A Little Bit of Elbow Grease (Nosferatu and Sigma Octantis)

[Two Faced]

Three days he'd been here, and they were already sending him off to battle. He'd been given a week when he first arrived at his last base, but getting transfered from one base to the next probably wasn't as big of a deal as getting shipped in at first. Hell, in this case he'd hardly gotten a pat on the back before getting sent out-- he didn't even get anyone waiting at the train to check out the new arrivals.

He guessed that transferring wasn't as impressive, either, because when he showed up at the BLU base and sought out the captain, little more then a clipboard asking him to fill out his information was extended to him. Enzo Moretti, 36 years old, BLU engineer. Previous fields of study in biomedical engineering (although why he was hired by BLU as an engineer rather then a medic was beyond him,) and a few months of service with BLU Troop 266.

The paper asked absolutely nothing that they wouldn't already have on their record.

They have him new gear and a spare uniform, told him that he'd better keep his old rifle in his bunk, because sometimes the REDs around here got a little squirrely. He wasn't sure what that meant, but he figured it was some kind of warning or another, and he kept it in mind.

The only weapon he took on the field with him today was some small pistol he didn't know the name of, and (though it hardly counted as a weapon,) the wrench that all members of his class carried. He didn't plan on getting into combat anyway-- today, he'd focus on bringing the other engineers supplies, as he usually did at his old base.

Unfortunately for him, RED base and it's employees apparently hadn't gotten the memo.

[I told you I shouldn't start this. Here, enjoy your train wreck. ;D ]

[Nosferatu]

Morry'd been around the bend enough times to know the routine by now. This wasn't his first base and it certainly wasn't his first week. He made a point to stop by the kitchen on the way to the battlefield every morning, to grab a cup of coffee and perhaps chat with the few teammates that were up early enough for breakfast. It surprised him, really, how many REDs chose sleep over the most important meal of the day on such a regular basis. There weren't more than four or five individuals in the kitchen at a time before the fight.

This morning he'd forgone that ritual in favor of extra battle preparation. The train had come in a few days ago, and with it a fresh batch of transfers and recruits. It was about time to be seeing them on the field, and that usually meant he'd have to be extra careful with his equipment. The transfers weren't so much of a problem, they could usually handle themselves. The recruits on the other hand, someone may as well have unleashed a god of chaos on the base when there were more than four or five per team at any one time.

Hefting the beginnings of a dispenser over his shoulder and a toolbox in his free arm, he set off to greet the day's battle. Today's objective required him to set up a little further than his usual perch near the RED base, but that was what the dispenser was for. Once he got this baby up and running he'd be in business. It was a simple matter of picking a place that was defensible and had a good line of sight. This base was riddled with such places.

The dispenser and sentry combination hummed to life with a low whirr just as the siren rang out for the day's battle to begin. Morry tipped his hardhat back and grinned as the sun peeked over the top of BLU base.

The chaos of battle was not something that was particularly easy to get used to. One moment could be spent defending a valuable piece of territory, the next your life could be at stake. In this case it was neither. Morry watched in rapt fascination as one of his own teammates - a soldier - took a running leap over the side of a railing and barreled headlong into the very heart of the BLU defense. A succession of piercing BOOMs rang out as far as Morry's encampment as the rocket launcher fired its payload at the enemy engineer's sentries, dispensers and teleporters. Well now, that was fortunate. Would certainly make his job easier at any rate.

[Two Faced]

Enzo was ready for the stray enemy or two that managed to make their way past the central part of the battle and towards that back, but he'd expected the sentries to pick off anyone foolish enough to barge through the battle to BLU base. This train of thought came to a screeching stop as soon as the dispenser in front of him exploded into small bits and a bit of shrapnel nearly took his head off.

The he dropped the replacement parts in his arms and followed them to the ground, covering his head and trying-- trying to get away from the exploding machines. He ended up abandoning his escape when the shrapnel died out, and the engineer pushed himself up to glance around. Oh, hell, he didn't know what just happened-- or he didn't until he spotted the soldier. There were no more sentries left, no more dispensers-- and he was hardly armed. What was a pistol against a rocket launcher?

And what else could he do but run?

[Nosferatu]

And what could the soldier do but follow? With the nest of sentries and dispensers systematically annihilated, there was nothing for him to do but hunt down the lone engineer that'd escaped. Having never really stopped, it wasn't a difficult task to spin about on his heel and give chase to the fleeing BLU. The rocket launcher was replaced with his trusty shovel, and the distance closed foot by foot. That BLU was his today.

Morry watched all this with mild amusement from the safety of his own sentry and dispenser. That poor sod of an engineer was really having a terrible day already, wasn't he? His sentry trained its turrets on the form of the BLU engineer as he ran past, but was unable to lock on quickly enough to fire. Damn, that guy was fast. But it seemed the soldier was faster, and the BLU's valiant efforts were soon overpowered by an angry RED with a rocket launcher shovel.

Maybe he should help him? Morry shook the thought from his head. Where had that come from? Help a BLU?

But there was something about this one that didn't seem right. Maybe it was because most engineers, like himself, didn't make like a scout every time someone brought out the heavy artillery.

[Two Faced]

Now, Enzo hadn't expected the soldier to chase after him, and when no rockets went flying after him, he was pretty sure of that. As soon as he was sure, though, he hung around a large boulder and pressed himself against it, trying to catch his breath. The concept of 'catching his breath' was cut short when he heard the familiar beeps of a turret locking on, and he was once again running as fast as his legs could carry him.

Apparently that was just fast enough to avoid getting shot by the turret, and as soon as he thought he was out of range, the man glanced behind him-- and his luck be damned today, there was that soldier flailing his shovel around.

Looks like the REDs took their welcoming party quite seriously.

Well, back to running it was-- but unless he wanted to end up in the heat of the central battle, he'd have to backtrack and go past the turret and RED engineer-- not to mention the solder himself. Not like he had much of a choice, but it didn't stop him from bouncing awkwardly on his heels for a moment before doing his best to avoid attracting the attention of the enemy engineer. (Not an easy thing to do, considering he had no other choice but to run run straight in front of him.)

[Nosferatu]

The easiest (and probably most intelligent) thing for Morry to do at this point would be to step aside and let his sentry take care of the frenzied BLU. Between the two REDs, the other engineer was as good as dead. But he couldn't help but watch him with a certain fascination as he scrambled about; he could almost see the gears turning in his head as he looked between the soldier, the base and the sentry.

It was a split-second decision, to stick his arm out like that. He'd never know exactly what had compelled him to pull the BLU to safety, kicking a switch on the leg of the sentry to disable autofire the second before it locked on. It'd happened so fast even the soldier didn't notice, and ran past Morry's encampment in search of his prey. It wasn't long before he was distracted with other endeavors, the sound of rockets firing picking up in the distance again.

"Y'alright buddy?" Morry moved to the side to allow the other engineer to regain his footing. "He almost had you there." He had no idea why he was doing this, but he was this far now, and this guy didn't seem bad.

[Two Faced]

Enzo hadn't really expected the other engineer to step in-- sure, he'd have to worry about the sentry, but he didn't expect the man himself to do anything. When something caught on him and then he stopped moving but the world didn't, he wasn't sure what happened. He certainly didn't think he'd been wounded, because nothing really hurt-- and if the engineer had stepped in, he'd be dead right now. (Or hurt, to say the least.)

The beeping of the sentry cut off rather quickly, and that was enough to tip him off that something not normal just happened. It took a few seconds for his gaze to settle on the RED, and when he spotted the sentry a moment later, he grinned breathlessly back up at the man. "Well it wouldn't have been much of a problem if you'd just have stabbed him, spy." He went quiet for a moment and pushed lightly at the sentry-- "Never thought I'd say I'd be happy to see one of these get taken down."

[Nosferatu]

Morry retrieved the wrench from his belt immediately. He may have saved this man's life, but he wasn't going to let him fool with his machines, even if he was an engineer. "Might not wanna be touchin' that, there," he indicated to the sentry with a nod of his head, foot resting near the autofire switch.

He perked up at 'spy'. "Well I can't very well stab my own teammate now, can I?" He tightened his grip on the wrench, just in case the other man reacted badly. He imagined it would likely be a sizable blow to any man's ego to be saved by the enemy. "'Sides, what'd I stab him with? This?" He indicated the wrench in his hand. "No sir, engineers don't do much in the way of stabbing." 

[Two Faced]

Right, he probably shouldn't touch it anyway-- he knew enough about them to know how to repair one in case of an emergency, build one, even, if he really needed to-- but that didn't mean that he felt entirely comfortable messing around with them. He'd probably get them both blown up. Enzo chuckled humorously at that-- well, that'd just be awfully ironic, wouldn't it?

The chuckling didn't stop when the other made a comment about stabbing his own teammate, and if Enzo had known his teammates a little better he might've pat the other on the back. "I'm not falling for that one, spy. I'm fresh off the train, not fresh to the war. And unless it's done differently here, there isn't any reason for a RED to be saving a BLU." He reached out for a moment and considered grabbing at the other's wrench-- but then again, if he'd learned anything about how the spy's gear worked, that was likely his knife, and he didn't much fancy grabbing that.

"Short of you being the greedy type who wants the kill to yourself, you've got to be a spy."

[Nosferatu]

"Yer logic's irrefutable, I'll give ye that," Morry chuckled, giving the other man a sharp rap on the head with the wrench. "But by now y'should be wonderin' why I haven't changed back, or phased out, or whatever it is those spooks do when they're done pretendin' ta be you." Replacing the wrench at his belt, Morry took to dismantling the side of the sentry. Pulling some spare ammo from a crate near Enzo, he set to work reloading the turrets.

"You say yer not new t'the field." He remained focused on his work as he spoke. "So what're ye doin' runnin' around like a lame duck? Yer an engineer with the best of us, y'should know how ta defend against that kind'a thing." He looked up at the BLU after a moment. "And maybe I saved ya because I felt bad fer yer sorry ass."

[Two Faced]

Enzo cringed at the rap, even pushed a hand up under his helmet to rub at the spot that'd taken the brunt of the blow. "Well that's not--" He cut himself short when the other continued talking, and he couldn't keep the look of distress from his face. Well, yes, that was true, spies didn't stay in their disguises very long, and that tap on the head had certainly been a lot harder then the handle of a knife should have been able to deliver...

He scowled at his own wrench for a moment and flipped it in his hand a few times before shaking his head at the other. Yeah, a blow from that would probably feel like what he'd just felt...

"Never said I was much of a fighter, RED," Enzo muttered quietly-- "People didn't usually make it to the base back at my old station..." The engineer grabbed the free end of the wrench with his other hand and shook his head-- "Can't say I ever rescued a RED either, though. Guess the bases are a lot more different then I was told they would be."

[Nosferatu]

"I think," Morry closed up the side of the sentry and gave it a loving pat, "ye weren't told much at all then." He grinned at the other engineer and motioned for him to sit down on a crate. "This is my sixth, and it's not a thing like one through five." He pulled an empty crate over and took a seat, pushing his hardhat out of his eyes. They had some time to kill, and from here they'd be able to hear anything but a spy's approach from at least fifty yards. Morry leaned forward, elbows coming to rest on his knees. "I take it this is yer second. What was the first like?" He was always interested in hearing about the strange goings-on at other bases around the country, especially since he'd been stuck at this one for longer than he'd like to admit. "Did they allow women there? We have a couple here." He motioned behind him with his thumb, back toward base. He'd been to a couple of bases that hadn't seen any women in years. It was curious how regulation differed from region to region.

He gave Enzo a long, hard look after a moment. "Y'say yer not much of a fighter. I hate t'wonder how ya even got sucked inta this."

[Two Faced]

Enzo tucked his wrench into his pocket and sat when told to do so-- he didn't have much of a choice in the matter, with the sentry resting right there. And while the other engineer pushed his hardhat back, Enzo pushed his down further in slight semblance of shame.

"Busy, I guess. Battle didn't move quick, too much talk between the teams. Too much... befriending the enemy." He shot a sheepish grin at the RED, and was about to make a comment about it not being too different when he mentioned women. At that point he was pretty sure his heart stopped, and he hung his head a little. "We had women, yessir. Knew one pretty well. A pyro, and the best one I'd seen in a long time. She had nice legs, red hair. Liked to cook with me. At Christmas, one time, she--"

Enzo smiled again, and though this was obviously forced, he moved on to explain exactly why he'd joined the war.

"I was in the biomedical field, 'fore all this. I heard that the companies had developed things that would revolutionize the field-- guns that could heal, a system that could resurrect. Chemicals that could heal the average wound in a heartbeat. I figured that if I could study them, I could help get it de-militarized. Released to the public..."

[Nosferatu]

Morry nodded along with the other's story, listening intently and filing away the details as a point of comparison for later. "So they gotcha on the technology deal." He scratched the back of his head and looked down. "Me too. Had ta learn t'fight on the job, ta be honest."

He appeared particularly interested when he spoke about a specific woman, especially when he mentioned they'd been close. That wasn't common in his experience, the women tended to group together and keep to themselves. Perhaps it had been something... more? The way he'd cut himself off and how his entire demeanor had changed led him to believe that yes, indeed, something more had happened there. Unfortunate. He wanted to prod, but resisted. What if the cause of his reaction had been her death? He couldn't bring that up. But he could ask about Christmas. "She what? What about Christmas?" He nudged gently, happily ignoring the change in subject for a moment.

[Two Faced]

"Not a fighter. Never really fought. M'a pacifist," he uttered quietly, giving the other a nearly apologetic glance, "only ever really harmed one guy. Bastard deserved the things I did to him if anyone ever did." To be honest, Enzo wished that he could have done more to him.

"Christmas, though," Enzo pushed on, "Christmas was nice. I threw a party in BLU's spare war room. Cleared it out, invited both teams on the condition there weren't any team colors. She showed up, and... I guess I was too busy playing host to pay her any real mind, because she ended up dancing with this one spy. I was jealous, and I made a bit of a scene. Kissed her in front of everyone-- swept her off her toes, even. Ended up punching the spy."

The engineer scratched his chin for a moment and made a faint noise-- "Guess that means I've hurt two people, if a simple punch counts."

[Nosferatu]

Morry slapped his knee excitedly and gave a bark of a laugh. "Well I'll be damned!" He'd been right, there was something else going on! "What y'just described there doesn't make ya sound like much of a pacifist," he grinned and jabbed the other man in the shoulder lightly. He understood better than he let on, however. He would have done the same for his Susie, if such a situation had ever arisen. He still wished he could punch that asshole graduate student, in fact. But no, that was behind him now. Ancient history. "Kissin' her in fronta everyone. Takes guts. At least tell me you won her heart?" After a stunt like that she'd have to be a real piece of work to not see something in this guy.

He chuckled and shook his head. This engineer was turning out to be something else. His mirth was short-lived however, as he caught the telltale sound of a cloak falling nearby. "Git behind that crate. Now," he whispered harshly and waved to Enzo, hopping up to turn autofire back on after making sure he'd hidden himself from the sentry's sensors. "Spy," he whispered over his shoulder, carefully taking his wrench from his belt and standing ready.

[Two Faced]

Enzo hadn't expected a reaction like that-- because he was pretty sure he'd made it clear that they were involved, and that he was too a pacifist. Yep, that logic there was flawless. He rubbed his shoulder but grinned anyway-- "'Course I did. Saddest day of my life when I was told about--" The BLU fell silent as soon as he heard the cloak drop and he nearly tossed himself behind the crate without another word.

Spies. He'd have been grateful for one earlier, but now really wasn't a good time. Even if it was a BLU, they'd take out the engineer who'd bothered to save his tail, and that just wouldn't sit right with him. If it was a RED... well, he figured that depended an awful lot on how okay they were with the teams intermingling around here. He readied his wrench either way, though...

[Nosferatu]

Saddest day of his--- Morry felt his heart sink at the man's admission, but shook it off in favor of not getting shot by the approaching spy. He chanced a peek around the wall and his eyes lit up in recognition. Oh, he knew this one. He was a RED, and a particular sort of bastard that Morry had come to strongly dislike since arriving here. He only had a moment to think this over, as his teammate approached, and in the span of a second he'd powered the sentry down and thrown himself behind the crate next to Enzo. He gave him his best grin, pushing his hardhat out of his eyes. "This one's all yers, BLU," he said before giving Enzo a hearty shove out from behind the crate. "Let's see how y'do on yer first day."

[Two Faced]

Enzo's heart was slamming in his chest-- but he didn't want to look. Nah, he'd have to take action if he poked his head out from behind that crate, wouldn't he? He'd stay there until-- until the RED engineer came back around. The BLU gawked up at him for a moment or two-- at least until he was pushed out from behind the crate. Then it was a lot more of "Oh, no, no no-- Don't do th--" (This happened to be cut short when he nearly faceplanted.)

When he glanced up to see exactly what sort of lion Morry just threw him to, his stomach churned. A spy, of all things. And he should have known that from the sound, but... why couldn't have been someone a little more harmless? Maybe a scout?

The BLU took a few nervous steps back and pulled his wrench from his pocket. (This didn't seem to give him much confidence-- if anything, it seemed to put him more on edge.)

"Fine day, isn't it?"

[Nosferatu]

The look given the BLU was roughly the nonverbal equivalent of might you be speaking to me? RED's best spy (in his opinion, anyway, and that was the only one that counted) had been on his way to retrieve the intelligence after that lumbering oaf of a soldier had cleared out the BLU's last lines of defense. And judging by the smoldering carnage before him, he'd managed to actually not screw it up. He hadn't even had to draw his knife thus far.

Until a little BLU engineer came stumbling to a halt in his path. "Oui, I do suppose eet ees razher nice." The knife was pulled smoothly from the confines of his perfectly pressed three piece suit. And with a lack of transition that would have made Shakespeare weep, he was in the engineer's personal space, blade flipped open as he pushed him toward the wall. "Where deed you come from, engineer?"

[Two Faced]

The engineer gulped quietly and would have flat fallen onto his behind had there not been a wall. He was now gawking at the spy (with a few worried glances in the crate's direction.) "Good weather," Enzo spoke, doing his best to keep his voice from cracking, "Clear day. Good for... work. Killing and all that. Sunny, though. Not good for you, could get burnt. I was, ehrm... behind that crate. Trying to keep from burning."

Wasn't that a convincing story? He groped for his wench again when the knife flipped open and actually let it slip out of his hands-- and yelped quietly when it dropped on his toe. That was apparently enough to send the man into a frenzy, and the hand that had been holding a wrench a moment ago curled into a fist and went swinging around at the spy's face-- hard.

[Nosferatu]

Morry caught the backward glances and merely gave Enzo an encouraging thumbs up. Even if he didn't survive this, that's what respawn was for, and by the looks of things it certainly wouldn't kill him to experience it firsthand for once.

The spy gave him a spectacular sneer at the obvious lies and pressed him further to the wall, knife just beginning to dig into his rather... substantial abdomen. "I 'ave no time for your games--" he was unfortunately cut short by a fist connecting solidly with his face. The force behind the blow sent him staggering backward, grabbing at his balaclava and feeling the warm blood trickling from his nose. "You," he growled, flipping the knife shut and retrieving his revolver instead. The gun was leveled with the engineer's head and two shots were fired in quick succession.

He gave the corpse a solid kick in the ribs as a parting gift before stumbling off to find a medic (though his pride would take more than a medigun), though not before glancing over the seeming abandoned sentry nest and commenting on the engineer's incompetence.

Morry remained hidden behind the crate, watching with wide eyes as the spy summarily disposed of his new friend. Bastard. He'd stay put for now, perhaps Enzo would be able to find his way back here without too much trouble. He hoped.

[Two Faced]

Enzo hardly had time to be frightened after the punch-- he'd hardly even registered that the knife had been pressing into his stomach. Hell, he didn't even notice when it was pulled away-- because the engineer was inching steadily off to the side and was about to bolt. Still, the split second he had the worse headache of his life came as no surprise to him-- but waking up what felt like a mere second later was.

He first noticed how dry his mouth was, and that no matter how many times he swallowed that didn't seem to change. What he noticed next was the pressure on his stomach-- which looked a lot smaller then it should have. He began to heave a bit-- mostly out of worry that something had gone terribly wrong-- but didn't manage to bring anything up. It was no less then thirty minutes later when he finally crossed the doors out of BLU base, looking terribly nauseous but no worse for the experience.

It was another twenty until he backtracked to where the RED engineer had been-- and where he had died. His first reaction would have been to heckle the man for pushing him out there, but Enzo caught sight of his corpse before he got the chance.

And how could he not wander over to examine the mess? It smelled strange, and the crusted patch of blood around the bullet wounds (which had bits of skull and brain matter jutting out of them) was beyond fascinating. And how could he be standing here now, examining his own corpse? He groped for his wrench and found it no longer there, but laying right beside his body-- and he plucked it up and used the end to press down near the wounds until the bone made scraping noise and a new surge of blood was pushed out.

His jaw must have been opened, because he only just then that he was breathing through his mouth.

Sweet lord, that was his corpse, and it was most certainly dead.

[Nosferatu]

The hour or so Enzo'd been dead gone wasn't entirely uneventful. Morry's sentry had taken heavy fire shortly after by a heavy and medic combination, but a pyro fended them off long enough to allow him to make the necessary repairs before the whole thing simply fell apart. He soon found himself on the ground, back against the crate he and Enzo had been hiding behind. His wrench was on the ground by his leg and his hardhat was pulled over his eyes. It was just after one o'clock or so. Things were slowing down just before the afternoon rush. He just had to keep his ears open.

That was when he heard it. A shuffling and groaning that was either a zombie or a first-time respawn survivor (truthfully, either was entirely plausible when the respawn system was involved, and no he hadn't seen too many George Romero films). A quick glance would assure him that it was in fact the BLU, alive and well. Or, alive, at any rate. He felt a palpable relief wash over him. Okay, he might have been a little worried. The system here had never screwed up before, but there was a first time for everything and an hour seemed like a long time. But there he was.

Morry let him be for now, as he appeared to be examining his corpse and retrieving his weapons. The corpse-checking was something he'd find fascinating for about a day or so, and then it'd become part of the daily grind. Or not, as he remembered this guy's mentioned being in biomedical. Maybe he found looking at his own dead body interesting or something.

[Two Faced]

Enzo didn't notice Morry for quite some time-- he spent no less then half an hour oblivious of the world beyond a five foot radius, and it would have been several times longer if he had a knife on him. (He was curious to see what his insides looked like. Not just the insides of a human being, but his insides.)

When the half hour was over and the corpse began to reek to the point that he could no longer stand it, Enzo took to looking around.

It took him a bit to spot Morry, because he'd figured the other engineer would have run off by now-- and he actually grinned and waved over at the other man a little. Apparently his plans of telling the other man off had gone out the window-- he couldn't have looked more pleased to be sitting in front of his own corpse. "Hey, RED! Look at this mess, that bastard shot me in the..." He was reaching to retrieve his pistol from the corpse and put it away, but he stopped rather abruptly when he noticed the print of what must have been the spy's shoe.

He retracted his hand and pressed at his ribs-- and they certainly didn't feel even the slightest bit sore.

Strange, how respawn worked.

[Nosferatu]

Morry watched silently for the entire half hour. There was something wrong with this guy, to be so damn entranced with the smelly remnants of his own corpse. Granted, Morry recalled his first respawn being a whole lot messier and a lot more chaotic, so he hadn't had much time to go back and look (and maybe he'd tracked himself down after ceasefire, just to see...), but he most certainly didn't poke at it for the better part of an hour. That was just unholy.

He chuckled and shook his head at the BLU's enthusiasm. "I know - I saw the whole thing, remember? Was sittin' here tha whole time." Or, well, behind a crate. But the view was about the same either way.

[Two Faced]

"Yeah, I remember that," Enzo mused-- and though me might have sounded a little bitter, the grin never left his face. "Pushed me out here to go face off with your spy friend." He plucked up his pistol and pocketed it before standing-- "So it's quiet back here again. Not dead yet, so your snipers must not have moved this far up. What does the field look like, then? I figure I'd better not get splattered again today, or else I'm going to have a lot of explaining to do."

The engineer glanced back at his corpse and frowned at it-- "What happens to the bodies after battle, do you know?"

They couldn't exactly just let them pile up, and maybe they'd have a use. Enzo wouldn't mind poking around with them for a bit... as long as they died towards the end of the day. A fresh supply of corpses opened all sorts of possibilities, and since respawn virtually cloned copies...

[Nosferatu]

A snort was thrown in the BLU's direction. "If he were my friend, I'dda just chatted it up with him instead'a sendin' you." He flicked a bit of grit off of his kneepads, chuckling at the other man's assessment. "Jes stick w'me and ye'll be fine. And get away from that damned thing or ye'll start smellin' like it." He felt for a moment like a mother chastising a child for getting too close to a dead rat or something.

Morry frowned at the next question though. Oh, he knew where this guy was headed with this question and hell if he was gonna -- "Dunno," he shrugged, "Figure they jus' pile 'em up and dump 'em somewhere. Not somethin' I make a habit'a thinkin' about."

[Two Faced]

"That'd make you a bad friend then, wouldn't it? Stopping him from doing his job." Enzo grinned at the RED again, giving the corpse a look over only when it was mentioned. "It's fine. I always take a shower before dinner anyway-- you can't cook when you're coated in dirt an' grime." He continued to smile even when the other frowned-- because that answer was pretty much what he wanted to hear.

"I think I fancy examining them a bit. Better then letting them rot, at least. If I could find a way to... There are possibilities... given the right circumstances, you'd able to replace damaged parts from one body with another's with no chance of rejection..."

[Nosferatu]

"All I'm gonna say is ye'd better leave me the hell outta any'a this madness yer cookin' up." Morry brought his hands up in a defensive gesture. "I don't want a thing ta do w'dead bodies or experiments or any'a yer mad scientist stuff."

He shook his head and pushed himself off the ground. "Y'do all that in yer free time then. And the rest of yer free time," Morry grinned, "will be with me. So I can teach ya how t'defend yerself."

[Two Faced]

Enzo waved his wench in Morry's direction, but cringed when a bit of gore started to slip down the handle. He leaned down to wipe it on his clothes (his old clothes) before sighing. "I'm not a mad scientist. I'm not trying to violate God's territory or nothing, either. I'm only interested in furthering mankind. Improving our health and lives and you know, making things better. Heck, if it weren't for people like me we'd still think bloodletting was the best way to handle everything."

He turned his head to keep an eye on the other engineer-- so what, the enemy was supposed to teach him how to fight? Wasn't that against policy? Heck, RED hadn't even asked. RED hadn't even given his name.

"Because you really want to have to deal with more resistance when you get to BLU base. You're not one of them 'the more challenging the better' types, are you?"

[Nosferatu]

The RED simply shrugged and went to fetch a small icebox from behind one of the nearby crates. "That's all well'n good. I jus' don't want any part of it." He returned a moment later with what looked like a beer bottle in each hand. "Here," he offered one to the other engineer, "as a peace offerin' and mark of my good intentions." He chuckled and cracked it open on his belt. It was going to be a slow day, he didn't expect many others to come by before ceasefire as the BLUs seemed to be holding the REDs at bay for the most part. And now that Morry'd found Enzo, he wasn't keen on picking up and moving to the front lines at the moment.

"Well, I like you, think ye've got potential, and would hate ta see ye killed out here. An bein' an engineer myself, I won't hafta much worry about seein' you on the lines." That seemed a sufficient explanation. And it was the truth. "Name's Morry, by the way," he offered after taking a long sip. "Don't s'pose you got one."

[Two Faced]

If Enzo had his way, their current medical methods would be out of date in no time-- but that wasn't likely to happen, so he had to push advances one step at a time. He eyed the bottle with slight suspicion as it was offered to him, but he couldn't exactly turn down a peace offering-- particularly one of food. Messing with a man's food in wartime was a tactic he didn't think RED would resort to, even on such a small scale.

He opened his bottle with his wrench and nodded at the other's explanation. "Don't think that makes much sense, considering there's got to be other engineers on RED." He tipped the bottle up in pursuit of the other, though his sip was quite a bit smaller.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't pleased to meet you, Morry. M'name's Enzo."

[Nosferatu]

Morry offered him a winning smile when he accepted the drink. He'd looked for all the world like he'd thought it was poisoned for a moment, though. Now that was silly. Why would he poison his own beer? "Well that makes two of us. Nice t'meetcha, Enzo."

"And it makes plenty'a sense. I choose the people I like and that's that. Besides, I'd hate ta see ye killed before ye can reunite with yer girl." He gave Enzo an exaggerated wink and took up a seat on one of the crates.

[Two Faced]

The BLU engineer stayed quiet for a bit, nodding and making small approving noises-- at least until he mentioned 'reuniting with his girl.' He'd love to see Clara again, of course he would-- but to even begin trying to trick himself into believing that Clara would still be at the old base by the time his contract expired was foolishness. She'd move on, find someone else to take care of her-- and damn they had better take good care of her--

Enzo sighed and sipped at his drink. Sure, Clara was still at the old base now. Maybe he could sneak off and go back to her. He should have refused the transfer. He must have let her down, when he told her about it. She was probably angry at him now. And who would watch over her? Hug her, kiss her? Love her? The thought of anyone else touching her made him queasy.

"Clara," he muttered, "her name was Clara. She was more of a fighter then I've ever been. She... works for RED. Likely she'd be transferred elsewhere before I... I can't exactly write a letter and check up on her..."

[Nosferatu]

The frown on Morry's face deepened with every word, and eventually he stood and made his way over to Enzo's side, beer abandoned by the crate. Carefully, as if about to approach a wild animal, he placed a gentle hand on Enzo's shoulder. "M'sorry," he said. "I really am." He didn't know the first thing about falling in love with an enemy, and especially having to transfer right after making something like that work in the first place.

He chewed on his lip, trying to think of something appropriate to say. "Sounds like she was a real keeper." He hoped that wouldn't make things worse.

[Two Faced]

Enzo chuckled a little when the hand was put on his shoulder, and he was surprised that he didn't have to squint to look up. It must have been later in the day then he'd thought. And Morry? He shouldn't say sorry. Sorry wasn't the right thing to say when talking about Clara at all.

"A keeper? She was perfect. Smart, strong. I think I admired her so much because she could fight while I ran away. She'd been given grievances and she worked through it. She was better then me. I don't think that she doesn't miss me, but I know she's doing what she needs to do right now. She'll be happy again, she'll stop worrying about me. I suppose she'd say I should do the same, but I really don't want to. I want to have her back, Morry."

His voice caught for a moment, and he found himself shaking his head. "Now listen, engineer-- RED-- I'll take you up on your offer."

[Nosferatu]

He listened intently. Every word made it perfectly clear just how hard he'd fallen for this gal, and it broke Morry's heart to think they might realistically never see each other again. "I know she misses ya," he said, completely sure of it. He had a feeling she was much of the same mind as Enzo. His hand didn't move from his shoulder once, except when Enzo's tone changed with a shake of his head. He removed it to shake his hand.

"Tha's right. Don' be doin' a disservice to her memory by lettin' yerself get killed sittin' around moping." The hand that wasn't shaking Enzo's moved to clap him on the back. "Y'can count on me. Now, whaddya say we get some drinks after the fight?"

[Two Faced]

Maybe she did miss him as much as he missed her. Part of him wanted to think that, but the rest of him would never wish that much grief upon her. He took the other's hand tightly (maybe a little tighter then he had planned,) and shook it. "Fine by me. Just... do me a favor and don't talk about 'her memory.' That's the sorta thing they talk about in a eulogy, and she's not dead yet."

Enzo frowned a bit at that, and he let go of the other's hand-- "But I guess I'm going to have to keep myself alive too. You can't be hiding me every battle."

[Nosferatu]

"Damn right I'm not gonna be hidin' ya every battle. Yer on yer own after t'day." Morry's grin didn't match his promise, and he nodded. "Sorry. Didn't mean it tha' way." He gave Enzo a concerned look. "I think ye've had 'bout enough for one day. No one'll notice if ye pack it in early." He clapped him on the back once more and gave him a friendly push toward the BLU base. "See ya for drinks tonight, and meet here after ceasefire tomorrow."

---------

Ceasefire the next day had come and gone and Morry was, true to his word, leaning against the wall waiting for Enzo to show. He hadn't seen him since the night before when they'd headed to town for a a few drinks; he figured he'd survived the day, if he'd managed to survive a night of drinking in that place. Which both of them had.

He'd prepared a basic regimen of things he'd had to learn the hard way upon being hired with RED. Things like combat techniques and the finer points of how not to get yourself killed horribly in stupid ways. He hoped he'd be as solid a teacher as a learner. He sighed-- only one way to find out. The other engineer was due at any moment.

[Two Faced]

The drinking went fine, though Enzo hardly had more then a beer and a half. They talked about a lot of things-- their old bases and this one, what was different. Clara was mentioned little more then in passing-- true to his word, the engineer had done his best to convince himself that he needed to move on for the night.

When morning came and went, and when the day had ended he set off to meet his new friend. He'd come to trust Morry enough to risk the training, even if he didn't much want to fight. At the very least, he'd come to decide, he'd better learn how to defend himself. The soldier at his previous base had done little more then show him how to throw a punch-- and some good that did him the other day.

When he whipped around the corner to their meeting place, Enzo was humming softly to himself. This was an attempt to keep himself calm, though he probably already looked it. Appearances first, comfort to follow. "I'm not late enough for you to be sighing like you've been waiting an hour, RED." The engineer flashed the other a grin as he stopped beside him and extended a hand-- "Good to see you alive."

[Nosferatu]

Morry's sigh turned to a warm smile and he turned to shake Enzo's hand. "Y'too, BLU. Two days down an' only one respawn, not bad fer you." He gave the other man a chuckle and a subtle wink and stepped away from the wall.

"Hope yer ready." Morry made a show of cracking his knuckles and squared his stance in front of the other engineer. No better time than right here and right now to drill a few survival skills into a man. No respawn, the medics were about their business indoors, teammates were showering and harassing each other in the bunks. It would be just the two of them.

The first order of business was the element of surprise. Hit first, explain later. And with that in mind Morry launched himself forward, arm swinging.

[Two Faced]

Not bad at all-- though still a lot worse then his previous record of 'no respawns.' Enzo continued to grin as they shifted away from the wall, but when the other started cracking his knuckles it shifted to more incredulous look. Why was it that his teachers never wanted to take things slow and tell him what was going to happen first? Maybe give a hands-off demonstration?

Enzo gawked inwardly at the other engineer-- and as soon as he made himself ready to spring, the man took a big step backwards-- well out of the other's reach. And he wouldn't exactly have time to stop himself, right?

[Nosferatu]

The last thing Morry had expected was a passive step back. His plans had included Enzo stepping forward to meet or even block his advances. Not simply stepping aside and allowing his momentum to carry him forward until he-- Morry stumbled and barely caught himself before he became acquainted with a patch of mud.

There was a low rumbling in his throat. "Well I'll be damned," he growled, righting himself and brushing the creases from his uniform. Alright. Time for a different approach.

"This time," he said, approaching slowly, "yer not gonna do that. Yer gonna block, or hit back instead." He readied himself for the next attack.

[Two Faced]

Well, that ended... interestingly. Morry came within a few inches of kissing that mud puddle, and Enzo had to resist the urge to press down on the back of his head. It would have been a more playful gesture then defensive, but who said he had to be so serious about this? The RED straightened up before he ever got the chance, but maybe that was for the better.

He frowned at the other when given instructions, and he shook his head-- "No, I don't think I am," he uttered-- "there's a bit of a problem in your approach. I don't know how to block or throw a decent punch. I can't do what I was never taught to do. If you're gonna teach me, RED, you're gonna have to start from block one."

[Nosferatu]

He was stopped mid-stride again. "Yer tellin' me..." Morry cocked his head and visibly relaxed his posture, "ye been with RED how long and never learned to throw a punch or even block?" It was more than a little baffling how the man had survived as long as he had. Not even respawn could completely protect someone in such an environment. It was nothing short of a miracle. Unless that pyro girlfriend of his did his fighting for him.

"Alright. I can work wi' that." Morry stood before Enzo and made sure his feet were shoulder-width apart. "See what I'm doin' here? Copy me." At least he was an engineer, which meant he couldn't be too slow on the uptake. "This's important. Keeps ye balanced and distributes the weight evenly." He bounced lightly on the balls of his feet, just to accentuate his point.

[Two Faced]

Enzo frowned again, but it was quickly replaced with a meek smile-- "Well... no. I never fought. I built parts to the dispensers and sentries and brought 'em up to the other engineers... I never saw any real combat." Enzo frowned and scratched the back of his hand-- he'd already abandoned his gloves for the day. Thinking on it, he'd hardly even gotten to watch combat, much less be involved in it.

He glanced down at the other's feet and did his best to mirror the even distribution, though several small adjustments were made before he settled down with it. "Makes sense." He mirrored the other's bouncing and settled down, looking between his feet and the other engineer again. "So do I bend my knees or anything? And my arms, how do I place them? Am I doing it right so far?"

The engineer might have been enjoying himself now.

[Nosferatu]

BLU learned fast, he'd give him that. It hadn't taken more than half an hour or so to teach him the absolute basics, following up each instruction with a demonstration. Allowing him to practice one step at a time to ensure mastery was clearly the right approach in this case, and in what seemed like no time at all he was ready to start holding his own.

Morry stepped back, putting just enough distance between them to be effective. Now he'd see if any of this had stuck. "Ready when y'are," he grinned, which really meant "right the hell now because I said so", and that's all the warning Enzo would receive before a solid punch was thrown his way.

[Two Faced]

Enzo learned quick enough for his own sake, and though he wouldn't exactly use the term mastery over any part of what he'd learned to do, he'd certainly picked up more then enough to satisfy his needs for the day. And when things were winding down, and Morry looked like he was ready to jump into combat, Enzo was ready.

He was already throwing up the first of the guards that Morry had taught (which involved a side step that he hadn't really thought about before,) and getting ready to throw a punch of his own. Dammit-- Morry had gone out of his way for this, so Enzo was going to prove that he worked hard to learn this. Sure, maybe he wouldn't win (he'd probably end up in some odd mess and completely subdued in one way or another,) but he wouldn't make it easy.

[Nosferatu]

He barked a laugh at the block, his other arm moving to deflect Enzo's punch. "Not bad," he assured, sidestepping to avoid another blow and blocking effortlessly. He'd been right to assume the BLU was a fast learner.

But let's see him block this. A dangerous gleam appeared in Morry's eyes and he doubled back to aim a blow to the jaw.

[Two Faced]

A fast learner he might have been, but apparently not fast enough. In the second he took to mentally cheer himself on, Morry had managed to dodge his blow and throw one of his own-- which connected with enough force to leave Enzo dizzy and a few steps back from where he'd been standing a moment ago. He grimaced a little and lifted a hand to the spot; he cringed a little at the contact.

"RED, that really hurt," he muttered, pressing at it a little more gently this time-- "Wonder if I punch like that."

[Nosferatu]

Morry bounced back on his toes when he made contact, still energetic but wearing a frown. "It wouldnta hurt so bad if ye'd blocked proper." After a moment he slowed down and actually began to look concerned, however.

"Aw c'mon, I didn't hitcha that hard did I?" He leaned in to examine the bruise forming along Enzo's jaw.

[Two Faced]

"Weren't you trying to throw a punch I couldn't block?" Enzo lowered his hand and let the other look at it. He couldn't see it himself, though he imagined that the spot would be taking on a slightly purple hue before too long.

He frowned at the other engineer's comment and grunted quietly in response-- "Hard enough to hurt."

[Nosferatu]

Oh yes, it'd be turning purple. And perhaps a lovely yellow too. "Yeah, but t'see if ye could block it." Morry rolled his eyes. Enzo was being an absolute child about a lousy sock to the jaw.

He took another step back. "Really. Y'fight like a damn woman."

[Two Faced]

"Well I couldn't," the BLU engineer grumbled back as the rubbed his jaw-- "Wasn't the point of this to take things slow?" He forced a grin and lowered his hand once more. He needed to stop playing with it, because his prodding wasn't going to make it any better.

Enzo was good and fine with waiting for the other to throw another punch until his comment-- fought like a woman? His face flushed a little and his hand balled into a fist-- and half a second later he was stepping towards the other and swinging that fist around at the other's jaw as hard as he could. As soon as he felt the blow connect with something (he didn't really look to see if he had blocked it or not,) he let out an angry huff-- "Don't insult Clara like that."

It didn't seem to dawn on him that he'd just insulted himself.

[Nosferatu]

"Jus' tryin' ta keep ya on yer toes is all." Speaking of keeping on your toes, Morry didn't have enough time to duck as a powerful punch came flying his way. He'd prepared himself for a verbal lashing for the comment, not an enraged punch to the face.

He staggered back and rubbed at his soon to be swollen jaw. "Ah, fuck man..." He spit to the side, grateful a tooth didn't escape. He hadn't been thinking of Clara when he'd said that. Obviously.

"If tha' girl can throw a punch even half that powerful, remind me not ta piss 'er off." He chuckled nervously and righted himself, regaining the bounce in his step. There was only a second's pause before he was after Enzo again, this was just getting good.

[Two Faced]

As soon as the other was back at him and they were scuffling about again Enzo seemed to cheer up-- that was better. This was a lot better, really. And punching and dodging wasn't so bad now, and the blows that connected were all the reason more to keep on fighting. Before the scrap got too involved, the BLU made sure to include a comment about how he should be glad that Clara was a RED and that he wasn't a German spy.

Just in case.

[Nosferatu]

He might have raised an eyebrow at the comment about being glad he wasn't a German spy. Yes, he might have been glad for that, if he had any idea why. But he was quickly swept back into the rapidly escalating scuffle. Enzo was holding his own quite well, and if he wasn't careful the BLU was going to lay him out again.

When it seemed to have developed a rhythm and pace of its own, Morry decided to shake it up again. Following through on the blow already in progress, he quickly feinted to the left and went for the shoulder, a manic grin on his face.

[Two Faced]

Shaking things up might have gone a lot better if Enzo hadn't had the same idea at the same time. While Morry feinted, the BLU grabbed his arm and pulled while hooking a leg around the other's-- his goal being to trip him up. And while that worked, he went with it-- which left them both on the ground and struggling to regain control of the fight.  He was getting tired, but the fight was subsiding into more of a wrestling match now that they'd both been knocked to the ground. Maybe he'd be able to walk away from this with his head held high after all.

[Nosferatu]

When the feint turned into nothing short of a stalemate, Morry's face went from concentration to pure shock. Not going to be beaten so easily, he threw his weight into it and tried to push through the block. Unfortunately for him, Enzo had locked their legs together, serving to pull his weight out from under him instead.

Morry hit the ground with a dull thud, Enzo landing on top of him shortly after. He didn't even have a chance to catch his breath before the BLU was on him again, wrestling for control in the dirt. Oh, he wasn't going down this easily. Locking a leg around Enzo's waist, Morry shifted his weight to roll them over so he sat straddling the other man, breath coming in heavy pants as he held his arms at bay.

[Two Faced]

Something akin to a string of half cut off curses escaped Enzo when the other rolled them over-- but goddamn, he didn't have the energy to push him off and keep fighting.  The engineer instead groaned quietly and made a show of going limp. "Okay," he wheezed out, "okay. You wi--" Now that wouldn't do at all. Clara would have laughed to see him give up just like that.

The BLU grunted quietly and did his best to push the other off-- which didn't do much. Well, couldn't win them all. "Alright, you win, RED. I'm beat."

[Nosferatu]

An ear-to-ear grin plastered itself on Morry's face as he held Enzo down."Y'give? Well, tha' was easy." He squirmed a little before leaning down so their faces were almost touching. Like hell he was going to just roll off and be done with it.

"What would yer girl say if she saw us like this, hmm?" He whispered and held still for a long moment. And almost as quickly as it had happened he was up again, dusting himself off and extending a hand to the other engineer. "C'mon. Don't want anyone gettin' the wrong idea here."

[Two Faced]

That grin was a little bit mocking, and there was no way he missed that. Enzo glanced away (stay humble,) but damn if it wasn't a little annoying. He couldn't help but look when the other leaned over though-- and that comment made his face flush somewhere between angry red and embarrassed pink (as if those designer colors, he mused inwardly.) He didn't move until the other stood and extended a hand, and when he did Enzo took it and pulled himself up-- and used the momentum to put a little extra force behind the punch he aimed at the other's arm.

"I figure she'd skin me."

[Nosferatu]

Morry winced playfully and yelped as a fist connected with his bicep. "Not sure if I wanna meet this girl," he laughed, "sounds violent."

Regardless, Enzo's reaction had been priceless, he'd turned a lovely shade of red. Morry knew there was a reason he'd saved BLU the day before. Partly in retaliation and all in good humor, he landed a playful punch on Enzo's shoulder.

"Now thatcha know how'ta beat tha shit outta me, how's dinner sound? I could eat a horse." Or a small elephant, but a horse sounded tastier. "Y'probably haven't been ta town yet either, right?"

[Two Faced]

"Maybe a little," Enzo replied with a (nervous) grin-- "Only if you're on the wrong side... Or Franz. Yeah, she didn't like Franz much." His grin died down to an honest smile then and he ran a hand through his hair. "And I'm not sure about knowing how to beat anything out of you, Morry, but I think dinner sounds right fine. Don't think there's anywhere around here that serves horse, though."

[Nosferatu]

Morry made a mental note never to change his name to Franz. He also got the distinct impression he was missing something. Or a lot of somethings. He pulled the hardhat from his head and ran a gloved hand through his matted hair, trying not to grumble too much at his wonderful display of helmet hair.

"Horse, maybe not. But I'm willin' ta settle fer cow." He grinned up at Enzo and let his arm fall to his side, hardhat in hand. "I'll only be a few minutes, gotta get outta this sweaty mess." He gestured with the hardhat to his stained coveralls and work shirt. "Meet at the edge of the battlefield in twenty?"

[Two Faced]

A lot of somethings was right-- not that Enzo wanted to give the old base (or Franz) much thought right now. Instead the man gave the other engineer another grin and nodded-- he'd already cleaned himself up and stripped the bits of work clothes that were unnecessary, but that wrestling around had left him covered in dirt. He'd have to go clean up a little, too.

"In twenty. Don't get into anymore fights on the way back, alright?"

[Nosferatu]

Morry gave him a casual wave over his shoulder as he made his way back to RED base. Yeah, no fights.

It took him all of eighteen minutes to change, wash up and find his way to the edge of the battlefield where they were to meet. Not that he'd counted. He'd changed into a (mostly) proper outfit for once: dark jeans with his steel-toed workboots and a maroon button-down shirt rolled at the elbows. And his favorite white cowboy  hat. He didn't care that his teammates thought he looked ridiculous in it, he loved it anyway and wore it with pride.

He beamed as he saw Enzo approaching in the distance, waving him over perhaps a little too enthusiastically. "Ready?" He called out, completely starving.

[Two Faced]

Enzo took a little longer to get ready, though that was only because he'd gotten himself lost thinking it was the old base. Soon he was heading back out, though his outfit had significantly less flair then the other engineer's-- casual brown shoes and a blue work shirt, he figured, were nice enough to get him anywhere without him feeling too dressed up. He had no idea where Morry was planning on going, after all.

When Morry waived him over, he almost didn't recognize him. That hat was...

He did his best to repress making a face and gave the other a grin. "Nah, I just came out to check up on you. Let's get going before it starts to get dark."

[Nosferatu]

The restaurant wasn't fancy by any stretch of the imagination, but it was the nicest in town and probably for miles. Such were the hazards of living in what was largely considered to be the middle of nowhere- standards were lowered significantly.

They were seated within minutes of arriving - it was a weeknight and the crowd was sparse. A few men from base - that Morry waved to as they passed - and some older civilian couples that were seen around town often.

They were given a booth near the back, in a quiet corner but with a perfect view of the rest of the dining area.

"So whaddya think?" Morry fairly beamed as he scooted into the booth, accepting the menu from the waitress. It was his favorite place in town by far.

[Two Faced]

Fancy wasn't what he had in mind and fancy wasn't what he would have wanted-- fancy was for taking Clara out on a date and romancing her properly. Sure, he could enjoy a good meal, but he didn't really need fancy for that. This was fine, as far as he was concerned. Perfect, really.

Enzo was pleased to be seated quickly, and he didn't respond to Morry's question until he had given the menu a once over. "I'll let you know when I get some food."

[Nosferatu]

The other engineer's terse reply caught Morry a little off guard. So the atmosphere didn't do anything for him, huh? Morry scratched his head; he rather liked the lighting and decor, but to each their own he supposed. And Enzo was making it clear that food was the most important part of the experience. Which he wasn't about to argue with.

Peeling open the menu, Morry gave it a cursory glance before promptly shutting it and turning his attention elsewhere. He already knew what he wanted. The same thing he always ordered: beef brisket, medium rare with a heaping side of baked potato and coleslaw. Best meal in town.

"Anythin' look good?" He asked, trying to get a look at where Enzo had stopped in the menu.

[Two Faced]

Nah, it wasn't that he didn't care for the atmosphere, it just... wasn't something he was thinking about. The engineer smiled as he glanced across the menu-- they had a pretty decent selection of food, and all of it sounded pretty good. And Morry wouldn't exactly take him to a place with bad food, right? He ran a hand through his hair and placed the menu down. Speaking of Morry...

"I'm not really craving anything right now. Want to suggest something?"

[Nosferatu]

Morry had to pick up the menu again at Enzo's question. It'd been a while since he'd actually looked at it properly. "Well, I'm gettin' the brisket," he offered helpfully from behind the menu. His eyes scanned the small text quickly, trying to recall some of the other dishes he'd ordered and enjoyed.

His face lit up at each entry he recognized and remembered as being particularly good. "Th'prime rib is amazin', aaand," his tongue poked out a little as he thought about it, "the Santa Fe chicken salad, and the peach cobbler, but we'll save that for dessert." Morry grinned and snapped the menu shut.

[Two Faced]

Enzo scratched idly at his own menu when the other suggested a few things-- though he didn't bother to look at what was recommended to him. Brisket wasn't something Enzo enjoyed very often, but prime rib was an appealing thought. Any kind of salad (even a thick one) simply seemed too light after today's scuffle, so... it was starting to look like the prime rib would be a good way to go.

He glanced at it on the menu and nodded to himself-- "Sounds good."

[Nosferatu]

Enzo had rather good timing. The waitress had arrived right when he'd decided on whatever it was he was going to order - Morry hadn't caught exactly what it was he'd decided on until he relayed his order to the waitress. Ah, prime rib. Morry's second favorite. Definitely knew there was a reason he liked this guy.

It wasn't a long wait for their meals. The place was known for its remarkably fast service, especially for the quality of the food. They hadn't even gotten past idle chatter before the steaming plates were set before them.

Morry dug in with such enthusiasm it might appear he hadn't been fed properly in weeks.

[Two Faced]

The two engineers talked while waiting for the food, but it wasn't a particularly deep or personal conversation. (He did, however, remark that he liked the other's hat and how his affinity for it reminded him of that German spy he kept mentioning.) When the meal was set before them Enzo was quick to dig in, though his enthusiasm was a little more restrained then Morry's.

The food was fine-- great, even, and he would have been relatively happy to focus on it, but... that kind-of went against a personal code.

"So... what about you? I mean, I have-- had-- Clara, who'd you have before coming here?" Maybe that was too personal a question to start with for most people, but Morry seemed laid back enough that he didn't think it would come across the wrong way. "I mean... before the war and all, what'd you do?"

[Nosferatu]

Morry slowed down considerably, stopping even, when Enzo brought up Clara, and then interest in his own affairs. Funny he'd managed to find out all about the BLU's personal life without divulging an ounce of his own.

He sighed and wiped his mouth, tucking the napkin back into his lap. Fair was fair. "I had tenure down a' Texas A&M," he said between small(er) bites, "a nice research position. Had a wife too. She was in physics." Morry smiled, perhaps a bit ruefully, before taking another few chunks out of his dinner.

[Two Faced]

Enzo had thought that was pretty odd, too. It was why he'd asked such a bold question-- after all, if Morry hadn't talked about it so far, maybe he was uncomfortable with it. And if he was uncomfortable with it, he was a lot more likely to talk over a warm meal. He didn't stop eating when the other started explaining, but he did nod a little. "Had a wife?" He asked, knowing the first word must have sounded a little forced (and maybe even a little rude, if Morry wanted to take it that way.) "She... she wasn't involved in this whole war mess, right?"

[Nosferatu]

Morry chuckled, shaking his head at Enzo's alarm. "No, no. She was a professor, like me. I joined up after she..." he paused, choosing his words carefully, "after she left." His face almost fell at the memory of waking up to find her simply gone.

He prodded at what was left of his dinner. "She was beautiful, Enzo." He smiled weakly. "Y'think yer Clara is somethin', ye shoulda met my Susie." Morry shook his head slowly. No sense in dwelling on it any more than necessary. She'd been gone for nearly six years now. He'd moved on. Really.

[Two Faced]

After she left.

Enzo's heart dropped a little at the words-- after his last comment, he'd started to fear that she had gotten involved in the war and had an accident, and he'd hoped to hear something else-- but this wasn't much better. He made a quiet noise in the back of his throat and nodded-- that tone sounded familiar, and thinking about Clara brought up that same abandoned feeling that Morry must have been going through at the moment.

"Tell me about her," he finally uttered quietly. Talking about Clara usually helped him, maybe it'd help Morry.

[Nosferatu]

He swore his heart stopped for a moment. He hadn't talked about her in... well, ever, actually. And Enzo was actually interested?

Morry nodded quietly and cleared his throat. He didn't speak immediately, needing to gather his thoughts and keep himself in check.

"She was th'most beautiful girl I'd ever seen," he started with a sheepish smile, "smartest too. Probably knew Physics better'n me. Had the sweetest blond curls," he sighed and pushed his plate to the edge of the table, "always smelled like flowers, roses or some'n."

He paused, feeling the constricting sensation in his throat and the burning in his eyes. Goddamn, and here he'd thought he'd been fine...

"But that hotshot graduate brat caught her attention, and one day she was just... gone..." he shook his head, avoiding eye contact for a moment.

[Two Faced]

Enzo went back to simply nodding when Morry went on-- to be truthful, he'd started to tune him out a little. He didn't want to hear the other engineer describe this girl-- every time he focused long enough to catch a descriptive word or two he found himself matching it up to Clara. And that wasn't right, considering he was honest to god curious about the RED and his past.

He took the final bite of the meal and began tapping the back end of the fork against the table's edge in idle thought.

"She loved you, though? She must have loved you."

[Nosferatu]

Morry could only shrug in response. "I thought she did, really truly did. Maybe at one point." He took the napkin from his lap and balled it up on his plate, just for something to keep his hands busy. "S'been almost six years, Enzo. Life goes on."

[Two Faced]

Enzo could not stop himself from gawking at the other man a little-- six years, life goes on-- god damn, what was he supposed to say to that? He was frustrated at it, really. "So after what amount of time does it become okay to ignore that it's still bothering you?"

He put the fork down on the plate and ran a hand nervously through his hair-- "She loved you, right? Loved him more though, maybe. Maybe it was infatuation, maybe she didn't know any better. It still bothers you, so... why does the amount of time matter?"

[Nosferatu]

He balled his hands into fists in his lap, controlling the urge to hit something. Like the table. Morry released a frustrated breath through his nose. "Don't s'pose I'll ever know. Loved us both, couldn't make up 'er mind, whatever," he almost growled, "I don't have much of a choice about moving on. 'Least you have some hope of findin' her again... knowin' she didn't run off with some kid..." He clenched his fists and sighed.

"I joined RED to escape, and've been doin' fine, thanks." End of conversation. He shot Enzo an apologetic smile and moved to scoot out of the booth. He'd pay the bill and they could make their way back to base. "Dinner's on me, by the way."

[Two Faced]

Enzo cringed and felt a bit guilty that he brought those feelings up in the other-- but it wasn't as if he'd caused them. The engineer began digging through his pockets and eventually pulled out a few scraps of paper and a pen, and then he started scribbling something upon one. "RED's your escape?" He uttered, though didn't look up-- "Seems like a bad reason to get yourself killed, RED."

The engineer stilled the pen and glanced up at Morry-- "You can't avoid thinking about it forever." A few more lines were made on the paper, and eventually the pen was shoved back into his pocket, the paper balled up in his hand. Now was no time to be worrying about that. He pushed himself up and glanced cautiously at the other engineer-- but god damned if he wasn't expecting the other to be more then furious with him about this.

[Nosferatu]

"No worse th'n any other reason I figure. And yes, I can."

He was more angry with himself for not being more composed. He pulled a few bills from his back pocket to cover the meal, glancing over to see Enzo scribbling on a crumpled up piece of paper. Morry raised an eyebrow, and before he could ask or reach for the paper it was promptly balled up and shoved aside. He frowned, he'd figure out what that was about later. For now he was content to shove his hands into his pockets and head out the door toward base.

The walk was spent in a considerable amount of brooding silence. Mostly coming from Morry. He'd been so lost in his own troubled thoughts that he didn't even notice when they'd reached the compound.

[Two Faced]

The papers followed his pen into his pockets before too long-- well before he realized that Morry had even noticed what he was doing. That was the sort of thing that you kept to yourself, that you worked out on your own. Brining Morry into it would have been unnecessary and probably an annoyance.

Enzo trailed after the other thinking on what he had been writing, and right before they got too deep into the compound he decided to speak up. "It's a great reason, Morry."

[Nosferatu]

That was enough. Without a word Morry turned and took a swing at Enzo's head. No, he wasn't angry, maybe just... frustrated. He wouldn't let it go.

A low growl escaped him. "Would ye just... drop it?" He was tempted to go in for another swing, even if Enzo didn't react.

[Two Faced]

Enzo would like to have said that he was expecting that, ready for it. He could have blocked, maybe even stopped himself from stumbling away and grabbing at his head with a look that said he'd just seen something that couldn't possibly have happened. When the BLU dropped his arms, he was gawking at the RED (something that he'd been doing quite a lot, he noted,) and shrugged dryly.

"I'd rather not."

[Nosferatu]

If Enzo had been trying to incite Morry to violence, well, it had worked. The engineer was seeing red and wasn't sure he could stop even if he wanted to. It just felt so ... good to lay into the BLU. For provoking him, and even for things he didn't do. For that prick graduate student. For the loss of the love of his life.

Morry drew his arm back and took another swing at Enzo.

[Two Faced]

Now that, that was better. The engineer actually had to repress a grin, because provoking violence was exactly what he'd intended. Enzo had braced for the next blow and it hardly knocked him back even a step-- and he put his arms up as if he was going to take the other on.

"She left you, so you ran away."

[Nosferatu]

He ignored the stinging and burning in his eyes that told him the tears had started and kept laying into the BLU. Over and over again, he just kept coming.

"What else was I s'posed ta do?" He panted between strikes. "Stay there? An' be reminded o'her every day?"

[Two Faced]

Enzo took the blows the best he could, even blocking a few that would have been just a little too much. Beyond that he let the other wail on him, though he didn't exactly have time to notice the other was really that upset. "No," he grumbled low, "you should have ran like you did. I never..." The man paused and took in a deep breath, because he was getting every bit as worn down as the other-- "I never said there was anything wrong with running sometimes."

[Nosferatu]

Mid-swing when Enzo spoke, his punch was diverted to the side as the words sunk in. What might have been intended to calm him down only served to enrage him further, at least momentarily.

With a growl, Morry lunged forward and grabbed Enzo by the collar of his shirt. "You..." he could barely speak, and was nearly shaking with rage, "you planned..." he let him go and forced himself to take a step back.

Calm. Down. Deep breaths. In a few moments his breathing was under control and his desire to beat the shit out the other engineer had waned significantly.

"Sorry," he mumbled, realizing what an idiot he must have looked like.

[Two Faced]

Now that was another reaction Enzo hadn't expected; he'd been expecting another punch, not to be grabbed by the collar. "I plan a lot of things," the man uttered in response as the other let go and backed off-- "It's kind-of how I get by. I run a lot." He winced a little and began carefully prodding at the spots that had already begun to bruise and swell up a little-- "But I wouldn't have said anything unless I'd... I'd planned it out, right?"

He grinned at the other man sheepishly and shrugged with his palms up. Well that went... roughly according to plan, but he hadn't thought things out quite this far. Now what?

[Nosferatu]

It was another long moment before Morry could even look at Enzo, let alone think about the damage he'd just inflicted on his new friend.

He took to adjusting his shirtsleeves. "Dunno. I figure most men would've said some'n out of frustration, spite, or even just'a knock me out." Finally he met the other's gaze. "Sorry again... even if y'did, y'know, plan it." Morry shifted awkwardly on his heels. "Next time, at least hit back so I don't feel so bad."

[Two Faced]

Enzo's gaze faltered a little, and he shook his head-- "Nah, RED. I'm a pacifist, right? I don't hit back. Maybe I'll get you back tomorrow during work hours, though." He grinned at Morry then, and shoved one hand in his pocket before patting the other just as awkwardly on his back-- "Just push to the base, you know where to find me. C'mon-- let's head back."

[Nosferatu]

That earned a chuckle from Morry, and he clapped a hand to Enzo's shoulder in assurance. "Don't worry, all bets are off during workin' hours," he grinned, nodding and following him without protest. "Yeah, it's late."

The silence this time was companionable, a welcome change from the tension. Morry was happy to let the silence hang around a little longer this time.

[Two Faced]

"Sounds good to me," the BLU agreed-- they could beat the living daylights out of each other tomorrow. Maybe he could get his first record kill (he doubted it-- he wasn't sure if he was ready to get over the pacifism to that point,) and maybe he'd meet the other for a beer afterward. Maybe they'd talk, and-- he couldn't lie, it felt pretty nice not to be worrying about Clara quite so much.

He was every bit as happy to let the silence linger, but it didn't stay silent for too long. The quiet thwack-thwack-thwack was signaling a train down the tracks-- which was a little strange, considering BLU had only just sent him in last week.

"Must be RED."