Victor walked hand-in-hand with his wife to be, the young woman clinging onto him as if she was afraid he would disappear. He noticed a faint tremble in her movements as well, so he was currently moving toward a more secluded place for them to talk. Said place was one of Beacon's many small gardens, usually left unoccupied by most students, but with a beautiful and somewhat isolated feeling to them.
Entering the colorful natural area, the two sat themselves down on a bench, with Vesna scooting closer to Vic and leaning her head on his shoulder. He leaned his head on hers in response, feeling as she gradually began to calm down, her jitters fading into calm, relaxed breathing. From a concerned, seemingly terrified look, Vesna's face turned to her more relaxed, somewhat calm one.
Setting his free hand onto one of hers, Vic spoke softly, "What's wrong, honey...?"
"Nothing..." She lied, a hint of that fear seemingly coming back as a slight shiver coursed through her. Vic squeezed her hand, causing her to look up at him. Plastered all over his face was the most obvious type of concern for her, his eyes locked with hers. A hint of guilt filled her heart as she sighed deeply, "Sorry... I just had nightmares the past couple of days, while you, Sam, Lita and the platoons were gone to that village..." Before murmuring, "I don't like sleeping alone anymore... But you shouldn't have to worry about that."
He sighed and rubbed her hand to comfort her, "I told ya to talk to me if you need help with anything, my love..." before giving her a smile, "Don't worry, though. I was top of the rotation for outbound ops in our little Merc company, so I'm not heading out again for a while now. Next couple of contracts are for Dush, Sofia and the others to take care of, so that means I don't have to leave."
Vesna smiled, though the guilt of something seemed to hit harder. Vic had noticed the slight weakening of her grip on him, but she soon held onto him tightly again, leaning her head back onto his shoulder. She spoke softly, "I'm glad..." as she settled into it. Vic felt some degree of concern for her, obviously, considering they were set to get married, but he didn't know if he should press matters. War would make a mess out of anyone, as evidenced by... Well, everyone.
If it became too much, he thought to himself, he would inquire. Either ask her, or ask Lita or Ayesha. With a light sigh, the young man kissed her on the forehead, making her giggle, her cheeks flushing red. Vic smiled, too, staring at the nature around them and taking in the soothing, quiet beauty of the greenery. He told her quietly, "I genuinely hope you aren't hiding things, Ves..."
"It's okay..." The blonde replied, patting her boyfriend on the hand, "I'm not..." And she lied through her teeth. Vesna did not want her lover to know how she felt. She had worried the man enough, not to mention hurt him by perishing as she did. She didn't want to make him feel even worse than that, now that they were reunited once more and finally, properly together. She wanted to make him happy, no matter what.
Lita had followed them over, too, from farther in the back. She had overheard their chatter from a distance and knew better. So it annoyed her to no end what was tantamount to one of her sisters told her beloved husband-to-be jack and fucking shit about her mental well-being. She sighed deeply, marching back home with the annoyance clearly written on her face. As she entered the place, she saw Jim setting something up on the counter and, for what was worth, her expression did soften.
She sighed, then sat herself down next to him and looked over, asking, "What're you doing?"
"Trying to see if I can set up a little thing on the island countertop to make it easier for Saila and the others to put their food here," The boy replied, focused dead-on on what looked like a piece of heat-resistant metal. Lita hummed, a little impressed as she saw him bending the item into a shape meant to hold pans. For all intents and purposes, she knew Jim was a little slower on the uptake, but it was sweet to see him trying to help.
She snorted, however, then leaned on the counter and said, "Okay then. Let me know if you need a hand."
"Will do, Li," He smirked, calmly finishing up the item and setting aside while the green-haired girl watched him. She'd missed the idiot dearly, to be honest. One would think that she'd have long-ago abandoned any thought of trying to care for him, even if they were childhood friends, but, as sadly evidenced by Lita's own internal struggles, she still loved the dumbass, even if he was going for Sammy.
He hummed and turned to her, then offered a kindhearted smile, as usual, before feeling a hand clap onto his back. The two both looked over to see Dushman stepping out of his and Sofia's dormitory, kiss and bite marks on his neck as he sat himself down. He told them, "Sofi really doesn't wanna leave anything to chance, the good girl..." with a smirk.
Lita snorted, "Not like you weren't audible all the way out to Nikos Towers, svoloch," only to let out a short laugh as she saw his cheeks flare red. He flipped Lita the bird, with her answering in kind, before both started laughing. Sofia walked out next, her hair ruffled thoroughly and pointing in every-which direction. She wore a grin on her face as she plopped herself down next to Dush and wrapped her arms around him.
Noticeably, both Lita and Jim sighed at the sight, smiling sadly at the two. Samantha walked out next, donning her uniform's cargo pants and a short-sleeved T-shirt this time. Stepping up to the counter, she paused as Jim lifted up the strange new contraption and said, "I tried making a little something for when you girls cook. I didn't see a cooling rack anywhere, so..."
Sammy picked up the item and looked it over, noting the fact it was, in fact, heat resistant materiel. She whistled, nodded and said, "Heh. Nice work, Jim," making him beam at her. Lita stifled a sigh, watching as the girl set it aside, then pulled out the cooling rack and stating, "I did just recently find this myself," which seemed to make the guy lose a bit of his spryness. She shrugged, however, and assured him, "Hey, we have space to put two pots to cool now, for when Saila decides she wants to make a lot of soup... And, honestly, knowing her, she might just do that."
That seemed to lift Jim's spirits back up. Sam looked to Lita apologetically, but the girl shook her head again and chuckled, though the pain was obvious. Sam understood it a little too well, but unlike Vesna, she did not feel the same for the man whose object of affection she was. She considered letting him down easy if he ever confessed, but there was no simple way to do that, really.
Hell, she didn't really want to know how Victor felt after her reaction to... With a sigh and a shake of the head, the girl turned about and looked to Dushman and Sofia. As the two turned to her with confusion, the girl balked, "And you two. Jesus fucking Christ, Dushman, put a goddamn sock in Sofi's mouth!" which garnered a yelp out of the Ukrainian and an awkward cough and a blush from Dush.
"Fucking thank you... Someone else says it..." Robert stated as he walked out from a backroom, still clad in his full uniform. He looked over to the Whiskey still snoozing on the couch, then stated, "I need backup to handle all of you fuckers, plus Vic's and Paul's old platoons, I swear to Christ... We have three couples so far, two of which have fucked particularly loud in my presence."
Lita snorted and said, "Hey, can't handle it, you can move to our apartment in Vale's top district."
The MP sighed deeply, rubbing his eyes, then said, "Sam, pass me some coffee before I pass out..." only to pause as he saw a mug of fresh coffee slide toward him. He plucked it up, let out a surprised "Huh..." while looking to the smirking Lieutenant and lifting the mug in cheers, "Thanks..." He then took a long sip of the coffee and let it basically purify all the bad thoughts. He let out a sigh and a content smile formed on his face, "Well, if there's any other good constant here, it's that Misfit-brand coffee will forever be the best fucking blend..."
The others let out laughs at that, before pausing as a groan was audible. They all turned toward the couch, to see Whiskey awakening from her slumber. She yawned, stretched and clicked her tongue twice. With still-sleepy eyes, she turned toward the gang and smiled sheepishly, "I smelled coffee..." before stumbling to her feet and scratching the top of her head as she marched up to them.
Sam handed her a mug and said, "Fresh brew from our own fucked-up mix..." which seemed to cause only the slightest hint of concern in Whiskey. She still took the first sip with very little trouble... Before stopping and seizing up as she started to cough violently. With tears in her eyes, she looked to the others, with Robert snorting and shaking his head. Sam said, "Spicy, innit?"
"Yeah..." Whiskey replied hoarsely, punching herself in the chest, "Fucking hell, what did you put in there?"
"Chilli flakes..." Sam replied with a grin, looking to Dushman as she sipped from her own coffee. Dushman snorted and gave a salute to that, while Whiskey stared between them with a dumbfound look. The American Marine snorted and shook his head, before everyone heard someone fall over the railings and turned, stunned. Gibby stood to his feet, undamaged, before grinning and giving a thumbs up.
Yet more laughter escaped the mouths of the Misfits as they watched the man stumble over toward them and grab his own mug of coffee. Whiskey had to be the sole person in the room feeling concern for the lunatic that just did a belly-flop onto the wooden floor from the first story of the house. She blinked, looked at the mug of spiced coffee and drank half of it in one go to wake up.
She started coughing violently, garnering more laughs out of the folks around them, Sofi patting her on the back and laughing, all while muttering something in Ukrainian that Dushman barely picked up on. Lita herself shook her head, chuckling as she nursed a glass of tap water she'd gotten. She hummed and looked to Whiskey, then told her, "Welcome to the Misfits, Van Der Graaf. We're a little quirky, blyad."
Whiskey chuckled, "I can see that..." before rubbing the back of her neck. She was somewhat out of her element, but, then again, Whiskey had seen a lot of types of people during her tenure with a PMC that shan't be named even in secret. No, it was not Russian. They hunted Russian PMCs in the post-Collapse Russian territories for fun. Scratching her chin, the girl hummed and told them, "Reminds me a little of my quirkier teammates."
"Okay, this we gotta hear," Sammy turned toward her as Saila and Anja walked down, the latter dragging a semi-conscious Alex toward the table. Sam jokingly inquired in a rhetorical fashion, "Who did miss Vicky's Ex serve with, eh?" and she smirked. Whiskey suddenly partially regretted saying that, but Sam switched the subject for a moment, murmuring, "Hey, where's Paul and Katja?"
Obviously, Katja was in another part of Beacon, looking for Paul. She had to confront him, as Annette had said. Directly and alone, just the two of them, as it had been before KFOR, before the military. Else she doubted she was going to get anything out of the man if everyone was around. Marching through the courtyard of Beacon, the young woman held close to her heart the desire to help her old friend... No matter what.
Marching through Beacon even further, the young woman was met by the sight of Blake walking alone through the place. The raven-haired catgirl of the team of newfound friends to the Misfits turned to face Kat, then waved. Kat waved back, then, upon approaching Blake, said, "Going for a trip at this early in the morning, Blake? Thought you'd be studying."
"Can't exactly do that with Yang and Ruby playing video games in the room at maximum volume..." Blake sighed deeply, running a hand through her black hair. She hummed, then asked, "What about you, Katja? The Misfits started to get boring or something?" which sort of surprised the Pole. Even though the catgirl that started at her when she was singing the good old 'Polish Cow' song, as it was known, with the gaze of a terrified young lady now stood in front of her, calm and focused, Katja needed to re-register the question.
And when she did and found a suitable answer to her own thought process, she simply shook her head, "No. I'm looking for Paul... Have to talk to him about something personal," She then stated. Blake hummed, a little surprised, then nodded. The two women stood there, in awkward silence for a good couple of minutes before both gave each-other a nod and stepped off toward their intended areas of interest.
Katja had rushed forward, running and wondering where exactly she could find Paul, before she saw him sat on a bench nearby, smoking cigarettes. With a smirk, the young blonde walked up to him, grabbed him by the arm and said to him, "We're having a little chat in private, Pali. And you aren't saying no to it..." before looking back to see the surprise in his eyes.
"Kat, slow down, what the hell is this about?" Paul demanded as Katja dragged him into a more secluded area. His heart skipped a beat as she and him stopped there. Katja turned toward him and, despite his usual good mood when he saw her, Paul suddenly saw the look of pure concern on his childhood friend's face. He told her, "If this is what I think it's about, Kat, I told you, I'm fine. There's no reason to worry about m-"
Katja raised her hand, shaking her head. Her voice grew hard, focused, not unlike Paul knew when she got pissed, "Paul... Paul. I know you... We've known each-other since we were kids... Don't try to bullshit me..." and she crossed her arms to her chest. She told him, "I saw the face you made before I arrived. The look you had... When we were helping your Foreign Legion platoon."
"Oh..." Paul seemed to deflate, frowning.
"And then there's you acting defensive whenever I ask what's wrong, like you don't think I could easily tell you aren't okay... It's almost as if you're trying to hide something from us, putting up a goddamn facade when you're supposed to feel free enough around the Misfits to fully express yourself..." She let her shoulders sag as she lost some of the pomp in her voice, going low, "Or free enough around your childhood friend, at least. The girl you've known for a couple decades at this point..."
Paul had wanted to reach out to her, to hug her and tell her he was okay, even if that was the most obvious lie he would have told even himself... Instead, he chose to stay quiet, letting Kat process things as she stared at him with sad eyes. However, he saw a flash he hadn't seen in a while in those eyes of hers. Gritting her teeth and closing them, the girl spoke, her voice shaky, demanding, "So... For the love of fucking Christ... Tell me what the fuck is wrong with you, Nemeth...! I'm begging you! Talk to me... Please, Pali..." as tears welled in her eyes.
Paul's face grew grim as he looked at the woman ahead. He grit his teeth, well aware that he could no longer escape talking about this. He was thankful it was just with Kat, though, meaning he could tell her the full, uncensored truth and then ask her not to tell anyone else until he felt ready. He shook his head, then said, "You want to know what's wrong with me, Kat...?" before his lips curled into a sad smile, "Well... A lot, I'm afraid..."
"... First, you go away..." He told her, causing her to wince. He quickly clarified, though, "Don't take this as me blaming you, though, Kat. I could never blame you or your family for heading back for Krakow when your father got that work offer. Poland's your birthplace and home, after all. But it started it. It's why I joined the military, it's why I wanted to be part of KFOR and actually volunteered for when my Unit did. It's why I was so fucking happy to have you back in KFOR, to have met you again..." And a faint smile appeared on his lips, a melancholic one...
It soon vanished as the boy's tone grew low... "... And it's why losing you a second fucking time hurt like hell. Then came the goddamned Pandemic, then Ukraine and the War there, damn Putin to hell for his idiotic view of wanting a Russian Empire reborn! When Russia collapsed, I knew we'd have to go in and maybe we'd meet there again, all of us, be what we once were while disarming some nukes, but fate had other FUCKING PLANS!" He then cried out, obviously in pain and stunning Katja, who stared at him with wide eyes...
"First, Vesna winked off the radar and we all felt something was gonna go wrong." He started enumerating and recounting everything, starting to tremble due to the anger, "Then, Vic told me he found her the way he did... And then he died off, too... Then, Jim and Hass... And then I and our unit got hit by the fucking blast at Omsk! Before that, we'd witnessed Russia go back to its obvious primal state, where everything went to hell and a fucking handbasket!" Kat could feel the fury, coupled with the pain, in each word the young man, the man before her, whom she deeply cared for, spoke... "People stole, raped, looted and murdered what were once their fucking countrymen! I WAS IN A BAD FUCKING SPOT EVEN BEFORE THAT, BUT THAT JUST DROVE THE POINT OF HOW FUCKED EVERYTHING WAS HOME!"
"... So pardon me if I'm not doing so hot right now, Kat..." His voice cracked. Covering his mouth, he took a couple of steps back as Kat tried to approach him, "I just, fuck..." The Pole could see tears welling in his eyes for the first time in a great many years... And it broke her heart as he fell to his knees and covered his face, "I can't take it anymore, god dammit..." And he broke down fully...
Katja's heart sank... She slowly approached him, took a knee and, much to Paul's surprise, wrapped him in a hug. She pat him on the back of the head and whispered to him, "I'm so sorry, Pali..." as she held him close. He sighed, wiping the tears from his eyes as he wrapped his arms around her, too. She told him, "If I'd known, I'd... Have dragged my unit with me all the way to Omsk..."
"I fucked up..." He whispered back, holding onto the woman before him for dear life, "I fucked up a lot... I'm a fucking monster... The things I've done in Russia, the way I'm feeling right now, it's not normal..."
"We're all a little fucked, Paul..." She replied, gently stroking his hair and listening to him quietly weep, "You're no more of a monster than any of us fucked-up idiots... You're still you, though. Somewhere in there..." She slowly pulled back to look him in the eyes, holding her hands to his cheeks as she, too, cried her own tears of regret... She smiled meekly, "You... You know? I never told you, even over text... Do you remember the last sleepover we had?"
"Yeah..." He replied. His heart skipped a beat as Katja smiled awkwardly, then sniffed. Then, he grew a little pale, "Kat?"
She averted his gaze, smiling awkwardly, "... I was still awake when... You..." And she could not find the words, though Paul knew what she meant. From tears, his cheeks now became bright red, as did Katja's. She looked at him, licked her lips and sighed, "I love you, moje Pali. I am never leaving again... And I'll be right here with you, no matter what you think of yourself."
"... Kat..." He paused, stunned, before the blonde leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on his lips, causing his heart to skip a beat. She pulled back, looking at him, only to yelp when he pulled her back in, deepening the kiss and closing the distance between them, arms wrapped around her waist as both now wept tears of joy. Pulling back only when they needed air, the two started panting, chuckling happily. Paul caressed her cheek and told her, "... I love you, too, Kat... More than you can possibly know... And thanks, for sticking by this dumbass Hungarian boyfriend of yours..." to which Kat let out a short laugh, obviously deeply in love.
... Although the two returned to the kiss, they had had a spectator. A certain black-haired catgirl had overheard the entire discussion, though she knew better than to blabber about it to her teammates. She, however, now knew how Yang felt at her own presumptive love interest being taken away, her heart sinking. She sighed deeply, murmuring to herself, "Of course..." before walking away...