"Please?"
"No."
"Please?"
"No."
"Please?"
"Scout, no matter how many times you ask, I'm not giving it to you."
"Please?"
"You're too young to be drinking."
"Please?"
"Scout, please, shut up." Engineer says without looking up from his blueprints.
"Please?"
"Just give him the beer already!" Demoman cries out. "If he gets drunk, then that's his own damn fault."
"Yeah, Snipes, listen to Demo!"
With a groan, Sniper stretches to give Scout the bottle.
"Aw, sweet!" Scout says excitedly. He tilts his head and brings the opening to his lips, but before he can have a taste of the bitter nectar, Spy takes the bottle from his grasp, chugging it down. "What?! Spy!"
"You're too young," Spy scolds lightly.
"What's gotten into your briefs?" Sniper asks with a grin.
"Shut up, bushman."
"Aren't you supposed to be training Elise?" Demoman starts to unscrew his bottle. He takes a long swig and wipes the excess on his sleeve.
"Not today," Spy burps. "Excuse me."
Medic walks into the room and smiles at all of his teammates. "Good morning all," he says.
"Fuck this," Scout sighs. "Pyro! Hurry up! I'm hungry!"
"Mmph hurr berr!" Pyro sings excitedly. After several minutes, Pyro comes out with nine plates all balanced on both arms; five on one, four on the other.
"Yes! Bacon!" Scout takes his fork and dives in.
"Thank you Pyro," Medic says.
Pyro places a plate in front of Spy, who stares in disgust. "Um, no thank you, Pyro." Spy pushes his plate away from him and gets up, bottle in hand.
"Okay then, more for me!" Scout reaches for Spy's plate and pigs out.
"You're not hungry, herr Heavy?" Medic asks.
One glance at Medic, and Heavy smiles. "Heavy is too big. Need to slow down on food eating."
"Oh come on big guy," Scout pats Heavy's arm. "If you don't eat it, then I will."
"Yeah," a very hungover Soldier groans. "Don't waste food."
Heavy looks at the two and laughs. He picks up the plate and devours the food. Scout pouts and leans back in his chair.
"Ugh, I'm still hungry! Oh! If nobody's having that one!" Scout jumps up and tries to snatch the full plate of food from Pyro's gloved hands. But Pyro kicks a foot out and keeps Scout away from the food.
"Nur! Diss murs hurr Sfy!"
"Hey," Engineer stops his fork and looks up from his blueprints. "Where is Spy, by the way?"
Medic and Spy look at each other, and as seconds pass, it turns into a glare along with a little animalistic snarl.
Slowly slipping away, Sniper goes out of the war room and heads for the rooms.
"Oh, shit," Sniper curses. "Which one is hers?" He walks around the area and starts knocking on all the doors. "Uh, Spy?"
After a couple of tries, he hears a voice.
"What?"
"Oh, hey, breakfast is ready, if you want to eat." Sniper puts his ear against the door and waits for the sound of footsteps. "Are you okay, sheila?"
He can hear Elise sniffle. "I'm fine."
"No, you're not." Sniper says. He puts his hand on the handle, surprised when it turns. "I'm coming in."
"What do you want?" Elise says immediately as Sniper comes into view. Automatically, as soon as Sniper entered, the room started to feel smaller in the cramped room. "I'll go later."
"What's wrong?" Sniper asks as he puts his hands in his pockets.
"I'm fine," Elise flops onto the bed and turns to face the wall.
She hears Sniper sigh. "I've lived with a woman before, and I know when something's wrong."
Elise can feel the bed cave in from a new weight. Sniper sighs and lays down beside Elise.
"Your mother doesn't count." Elise mumbles.
"She's still a woman, is she not?"
"Still," Elise says with a sigh.
"Homesick?" Sniper asks out of the blue.
That's a small part of Elise's problem. The whole problem is the Spy and Medic. What is she supposed to do? She can't get attached to two men at the same time. That would be a very dangerous decision. And even if she did pick one, it would still be a bad idea. A small part of her told herself that everything would've been better if she was back home, not in this horrible place.
"Yeah," Elise says quietly.
"Yeah," Sniper's voice booms. He laughs and takes his hat off, hooks his aviators onto his vest pocket, and then places his hat on his chest. "I miss my home too."
Elise's breathing quiets; she wants him to continue.
"Australia is the most beautiful place," Sniper continues.
Elise slowly flips onto her back, her arm overlapping Sniper's. He flinches and moves his hand away.
"Sorry," Elise apologizes.
Sniper gives her a regretful look, and then gives her his signature canine grin. "No, I'm sorry. I guess I still haven't gotten over my antisocial lifestyle," he nervously laughs. He puts his arm back down, and Elise puts her arm on top. Sniper tenses at first, but starts his story again to get his mind off of their skin contact. "I remember when I was a kid, my mom would ground me for weeks. I was always outside, and I would never help around the house. She always told me that the doctors must have mistaken me for a baby born in the wild. The animals loved me, and I loved them. Everybody despised the animals and considered them rodents, but I always thought them to be like little stuffed animals."
Elise stared at the ceiling and tried to imagine what it was like in Australia.
"Close your eyes," Sniper says. Elise does as he says. "Now imagine this... Hot sun, clear sky, sandy beaches, and crystal blue waters. The gusts of wind perfectly complementing the scene of trees blowing in the wind. That's where we lived. The most stereotypical house in Australia."
"Wow, that's beautiful..." Elise comments.
"Yeah, it really was. But, my outdoor adventures soon turned out to be real adventures. Once I turned 24, I couldn't take the city anymore. I always considered it to be too noisy, and unnatural. So, one night, I write my mum a letter saying that I'll be gone for a while, take my van and sniper, and head out to the Outback."
"You're always telling me about your mother. What about your dad?" Elise asks as she turns her head to look at Sniper.
His jaw clenches and he sighs deeply. "My dad never liked me," Sniper admits.
"Oh, I'm sorry. You don't have to-"
"My dad never accepted the fact that I was a little... antisocial." Sniper paused.
"Sniper?"
"He told me, right in my face, that I was awkward."
"I'm sorry..."
"Don't be," Sniper laughed. "If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have left the house and become such a brave man. He drove me out... out into the Outback. I've survived the scorching hot sun, the deadly insects and animals, and loneliness. I learned how to entertain myself without having anybody around."
"But that made you even more antisocial?" Elise blurted out. She covered her mouth and looked at Sniper from the corner of her eye.
"Yeah... I guess..." Sniper sighs. "Sometimes I wish that I didn't leave. If I didn't leave, I would've learned how to handle situations and interactions with other people. Strangers, to be exact. I can handle interacting with people I've known for a long time, but strangers? No way in hell. I'd rather get stung by a scorpion than to talk to a stranger."
"I'm a stranger..."
Sniper turns his head and stares at Elise. Feeling his eyes on her, Elise turns her head and smiles. Sniper smiles back.
"Wow. What's wrong with you?" Sniper chuckles.
"Excuse me? How rude," Elise giggles.
"Not in that way. I mean, how do you do it? You've gotten me to tell you my life story, and you're a stranger."
"I don't know," Elise smiles wider. "Maybe it's a special quality that a Spy has."
"You're not a Spy. Not yet," Sniper's arm goes under his head. "Spies are heartless, they feel no sympathy. They don't talk as much, and don't want to have people tell their stories. They want to nose around in other people's business, because that's their nature..."
Elise looks down at Sniper's necklace; a tooth. She lifts her hand and holds onto it, Sniper tensing. Elise rubs her thumb back and forth on the smooth, long, sharp tooth.
"You're not like that." Sniper lifts his hand and wraps it over Elise's. "It's a crocodile tooth. The first crocodile I've killed alone," he says with a smile. His hand starts to shake, but he doesn't let go.
"You killed a crocodile?" Elise says to keep the conversation going. She doesn't want to make Sniper feel shy and embarrassed from the moment they are having.
"Yup," he pops the last letter. "I felt so strong at that point. After that, I felt invincible."
He tightens his grip around Elise's hand, and starts to steady his breathing.
"Thank you," Sniper says in the still silence.
"What for?" Elise looks up into his eyes. His Australian ocean blue eyes.
"For keeping the conversation alive." He leans his head down and smiles.
"You would've done the same for me," Elise responds as she matches his breathing.
"Of course."
"Sniper?" Scout knocks on Elise's door.
Swiftly, Sniper scrambles out of Elise's bed, bringing her up with him since he was still holding onto her hand.
"Oh, uh, sorry about that," Sniper, turning back into his goofy self, stutters. "Coming Scout."
"What are you doing in her room? Are you getting some pu-"
"No Scout. He's helping me... rearrange my room," Elise covers.
"Well hurry up Spy, or else I'm eating your breakfast!"
Elise hears Scout's footsteps echo in the distance, and she secretly wants to run after him in case he doesn't eat her food. She looks over at her clock, which says 9:52 am.
"Don't worry," Sniper reassures. "I'll make sure he doesn't eat your breakfast."
Sniper and Elise walk into the war room together. Like vultures stalking their prey, Medic and Spy who are sitting on the couches, eye the two. Sniper guides her to the dining table and pulls out her seat. As soon as Elise sits down, Sniper goes to the extra room to get some juice.
"Good morning, Spy," Medic says first.
"Good morning, Medic," Spy responds with a smirk.
"Not you, you idiot."
Elise looks back at the two, and forces a smile in their direction. "Good morning."
"Here," Sniper hands Elise a cup and places the apple juice beside it. "I'm going to my van," Sniper announces.
"Whatever," Scout mumbles as he lays his head on his hand. He eyes Elise's food.
Elise catches this and sighs. "Here," she stands up and puts half of her food on his plate. "You're welcome."
"Sweet! Thanks Spy!"
Elise sits back down, but this time at the chair adjacent to Scout.
Medic and Spy watch Sniper as he leaves the room. He gives them both a dismissive look.
"Elise," Spy speaks up. She turns around in her seat. "After breakfast, you are to report to the training room."
"I thought you said there was no more training today," she says as she sips her apple juice.
"I've changed my mind." Spy gets up and walks out, heading for the training room.
"Whatever," she rolls her eyes. "Hey Scout, you still hungry?"
"Oh, yes, Spy! I'm still hungry," Scout sticks his tongue out like a puppy.
"Well you can't have any," Elise smiles and giggles.
"You're a horrible person," Scout pouts.
"Okay, fine, here. But no more after this," Elise portions her eggs and bacon onto Scout's plate.
"You. Are. The. Best." The last word is muffled, and sends pieces of food flying.
"May I have some apple juice?" Medic asks as he places an empty cup in front of him. He pulls out a seat and sits down in front of Elise.
"Sure," Elise picks out some food from between her teeth with her tongue. She pours Medic some juice and sits back down.
"Thank you," he says as he stares at Elise.
Her face starts to get warm, and she coughs and looks down at her food to cover it. Medic's foot touches hers, and she can feel it under all the thick leather from her shoes.
"So!" Elise jumps. "What are you guys going to do today?"
"I don't know. I might just practice some swings and probably go running for a bit." Scout says as he stuffs his mouth.
Medic's foot moves closer to the inside of Elise's foot. The tip of his boot rubs her ankle. Elise stops breathing. Her body reacting in a way she doesn't want it to.
"Medic!" Elise jolts when his foot starts to go higher up her leg. "What are you going to do?"
"I don't know. Do my studies, examine some body parts, but all in all, I'll still be all alone in my office." Medic's eyebrow raises slightly, enough for Elise to see. "And you, I'm assuming will be training."
"Yes."
"Well, I hope it goes well. Hopefully Spy doesn't try anything on you that will leave you injured. It would really be a pain to have you in my office," Medic says smoothly, and almost convincingly as if he's disappointed. "Well." Medic's foot retreats. "Seeing as I have no business here, I should be on my way."
Medic leaves, rounding the table behind Scout, who's face is down, eyeing his food. He takes a finger and runs it across Elise's shoulder blades as he walks away. "Goodbye, Spy," he growls.
Elise's breath hitches, and she closes her eyes, crossing her legs tighter together. As soon as Medic leaves, she lets out her breath.
"Holy shit," she curses.
"What?" Scout asks as he finishes the last of his food.
"Oh." Elise forgot Scout was there. "I-I shouldn't have eaten that food. You know what, you can have it. I've got to get going too. I don't want to miss anything for my training..."
Elise pushes her plate to Scout and gets up, heading to the room.
She walks slowly to the room, taking quiet steps so nobody will hear her. Once she knows she's alone, she knocks on the door.
"Yes?"
"May I come in?" Elise peeps.
A laugh sounds at the other end of the door, and a couple of steps sound. The door unlocks, and his figure appears in front of her.
"Of course."
"Thanks," Elise walks in, "Medic."