Meta: the in-between of words

[bonnefois]

Scout, I need you. I-I mean, for-for this...

While I was summarizing the update to a friend, I noticed something.

By now, plenty of people know the "I Need you" line, but looking through all her other contract lines, every single other "need you" is followed by for a job, for your ability to read, and so on. She's very clear exactly what she needs them for: killing people, doing objectives, fixing her things, and so on.

The only other one which comes close is a Soldier line, where she says "I need you and salty pete [etc]" which I'm pretty sure is a direct reference to the "I want you" posters for recruitment, and again references the theme of needing them for something else.

It's also noteworthy that she gets so flustered, she only says "for this" not even "this job" or "this mission." In no other lines other than the Scout lines does she get this flustered.

In another line, her voice softens when she says "I thought of you."

And while this one is just a slight tonal shift, I noted that while she says "No to whatever you're about to ask," she actually sounds pleased and happy, not angry.

And in Expiration Date, when he asks about her weekend, she says "I will be burying bodies all weekend. So you don't go to jail" singling him out, even though both Heavy and Soldier were there previously, and she'd be saving their asses as well. She was even talking to Soldier a second ago before that point in conversation.


Finally, there's this contract description that had no voice lines associated with it. If she really hated him, the line would be "Stop calling me" not "Thank you...thank you for that." Even more telling is her lines afterwords, where she admits he's a bit of a braggart and not great at keeping secrets, but doesn't condemn him for it.

Overall, there's been a steady, surprisingly consistent thread of hints of her harboring some deeper feelings, though his habit of messing things up tends to make her snap at him sometimes, her affection shines through.