Hello again! Third chapter to this fanfiction - slightly shorter than usual, but I need to finish some work for school so unfortunately I had to cut it short. Hope you'll still enjoy it! Thanks for following/faving this story HeadCollector and macblur, and shoutout to GeminiLadyi21 for the lovely review!
Pyro couldn't be happier. For ages, they had wanted to have a roommate, but things being as they are, they were never able to convnce any of the other mercs to share a room with them. Most of them enjoyed their rare moments of solitude too much to give them up, and even those who would have considered ended up refusing: Scout said he didn't want to live in such a girly room, and Demo argued that he snored too much and didn't want Pyro to have to bear with it. Of course, Pyro was far from stupid and knew it was just an excuse, but they didn't insist and kept their own room for themselves, giving up all hope on ever sharing it with anyone. That girl they found in the enemy basement was a blessing – or a gift from fate. When the mercs had discussed where she was to sleep while Miss Pauling decided on her fate back in HQ, Pyro had immediately volunteered: they had a bunk bed and the bottom one was only occupied by their stuffed animals. The others couldn't refuse. Not to mention that it would mean someone would keep an eye on her and make sure she wouldn't go out and about in the middle of the night. Everybody was satisfied with the outcome, and it was agreed that the unsuspecting Kate would stay with Pyro. The little firebug was delighted. Ever since Kate had given them this small smile of gratitude after they cooked her eggs and bacon, they had decided they would become friends with her. That's how Pyro was. Clingy, affectionate, naïve. A big ball of fluff and love made human. With an inclination to pyromania.
Sitting on a pile of cushions in the middle of their room, they stared at Kate as the young woman walked into the room, visibly intimidated and uncertain. She looked around the room: a rather large one, with the bunk beds and their white and pink bedsheets, the walls covered with bright, colourful posters and drawings, the desk packed with sketchbooks and colour pencils, sharpies, and paints, the thick, comfortable rug on the floor, and the cushions and blankets scattered everywhere. Very girly, very childish too, but undeniably cosy. A little haven of peace and kindness in the middle of an absurd war.
"Hey, I like your room. It's really nice and pretty." She finally said, still looking around, a bit of uncertainty in her voice; not because she wasn't being sincere, but because she had no idea how to behave towards Pyro. It was one thing, reading the comics online and imagining how the character was, and facing them for real. Who knew, maybe they'd set her on fire if she said something she wasn't supposed to say. She clung onto Engie's reassuring words to convince herself she had nothing to fear. Pyro, after all, was the only one who had shown no sign of hostility towards her since she got here.
Pyro clapped their hands and hmpphed their happiness at the compliment. They stood up, grabbed Kate by the arm, and sat her down on her newly-designated bed. She quietly obeyed and crossed her arms around herself. The mercs didn't find any personal belongings in the enemy basement or in the pod, so they had to improvise: her pyjamas consisted of one of Scout's shorts and a t-shirt she borrowed from Engie – it was too big for her and looked like a dress. Dressed in their own pyjamas, a unicorn onesie, Pyro noticed her gesture.
"Hmm hmmu mhhold?"
"Yeah, a little. But it's okay, I'm probably just tired and… Oh boy."
Kate didn't have time to finish her sentence: Pyro immediately grabbed some blankets and threw them at Kate before wrapping their guest in it, like she was a giant Christmas present. Alright. She definitely wouldn't be cold that night.
"Well, thanks Pyro. I feel much better now." She said with a smile, even though she could barely move. Pyro nodded with a happy sound. Kate relaxed a little. Alight, Pyro did seem genuinely nice and adorable. Maybe she was too trusting, but to hell with that. She had a long day. And she really really wanted to have at least one friend in the base if she was going to stay here for more than 24h.
"Hey Pyro, tell me. Engie said that you really wanted a roommate before I came in. Can I ask you why you wanted a roommate so bad?" she asked. Pyro hands started fidgeting on their lap.
"Hmmhph hm hmred hmmn hmy hmown. Hmh hmomers hmm mhmhy hmhmt hoo mphlay hmth hmee."
"The others don't want to play, huh? Yeah, they don't seem to be the playing type. Must get a little boring for you in here." Pyro nodded, and Kate could feel a vague sadness in the air. "Well, guess what. I know you guys still think I might be an enemy and whatnot, but since I'm here, we could play a game." Kate could have sworn she saw Pyro's eyes lightening up behind their thick mask. "What kind of games would you have wanted to play with a proper roommate?"
"HMMPH HMIMHOHMPHORT!"
"A pillowfort?" Kate repeated, incredulous. She loved pillowforts, but had never owned enough pillows to make one. For the first time since she woke from the pod, she felt impatient and excited. God it felt good. "Heck yes, let's make a pillowfort! We can use the bunk beds too!"
Pyro's squeak was probably as close as they could get to a cry of joy with this mask on. They immediately started gathering all the cushions, pillows and blankets in the room – which was a lot – while Kate wiggled out of her multiple layers of blankets and joined in. For a moment, she forgot about her situation, and if it hadn't been for Pyro's very identifiable mask, she would have thought she was just having a pyjama party with a friend back home. The relief she then felt made her realised how anxious she had been all day, with the others watching over her like she was going to pull off a knife and stab them all in the back the minute they wouldn't pay attention anymore. She knew she had to gain their trust, if not for survival (since Miss Pauling had ordered them to keep her safe and sound), at least so that she wouldn't go mad, feeling like a prisoner among them. But how?
Pyro hung some of the blankets to the top bed and showed Kate how to build a rather elaborate tunnel leading from the bottom bed to the door, slaloming between the stuffed animals that had been thrown on the floor. Over the next two hours or so, Pyro's comfy room turned into a proper pillow fort – it could honestly qualify as a pillow fortress, at this stage. There was an inch of the floor that wasn't covered with pillows or blankets, and the bunk beds had turned into a remarkable fluffy castle. Sitting on the bottom bed, the architects of this magnificence high-fived each other – much to Pyro's delight. It was the moment someone chose to knock at the door.
"Hey Pyro, it's Engie. May I?"
Pyro hummed in agreement, but as soon as Engie opened the door, they waved at him to stay outside, before pointing at his shoes frantically. Engie's expression as he gazed upon the huge pillowfort and Pyro was priceless.
"Damn, what happened here? Did ya have a decoration party?" he asked, putting his hands on his hips.
"Apparently Pyro really wanted to have a pillowfort in here, so I thought I'd help out." Kate said, bringing her legs against her. Pyro nodded enthusiastically and put their arm around her shoulders. Engie felt slightly concerned at how easily Pyro seemed to place their trust in this young woman, about whom they still knew pretty much nothing, but he couldn't repress a little smile. He'd always felt guilty for never find the time to help Pyro with their pillowfort. He was glad Pyro managed to find at least one friendly hand. Kate could feel the merc's slight uneasiness, but he spoke again before she could say anything.
"Well, ya two seem to be gettin'on just fine, so I'll get back to mah workshop. Just wanted to check on ya. G'night y'all."
"Hmpph mhmight hmphie!"
"G'night Engineer. Sorry again for all the trouble."
Engie stopped as he was going to close the door. Kate bit her tongue. She just kept on apologizing, to Sniper, to Engie. She was going to come across as annoying. Even more so if they thought her suspicious. Damn. But when she looked again, Engie had a little, understanding smile.
"Hey, no worries, pardner. Ya just get a good night rest, and tomorrow we'll all have a clearer mind to think about all this. And call me Engie, will ya."
Well, that was better than nothing. Obviously, he still had his reserves about her, like they all did, but it would seem they were less hostile to her than she thought. Well, considering she wasn't armed and had been certified physically underperforming by their Medic, they probably knew they would take her down any moment if she showed any sign of hostility, so they didn't really need to worry. Very reassuring.
"Hmph hmm hmphead hm hmphook?"
"Read a book? Sure, what do you want to read?"
Pyro took out a book from their shelf: The Treasure Island. Kate couldn't repress a smile. It was one of her favourite books. She'd always loved pirates when she was younger, even wanted to be one when she was about twelve. She ended up studying history instead, but her affection for the ships and adventures of her childhood had never wavered. The two of them started reading out loud, sharing the dialogues between them, until way past conventional bedtime – until they both fell asleep, the book lying open on Kate's stomach.
When Kate woke up the next morning, she felt slightly dizzy as her head was hanging out of the bed – she must have drifted off during the night. Still half-asleep, she tried to grab the bed's bar to get back on, but realized only too late that her whole body was too close to the edge of the mattress. Before she could react, she slipped, let out a small scream and fell flat on the floor – luckily for her, it was still covered with pillows. She moaned as she sat up. Her knee had bumped against the bedframe, and when she looked at it, she could see a bruise was already forming. Great. Moodily, she looked at the bed – empty. Pyro was already out. What time was it? She could see her roommate's uniform was still on the chair, so it couldn't be too late in the morning. She got up and decided to muster up her courage and go to the common room. In the corridor, she could smell coffee and bacon. Breakfast time, apparently. As she got closer to the dining/common/rec room, she could hear the conversations getting louder. A happy, loud mix of different voices and accents. She grew slightly nervous. Wasn't she going to kill the mood? But she didn't even have time to think and walk back: the door opened on Pyro, still wearing their pyjamas. They let out a happy mumbling when they saw her, before grabbing her arm and pulling her into the room. Before she could protest, she was facing all the other mercs.
"Morning missy. Pyro was just telling us about your little fort construction last night." Engie said. "Come an'have breakfast, help yourself to anythin' you'd like."
Feeling like she was slowly blushing while the other mercs looked at her, she happily let Pyro take the initiative: they took her hand and led her to an empty chair between them and Engie, Medic sitting across the table next to Heavy.
"Guten Morgen Fraulein. How are ve feeling zhis morning?" asked the German doctor.
"Better, I suppose. I don't feel like I'm going to collapse every step I take anymore, at least."
"Excellent! Zhe vitamins I gave you must be vorking. A solid breakfast, and you should make a speedy recovery."
Yeah, vitamins. Right. She wasn't even sure she wanted to know what he actually put into her system. Pigeon blood? Don't think about it too much, Kate. Not for breakfast.
"So, what the programme for today?" she asked, trying to make casual conversation. If you could have casual conversations with a group of mercenaries, anyway. In the meantime, Pyro brought her a bowl of cereals drowning in cold chocolate. Adorable. Kate was starting to consider adopting Pyro. She thanked them with a smile.
"Well, considering the BLUs have left the base we found ya in yesterday, it's probably worth goin' back there. See if we can find anythin' else. Maybe they left your ID or other personal belongings somewhere."
"The spook's already there, roight?" Sniper asked as he walked past their side of the table, one hand in his pocket, the other holding a #1 Sniper mug with hot coffee inside. "Is the Sheila comin' with us?"
"Yeah I think she should. Who knows, seein' the place again might trigger some memories of how she got there in the first place." Kate nodded, digging in her bowl of chocolate-bathed cereals. If she could make herself useful by complying to whatever they wanted her to do, she was more than happy to do it. She also wanted to see the basement, too. See where she'd been apparently locked in for a whole year before waking up on Medic's chair.
"Hey, doll, mind passin' me the jam over here?" Scout's obnoxious voice suddenly shouted at the other end of the table. "Just toss it, I'll catch it! Imma baseball pro!" he added as she was standing up to bring him the pot.
"Not sure that's a good idea, lad." Demo remarked before pouring himself another shot of his morning whisky. Kate wasn't sure that was a good idea either, so she aimed, and threw the pot at Scout. He didn't even need to move: it landed right into his hands.
"Nice toss." He said with a grin.
"I used to play handball when I was younger." Kate said, with a tint of pride.
"How 'bout baseball? D'ya play baseball?"
"Scout, don't try to abuse her patience, will ya." Engie said with a chuckle. "Trust me, ya don't wanna get him started. He'll wear you off in an instant, and I think our good Doctor wants ya to get some rest."
"Ja, no sports for at least one week! Zhen ve'll see how it goes."
"Y'all are boring." Scout mumbled. Kate tried not to smile.
"Anyway, let's all get ready and see what Spy's been up to. Sniper, mind if we use your van and mah truck? I need to bring some of mah equipment to work on the pod."
"Yea, that's fine." The Aussie nodded. Kate's cereals had disappeared down her stomach. She took Sniper's agreement to lend his van as a signal to get and get ready. She ran back to Pyro's room, took a quick shower, brushed her teeth, made sure her tracking bracelet was still working, put on the clothes she had been lent the day before, and made her way outside. Time to shed some light on all this mystery.