"Sobel was totally convinced it was Major Horton, funniest shit I ever seen in my life."
Welsh threw his head back and laughed loudly, and Valerie laughed along with him. She'd searched for him the minute they got back from the field exercise because she knew he'd get a kick out of Sobel making a fool of himself.
"Luz really is something else," chuckled Welsh, shaking his head. "He's damn lucky he didn't get caught. They'd have his head for pulling a stunt like that."
"Yeah," Valerie snorted, "better hope nobody rats him out." She pulled out her pack of Lucky Strikes and was about to light one up when she saw Dick approaching them, making her groan in annoyance.
Welsh looked up in confusion, shaking his head and smirking when he realised why her mood suddenly dropped. "I really don't get why he bothers you so much," he chuckled. "I think Dick's the nicest guy I've ever met."
Valerie sighed and scuffed her feet against the loose gravel. She'd been putting some thought into the whole situation since the incident on the boat, and though she didn't want to admit it, she knew she'd been a bit hard on him. The more she'd seen him interact with his troops and have their back with Sobel, the more her dislike of him had started to dim. Of course she didn't tell him any of this, because she just couldn't bring herself to admit that she might have been a little bit wrong about him.
"Hey, Harry... Lieutenant Landry," Dick greeted, glancing at her hesitantly. She cleared her throat and lit her cigarette, inhaling deeply before replying to him.
"Afternoon, Lieutenant Winters," she said evenly, looking at a point somewhere over his shoulder. Welsh glanced between them, barely suppressing an amused grin.
"Have you two heard about Sobel?" He asked. "Turns out that the wire fence he cut was keeping in cattle. Strayer was giving him the what for the last I saw."
Welsh barked out a laugh, and even Valerie smirked in delight at the thought of Sobel getting a telling off.
"So, you heard about Sobel too, then," laughed Nixon as he approached them, leaning his elbow on Valerie's shoulder and grinning at them.
"Sure did," she laughed, "and the best part is I was there to witness the whole amusing event this morning." Nixon chuckled and clapped her on the shoulder. She glanced at Dick and found him with his eyebrows furrowed, lost in concentration.
"I s'pose you're gonna give me the what for since I didn't stop Luz from pulling the stunt in the first place," she commented, taking another drag of her cigarette. "Since you do love to point out how un-officer like I am."
Dick bristled slightly, looking as though he was indeed getting ready to lecture her. Nixon and Welsh glanced between the two of them, rolling their eyes and shaking their heads.
"Well..." he started, and Valerie looked away from him, waiting for the blow. "Actually, I wasn't going to say anything. I was going to say it'll finally show the brass what an incompetent officer he is out in the field."
Valerie's hand paused midair as she was bringing her cigarette to her lips. "Oh," she said, eyebrows raised in surprise. "Well then... you're not wrong there I suppose."
There was an awkward beat where they stared at each other, neither of them sure what to say next. She shuffled on her feet slightly, horribly uncomfortable with the awkward tension in the air.
"Well," said Welsh, clapping his hands together and cutting through the tension, "who wants to get lunch?"
~~~~~~
"Valerie, come on in."
She walked into Nixon's office and looked around. Somehow it was both tidy and messy at the same time, like some kind of organised chaos.
"You can sit down, Val," he said, gesturing towards one of the two chairs in front of his desk. He fluttered around behind his desk, picking up files and glancing at them before tossing them unceremoniously to the side.
"Uh," she started, "why exactly did you call me to your office, Nix?"
He paused reading the paper in his hand, glancing briefly at the door before looking back down again. "Oh, just a run of the mill meeting," he said casually. "just waiting for someone else."
She was about to ask who that someone else was when she got her answer.
"Hey, Nix, what's going on? Harry said you needed to see me?" Dick asked, walking into the room and placing his hands on the back of the unoccupied chair. He eyed her sideways and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Ah, good, you're here," grinned Nixon, closing the folder in his hand with a snap and dropping it onto the desk. "Take a seat."
Dick pulled the chair out and sat down slowly, raising an eyebrow at his friend in confusion.
"Ok, so, you're obviously wondering why I called the two of you here at the same time," he started, clasping his hands behind his back and walking around his desk, coming to stand behind their chairs.
"Harry and I have been talking," he continued, "and we both agreed that the two of you have some serious shit to sort out. It was bad enough when you were arguing, but you've been hovering awkwardly around each other for the last week and frankly it's ridiculous. So, we're taking initiative and helping solve the problem."
He started to back away towards the door, but both of them were too busy listening to figure out what he was planning to do. When he got to the door he started to pull it closed.
"Consider this an intervention," he stated, putting the key into the lock as he backed out further. Valerie's eyes widened when it clicked just what he was doing.
"Nix, don't you dare," she hissed, jumping from the chair and running over to the door. He laughed and pulled it shut, twisting the key and locking them in gleefully.
"Lewis Nixon, I swear to god if you don't open this door I'll..."
"Empty threats, Landry," he called, and she could picture the smug grin plastered all over his face. "Try not to break anything, yeah? I'll be back... eventually."
Valerie rested her forehead against the wood and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before turning around. Dick was frozen in the chair, staring at the door in disbelief.
"Well," he started, clearing his throat awkwardly, "I suppose he does have a point."
"Alright then," Valerie said tersely, crossing her arms and leaning her back against the door. "Who talks first? Do you talk first, or..."
They stared each other down for a moment, neither of them sure what to say now that they were locked in this office with no way out.
"I just..." he sighed, standing from the chair and sitting on the edge of Nixon's desk. "I just want to know what I did to make you dislike me so much."
Valerie appraised him for a moment. She could see no hint of malice or condescension on his face. In fact, all she could see was an earnest wish to make things right. Her face softened slightly and she sighed, glancing down at her toes, the fight draining out of her. The boys were right, they had some shit they needed to work out. They were getting ready to go to war and there was no place for petty squabbles on a battlefield.
"Honestly, you didn't do anythin' wrong," she confessed, twisting to boot of her toe against the hardwood floor. "I just have a bad history with condescendin' and patronisin' men and it got my hackles up when you started lookin' at me like some kinda pity case."
Dick nodded, contemplating everything she'd said. "I'm sorry it came across that way," he said after a beat, "I have nothing but the utmost respect for you, really, I do. I just felt bad with Sobel always finding a stupid reason to pick on you."
Valerie looked up and met his gaze, the ghost of a smile on her lips. "That's the thing, though. Sobel found a stupid reason to pick on everyone. I wasn't a special case." He huffed out a humourless laugh at that and she couldn't help but do the same. If there was one thing they could agree on, it was that they hated Sobel.
"I'm sorry for being so hot-headed and argumentative," she continued. "I'm a bit too stubborn for my own good."
Dick nodded at her and pushed himself off of the table, approaching her slowly. "You and I had a pretty rocky start," he stated, stopping a few feet away from her.
"Yeah," she snorted, "understatement of the century." He chuckled at that, and she couldn't help laughing too. He held out his hand at her then and she raised an eyebrow at him.
"Why don't we start again? I'm Lieutenant Dick Winters," he said, meeting her gaze earnestly. She rolled her eyes but smiled all the same and took his hand, shaking it firmly.
"Nice to meet you, Dick," she smiled. "I'm Lieutenant Valerie Landry."