The crowd cheered For the attackers as the last defender was shot down. Elias seemed to celebrate with his usual jokes, Grace just celebrated with Yumiko, and Mike and Seamus just talked for a bit about their tactics and how they could've done better, even though they still won. It was a happy moment for them all, well, all of the attacking team... But on the defenders side, things were getting heated between Taina and Gustave.
"Goddamn it Gustave, why do you think they have you the stim pistol?!" Shouted Taina in her usual Latina accent, gesturing with her hands at him angrily.
"Why couldn't you just Shoot Mike instead of acting so tough and choking him with your legs!" Gustave shouted back at Taina as he pointed at her.
"Don't you point at me, desgraçado!" Taina was slowly but surely getting angrier and angrier the more Gustave ran his mouth. Both of them did their share of mistakes, but neither of them admitted to it.
Gustave she threw his helmet onto the ground and walked away angrily as they both witnessed their own friendship easily shatter to a competition meant to test everyone's mettle. Taina simply widened her eyes before sitting down on a bench and folding her arms. Elena, which was talking to Jack, walked over to her, seeing that she was Furious and clearly troubled. Elena and Taina were Every high-school best friend. They did small errands for each other, talked a lot most of the time and went out together, much similar to the relationship between Taina and Gustave, except much stronger. It wasn't because their languages were similar or anything, but it was because they genuinely understood each other in a mental way. Elena understood the mindset Taina had and so did Taina.
"Hey there Taina... What's the whole thing with Gustave today?" Elena asked with a bit of a concern in her voice.
"Its nothing... Just some stupid French guy who thinks he knows everything. They gave him a goddamn stim pistol, and he didn't use it, not even on himself!" She was about to start ranting from all over again.
"It's okay, it's okay" Elena said as she gently patted her back, then sat down next to her "Well... We all lost so, we shouldn't really throw blames at anyone, you know?"
Elena simply said. She knew Taina did do sormthing wrong, but she wanted to root for her and support her all the way through the sweet and bitter.
"I guess you're not wrong..." Taina said, giving her a bit of a sad smiled before hugging her tightly, which Elena embraced the hug, hugging her back.
"you're such a softie sometimes Taina. Seriously, I question if it's truly you at times..." Elena said before chuckling. Taina wasn't always seen at the base, mainly choosing to apply for any upcoming operations or Simple training courses. It didn't matter what it was, but an operator had to do what must be done sometimes. She's seen as a woman with a tough and rough persona that she made. It's a double edge sword, as the enemies fear her but so do the operators sometimes. But in reality, she was quite a soft person when calm and with someone she admires.
"And you feel like a big sister sometimes, which is all I need in life right now." Taina said before smiling even more, giving her cheek a kiss before pulling out of the hug. "Well I'm gonna have to talk to Gustave so that he can actually let me sleep in our shared dorm today... Can I sleep in yours?" Taina asked as she looked over at Elena, still smiling.
"Oh I'd love to have you in! We can actually have some Girly time together!" Elena said joking before giggling, remembering her old days as a teenager, doing nails for her friends, and just being a famour girl.
"Oh please spare me Elena" Taina simply replied before giggling a bit "I already have enough problems, don't add a new one." Taina said half jokingly as she held her hand for a bit while smiling.
"well... Lets get this done with then, hit the showers and then we hit my room" Elena said as she stood up and stretched. "yep... We officially smell like shit." Elena said with a short giggle
Taina sniffed her self for a bit "For once, you are right, Elena" Taina said before smiling a bit. And with one last sigh, she took her hand and walked away from the stadium, going into the showers and getting cleaned up, putting on new clothes, then finally, both of them left back to base.
This was the start of a story that would change the fate of their friendship forever, where it would either deteriorate, or turn into a romantic one... One that would surely shock the entire roster of operators.