MEDIC

Chapter 25. New Vaqueros

"There's roaches in my bloody room!"

"Probably wanted to welcome you home, Gary."

"Oh shut the fuck up, Soap! They're creepy as hell!"

You couldn't help but laugh as you watched Roach and Soap bickering amongst themselves on the far end of the table in the mess hall.

As Colonel Vargas had instructed, you and the rest of the new and improved 141 had taken the night to settle into the new accommodation and get a good nights rest, though from the sounds of the conversations going on around you it didn't seem like many of the soldiers had actually achieved a solid nights sleep in their new home.

"How did you sleep, Horangi?" You asked with a steady smile, watching the Korean operator as he poked at the yolk of his egg with the end of his knife.
"Eh. Wasn't too bad, I suppose." Horangi shrugged, his attention seemingly more focused on playing with his food than anything else, "Though I did have a gecko staring at me half of the night from the corner of the ceiling..."

"Thought this place was meant to be the base for Los Vaqueros. Not Noah's fucking Ark."
A gruff voice caught your attention, Lieutenant Ghost slammed his plate of breakfast down rather unceremoniously beside you, the action causing both you and Horangi to flinch a little. This was the first time since working with the 141 that Ghost had actually eaten in the same room as everyone else and sat next to you willingly, though you supposed that in the Vaqueros base Simon didn't have the same privilege of having his own office to eat in.

You cleared your throat slightly and shuffled along the bench to allow for Ghost to sit comfortably beside you, swallowing down your anxiety of having the generally grouchy superior officer eat breakfast with you.

"Did you have trouble sleeping too, sir?" You asked politely, watching out of the corner of your eye as Ghost rolled his iconic skull mask up just above his nose to take a bite out of his toast. He seemed to regard you silently for a moment before shrugging, "Preferred Russia. Colder... and a lot less wildlife."

You couldn't help but snort a little in amusement, shaking your head slightly as you picked at the food on your own plate.
"I thought you might like the sun?"

Ghost huffed and turned to face you a little more, his hazel eyes narrowing slightly behind his mask, though thankfully not in his usually standoffish way.
"Me? Like the sun? Dove, I'm from fucking England. I wouldn't know what the fucking sun was if it ran up to me and kicked me in the bollocks. Rain and cold, that's far more preferable to this sweaty shit." The Lieutenant sighed, rolling his eyes slightly at you as you failed to suppress a laugh in response to his opinions so far on Los Vaqueros base.

You weren't exactly sure if it was the clammy weather, the crappy night sleep or the stress of moving to a new base half the world away, but Lieutenant Ghost was actually pretty amusing when he gave you the time of day. It made for a nice change of pace...especially seeing as he'd never taken the time to get to know you since your transfer to the 141, and that was months ago.

"Where's the sentient tree this morning? Ain't seen him around and he's not exactly hard to miss." Ghost said dryly. You quirked your eyebrow in confusion, "Sir? I don't kno-"
"Your boyfriend. König." Ghost replied simply, looking unfazed as he watched you choke on your juice before turning quickly to face him.
"I-oh god, König isn't my boyfriend, sir, w-we're just- I mean..."
"If you say so." The Lieutenant replied with a shrug and got back to eating his breakfast.

As embarrassing as the conversation was, you had to admit that it did make you think. What actually were you and König? There wasn't any denying that you were both close, as colleagues, friends and...on more physical means. But as far as emotions went...you really didn't know where König's mind was at.