The words "Middle East" and "Wonderful" did not belong together in Maria's world; she gave a quick smile at the addendum of heat, one that quickly faded as she found herself remembering the heat, almost seeing that damn tent and Humvee again. She wanted to snap that it was a lot harder in places that didn't have power, much less air conditioning, and ninety pounds of gear and the potential of death in various forms at any moment. What kind of charity work could be done there, anyways, and how could it have been 'fulfilling'?
But because she could almost smell the sand, she forced herself to swallow and smile and wish that she'd taken the glass of champagne when she had the chance, because it would at least give her something to drink, and focus back on the pair and the awkward dance they were doing around each other.
"Coming back is always wonderful," she couldn't help but say softly. "But hard as well. You have to relearn all your friendships." She had no idea if that was true or not; she'd never had to, really, and hadn't pried that much into her soldiers' lives, but if it was hard to readjust to air conditioning and cars, she figured it had to be just as hard to readjust to people not seen for a very long six months. And hopefully that would get them talking and need privacy.