Collaboration with @silmarilz1701
Svetlana knew how to play the game. She'd been caught in the political drama of Stalin's inner circle since birth. The only child of one of Stalin's closest friends, she grew up in the limelight, scrutinized by frie...
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Zhanna spent more time at the bar with Buck and Skip's good company than she did at her billet. While she had once been a homebody, she now embraced the louder atmosphere and thrived in the smoky interior of the pub. The men had taken to spending more and more time there, a familiar feeling in the air now. The changing of winds, as they had felt before D-Day, was now hanging over them like a fog. But Easy Company didn't let the feeling hold them back from thoroughly enjoying their stint in Aldbourne.
Drinks were plentiful, smokes were passed around, and there were several overzealous men who didn't recognize Zhanna and assumed she was a local girl. Now the men who were not in Easy company gave her a wide berth, all very much aware of the blonde female lieutenant with the mean right hook. There were a few among Easy who were still learning the ropes. Easy didn't gawk and stare at Zhanna and Sveta anymore but now, wandering around camp, there were newcomers who didn't know the drill.
Her injury, now healing nicely, hadn't inhibited her throwing arm either. She was quite happy to take part in Buck's dart campaign. As an observer only, upon her insistence. Her aim, like with a rifle, wasn't fair to the men. She had beaten Buck once and he still lived in shame. Zhanna didn't want to destroy another's ego.
"Alright now Lieutenant, nice and easy," Luz, who had learned to curb his harsh sense of humor around Zhanna, was taking her place as Buck's second. "We've still got a shot."
Buck knew what he was doing. And while it didn't look like he did, his aim veering off to the side at the last moment, Zhanna had to hide her smile in the glass of vodka.
"You having a tough night?" Luz asked, taking a long drag off his cigarette, one from the pack Zhanna had received from Speirs. She hadn't told the enlisted it was the same pack, as they were too spooked at the Dog company officer, but they were willing to take a cigarette when offered. "It's alright, people have tough nights."
"I'm sorry, George," Buck said.
"It's all right," Luz reassured as their opponents, Toye and a new man, Heffron, readied for their shot.
Zhanna admired Buck's way of easing himself among the men. They were so relaxed around him, like he wasn't an officer. They joked and laughed. After nearly a year of being treated with rigid offensive, the men were relaxing around Zhanna too. They joked and laughed and treated her like Buck. Liked but still respected. It warmed her more than the vodka ever could.
"You're embarrassing the lieutenant, here." Guarnere clapped Heffron, a fellow Philedelphian, on the back when his well aimed shot landed on its mark.
Zhanna clapped encouragingly, from her place beside Martin and Randleman. They were good NCOs, good men, and Zhanna didn't mind their presence. So she stood, drink in hand, watching the dart game before her. Sveta hadn't joined them tonight, or she would have had a fellow Russian, a familiar face beside her. The pub was so full of new men, new faces that Zhanna still felt on edge.
