At first, yeah, it was hard to be Al's roommate but I got used to it. In fact we became friends. And Alfred being our lady scout's best friend and all, she of course was around us very often. And I found myself getting used to her too.

"What colour are your eyes?"

"Huh? Green pretty much", I answered to Susan. Random question time, was it?

"I love green eyes. Mine are just boring brown", the girl huffed and waved towards her face.

I frowned. There were nothing wrong with her eyes. They were big and round and had lovely hazel color with a tint of grey in the middle. I smiled a little and said:

"Your eyes are just fine."

"No, they're not. And my nose is way too tiny and points stupidly downwards", Susan claimed and poked her nose with her indexfinger. Oh, boy. I haven't used to conversations like this. Guys had never talked to me about their noses and stuff.. And her nose wasn't too small. Sure it looked a bit tiny compared to her eyes but it sat perfectly in her face. In fact it was cute.

"And my hair looks awful. It's dull brown and.."

What was this random rambling about her looks? She had nothing wrong with her face or hair.. or body. I felt uncomfortable with the situation. Susan had never complained about herself. Well, I hadn't known her that long. I hoped Alfred would come soon.

"Hey, you look nice", I tried and plased my hand on her thigh. It looked huge and clumsy because I had my rubber gloves on. I used them almost always. I felt safer with my gear on.

"Thanks", Susan said and looked a bit taken aback by my friendly gesture. And then I got scared about it being too friendly and removed my hand.

"You're a beautiful man", she grinned.

I frowned. She called me feminine. Of course I looked a bit feminine for a man but.. not really in an abnormal way. She shouldn't have a doubt about my gender. She had no reason. I tried to relax. Susan hadn't implied I'm a woman. She just gave me a compliment. Before I could answer the door opened.

"Hi, fellas!" Al greeted and walked to us. He ruffled my already messy hair and sat next to me. Now my bed was full of soldiers.

"OUR BASE IS BEING INVADED"

Oh, really? Well, fuck. Fuck, shit and a fucking shithead. There were supposed to be a fucking truce for the rest of the week. No? Fuck you team red. We have enough injured people and we fucking know you're out of supplies. You decided to borrow some of ours, did you?

Our lady scout was already out of the door and Al was putting his equipment on. I put my gasmask on and went to get my flamethrower. I hoped this would be soon over with.

The battle indeed was short. Even if we had less men, they shortly ran out of ammo and they had to retreat. It was a doomed attack from the beginning. Stupid move, I'd say. I don't know what we'll do now. They were even more vulnerable now but so were we. I'm happy that I'm just a pyro and it's not my job to decide this kind of things.

What I should worry about was my badly burned left hand. I was amused by the irony of being a pyro and getting burned. The rubber had melted right into my skin and it hurt like fuck. But there were many soldiers before me.

I wondered if my... friends.. yeah, I guess they're friends. I wondered if they were okay. I hadn't seen them since we left the room. I scanned the waiting room trough my mask and saw a familiar heavy. It was just my old roommate. He was missing a piece of his leg. Ouch. Probably a demoman had gotten him for good. What caught my attention was that someone was asking him if he was okay. Alfred. He seemed pretty okay. Though his arm was bleeding. And leg. And his shoulder was covered in blood. How was he even conscious? I would have moved next to him if there had been any room. There wasn't so I just stood where I was.

I lay in my bed. My hand was covered in bandages. Oh, it was so great. The door creaked.

"Hi.. Al's badly injured and in hands of our medics for a few days so.. I guess I could live here with you for a while? If you don't mind", Susan asked shyly from the door.

"Sure", I answered. It didn't matter. If she wanted to live here, she could. Maybe she was lonely or something. I'm not the best company ever but she asked so.. What ever. She could come.

She shut the door and sat on the edge of my bed. She sighed and spoke again:

"He's going to be alright, isn't he?"

"Yeah. I saw him in the waiting room. He was conscious and all", I answered. I hoped I was reassuring.

"Are you hurt?" she asked worried. I lifted my bandaged hand up.

"Just a little burn. Ironic, huh?"

She smiled sadly and took my right hand in hers. Oh. I didn't expect that. Usually she was pretty tough. And happy. And all. And not that.. overly friendly. Emotional? Or yes she was emotional. Hell of a lot. But just not.. sad.

"I love him."

Oh. OH. That stung. For some reason. So she was in love with him? Perfect. What did I expect? They're best buddies? I'm stupid. And what do I care? They're just my friends.. Or more like buddies. What should I care if that girl is in love with my roommate? Yeah. I don't. I don't care. It's good that she has someone. Though that someone is now injured.. And she needs me.

"Do you know why I am in this war?" she asked me. Of course I didn't. She hadn't told me. I shook my head. So, she told me:

"My dad. He was one of the strategists. My mom died and he wanted to take me with him. He didn't want me in some home that wasn't a home. So, he wanted to take me in the base. He got a permission so I lived here. Army was my new family. I just grew up to be a soldier. When my dad died I persuaded them to take me in as a scout. I didn't want to leave my family, you know?"

"Oh.. well.. at least you still have family", I answered and tried to smile. I didn't know that. So, that made her so extraordinary.

"Yea, that's right. And you guys are my best friends", she smiled and squeezed my hand. I smiled back.

"You are my first friends."