With a last drag, Lucien let out a last puff of smoke and set the exhausted cigarette in the ash tray. He was enjoying such a lovely moment, placidly sitting on his balcony of his small, but cosy flat. There was a quite a breeze that evening, announcing a summer storm at the horizon, yet it was warm and it had washed away all the clouds in the sky, making the sunset even more beautiful. In moments like that Lucien would have been nostalgic, thinking back at his days as a Blu spy just three years before, when he passed his time running up and down the battlefield with the enemy's case, avoiding bullets and flames, messing around with the Red engineer, driving him crazy as his devices ruined to the ground buzzing and tilting then to avoid the Texan man's wrench flying behind him; when he used to trip the enemy scout whenever he had the occasion and when he had to hunt the…sniper…down…
The Red sniper and him had been rivals since the first day, for a couple of years they have been teasing, killing each other and exchanging revenges almost every day, at first without any care, it was just part of their jobs, but soon they had started developing a deep respect for one another in their rivalry. Yet, that evening Lucien wasn't thinking about the past, there was something new, a distraction keeping him in the present. A saxophone was playing right from the flat above his and a violin elegantly guided notes with it into a catchy melody.
There had been movement in the building that morning, he had seen few guys of a moving company taking few things upstairs and a truck standing in the courtyard as he walked out to go to work. Apparently some new musician arrived since their building was one of the rare ones in town where musicians could play and practice in peace without worrying to bother the neighbours too much, thanks to sound proof walls. The fact Lucien could hear their music suggested they had left their windows open, not that he minded much.
The music stopped after a while and he heard footstep above his head and the door-window getting closed, letting the silence fall in the air. Lucien sighed and walked inside.
It was a pity the music had stopped, it was a fascinating mix creating such a soothing melody to his ears. The more he thought about it, the more curious he got to meet the musicians. He suddenly got so excited he didn't even sat at his dearest pianoforte that evening as he usually did, he rushed to the kitchen, collected the cupcakes he had bought walking home to his favourite patisserie and checked himself at the mirror on the wall, in the corridor. If he was going to give the new neighbours his welcome he had at least to be presentable. With everything ready, he took the box with the cupcakes and got out of the door, heading upstairs.
He found the flat without problems and immediately noticed the doorbell having a new double name tag. He read "William Anderssen" and "Nikolai Zolnerowich". For a brief moment, he frowned. There was something tingling in the back of his head saying that those names weren't unfamiliar, but he decided to ignore it shaking his head and rang the bell before smoothly moving his hand behind his back, standing upright and showing an excited smile.
He heard heavy footsteps from the other side of the door, a couple of locks being unlocked and finally a face appeared. Lucien had to tilt his head up to actually see the tall man standing in front of him in the face and when he recognised him, he felt his heart skip a beat, suddenly overwhelmed by an unwelcome sense of terror. It was a huge, wide shouldered, bald man who was looking down at him, with tiny eyes and square jaw, giving the impression of a bear glaring at a poor rabbit at his feet, and that's how Lucien felt in that moment, a little bunny fearing for his life as who used to be the Red Heavy weapons guy set his eyes on him.
"Yes?" The giant gently asked, his Russian accent underlining his origins.
Lucien awkwardly cleared his throat holding a fist in front of his mouth and prayed for his voice to come out clear and unshaken. Of course the giant hadn't recognised him, nobody could have. But before he could say anything, his eyes caught something moving behind that wall of a man and a muffled voice announced a "Coming!" in another weird, yet familiar thick accent, and in a moment another guy appeared at the door, unsuccessfully trying to push the big Russian for a little more room, with a saxophone hanging from his shoulder.
"G'evening." He beamed happily at the new comer.
The Red Sniper.
It took Lucien a huge amount of will to not run away and even more to not shake more than he was starting to. He felt his breath go short, his heart racing and drumming in his chest and he swore he felt a drop of sweat running behind his right ear.
"Good evening, sirs, I'm Lucien Moreau," he surprisingly calmly managed to say, "I'm your neighbour from the floor below and…" he offered the box with the cupcakes, "I wanted to welcome you. Such good musicians are always welcome here." He offered them a bright smile, trying to hide his nervous state.
Surprised, Heavy took the box and cheerfully shook his hand with Lucien, heartily thanking him, and presented himself as "Big Nik", then he moved aside letting the lanky man move forward and offer his thanks and handshake as well. Lucien gulped seeing him closer and with such a happy expression on his face, something he's never seen during the war, and cursed himself for starting to lose his coolness.
Sniper grabbed his hand in a firm grip and shook it energetically. "Thanks so much, mate! You can call me Willy!" He released him and Lucien took a deep breath.
"Much pleased to meet you." He coughed out, feeling his hand slightly sore after a crunching grip and an energetic second one.
Suddenly both the new comers looked embarrassed for a second and William, scratching the back of his head, spoke first. "We'd invite you in for a coffee, but….as you can see, we haven't unpacked yet." He chuckled the last words.
"We got a bit lost with music." Big Nik added.
"Oh, it's quite all right, quite all right. I leave you to your settling down, then. It's been a pleasure and I hope you enjoy the cupcakes. If you need anything you can find me right under your flat."
"Thanks so much, mate. See ya." He waved after Lucien offered a short bow and turned on his heels.
The big man closed the door and went to set the box on the table. "Quite a nice man. A bit funny looking though."
"He surely had a curious accent." Willy added right before ferociously biting a first cupcake. "Such a nice guy indeed." He happily muffled out, trying to ignore a weird sensation the man left in him.
Lucien trotted off and as soon as he was out of sight disappearing under the stairs, he rushed to his door and rapidly closed it behind himself. He flattened against it being sure to lock it too. He was panting and even slightly shaking, cold sweat running down his back. His legs became jelly and he had to slide down and sit on the floor. Once he calmed himself, he couldn't stop shaking his head and maniacally smiling, a corner twitching.
"Fils de pute."