making them gather up by the couch she sat at as well.
"Oh, I'll just go and get my weapon to show you guys. Explaining it isn't the easiest thing to do for me." she ended with a nervous chuckle as she grew a slight red from all of the sudden attention.
She asked Scout to please hold her plate as she stood up to go to her room and he obeyed, marvelling at her movements and watching her walk off. He heard many positive remarks from the other men and he felt a slight warmth in his face and chest. He then stopped slouching and sat up straight on the couch when he noticed Janine come back into the meeting room with a bag and set it down onto the table in front of the couch they sat at.
Janine heard some "ooh"s from the men as they all crowded around her.
She confidently unzipped her bag to reveal a pair of large, shining fighting gloves attached to some sleeves. This heightened everyone's curiosity. Before anyone could say anything, she felt that she should explain, "Um, I know that Heavy already fights with gloves," she started off. The big Russian man nodded with a soft "Da" at the mention of his name. "But these gloves can actually reach others from far away," she continued, fully fitting her left arm in a sleeve. She warned the men to watch out and they spread out before she could show them her trick.
She then faced towards the long hallway lined with their bedrooms and punched at the empty space. This caused the glove to extend itself about 4 feet in length from the sleeve it was attached to in order to reach the end of the corridor! Then the glove recoiled and sent her back a couple of inches. Scout seemed to have been close behind her, as she felt his chest cushion her back when she stepped backwards from the force of the glove reattaching itself to its sleeve. She looked at him and smiled in acknowledgement, nodding a thank you. Scout's nervous smile reached from ear to ear as he simply patted her back.
She then grinned when she heard the excited whoops from the men. "Of course, the recoil is a downside but I'm pretty good with these." She said, taking off the sleeve.
"Wit' my snoipin' aim and those gloves, nothin' could stop ya!" Janine heard Sniper remark and she nodded towards him in agreement. "That could make a pretty good combination!" She giggled as Sniper patted her back.
After her little glove show, the mercs returned to drinking and chatting amongst themselves and she sat back onto the couch. Scout handed her back her plate of cake and sat next to her once again. "Dat...Dat's gotta be one o' da coolest things I ever seen." He confessed. Maybe this girl does stand a chance against me. He thought as she started to chow down on the cake slice.
"Thanks, Scout." She answered with a full mouth. He laughed at her cake-stuffed face. "Want somethin' to wash dat down with, Bruisah?" He asked, taking a beer bottle from the Engineer who was about to ask if she wanted some.
She looked at the bottle and quickly gulped down her cake with a smile.
"Oh, you bet!"