GLENDALE, Calif. — When searching for a deliberate way to deliver a message, there are two Dallas Fuel players who rise above the rest. But be prepared for the answer. You may not like it.

Rather, you may not appreciate how it sounds.

The message will be direct and to the point. These two don’t have what you might call “bedside manner.”

They’re blunt. But that’s already apparent to just about everyone on the Fuel. It may even be an understatement.

But Dylan “aKm” Bignet and Benjamin “uNKOE” Chevasson don't mean to be aggressive with their guidance — they’re just French.

Hey, that’s not meant to be an insult — honest. Here, just let them explain:

“We’re going to be very blunt, very direct,” aKm said last month, when describing how his countrymen tackle issues in the workplace. “We don’t go around the bush. We go straight to the point.”

The workplace in this instance is the Fuel’s practice facility. It’s just after another long day of practice, and the two 23-year-olds get to spend the final 20 minutes of work explaining why they can sometimes come off as overly assertive.

“I actually agree with him,” uNKOE says of aKm, getting an eyebrow raise out of his teammate seated to his left. “We are real straight forward. We say things even if it is not all the time in a good way.

“We are still saying these things because we want to be better, we want to win.”

The Fuel are a melting pot of players from eight countries, with six different ways to yell “monkey, monkey, monkey” available. English and Korean are the two most overheard languages at Dallas headquarters, much like the rest of the Overwatch League.

But there’s also that passionate, flowing French peppered in throughout a regular Fuel practice.

aKm and uNKOE are two of the best French Overwatch players in the world, having both represented their country at the Overwatch World Cup. They’re separated in age by only 13 days (aKm is older. They will both turn 24 in December.) It would be easy to lump them together, assuming that they are similar: They’ve been Overwatch teammates for two different organizations. They’re both from the same country. They should riff of each other easily, no?

That’s not the case.

“They’re the opposite,” teammate Jonathan “HarryHook” Tejedor Rua said. “Dylan likes to chill, to play with you, play video games or whatever. And uNKOE is lonely, like the wolf.”

Until it comes to talking shop. Then they both have the same hunger.

Different paths, same destination

aKm hated uNKOE when they first started playing against each other.

Don’t worry. It was mutual.

aKm comes from a gaming family. His older brother, Michael “winz” Bignet” was a pro FPS player, though he’s now retired. When aKm turned 16, he dropped out of school, about a year from getting the French equivalent of a high school diploma. It was only natural that he turned his focus to pro gaming.

His first experience with professional gaming was with ShootMania, a game he says he grew to hate. uNKOE was also a ShootMania player.

“We got very frustrated with things and were very competitive and just trash talking each other,“ aKm said. “We didn’t like each other. I didn’t really like anyone in the game. Nothing against him.”

aKm has a big personality. He’s assertive in his playstyle and communication. He’s stylish and banters with the best of the Fuel at all hours of their practices, even right before a match.

He likes to work out and has an eye for fashion, sporting a Louis Vuitton bag for his gear (and the matching wallet — très bien).

uNKOE is more reserved than aKm. Mostly all of the Fuel players are. But uNKOE’s reservation is one of his strengths.

Many Fuel players are still young, not able to legally order a drink at an American bar. While aKm will dive in with his critiques, uNKOE prefers to take a more one-on-one approach, according to coach Aaron “Aero” Atkins.

uNKOE didn’t immediately jump into the pro gaming scene like aKm. He actually earned a specialization degree as an electrician.

But when he wasn’t working, he was still following his dream at the time.

“When I knew I had the opportunity to get paid in Overwatch ... I stopped working and I spent all my time in Overwatch,” he said.

Neither is a Fuel original, but both were part of the highly successful Rogue Overwatch team before the OWL formed. Rogue were rivals to Envy.

Like Envy, they had high expectations of winning. aKm and uNKOE fit in under the Envy umbrella. They expect to win, focusing all of their energy at times on trying to do so.

They’ve had to make sacrifices. And it includes moving 5,500 miles away from home.

Longing for some home cooking

The conversation always comes back to food.

Two weeks before the end of the season, a lengthy losing streak and seven months of near non-stop Overwatch is taking its toll.

uNKOE is ready for a break.

“I miss my family, my friends and my girlfriend, and the food, no?” he said.

But it’s the little things that you don’t expect that can make a bout of homesickness turn into something more.

Even just a trip out to a casual restaurant is a reminder about the sacrifices uNKOE, aKm and every professional OWL player has to make.

The tea is different in the United States than in France. Tipping is a foreign concept. And American cuisine can be quite a bit different. aKm laments that he can’t just run to an American deli counter and order saucisson. Don't get them started on how greasy the food can be here.

Like every other OWL player, the two have lived in Los Angeles for the past two seasons. Should they continue next year (both are under contract with the Fuel, team owner Mike Rufail told The Dallas Morning News), they will have to relocate to Dallas.

It’s an adjustment. But one they might be ready for. A 20-something with a comfortable salary living in LA? It’s not the dream it once was.

“At first it was like a dream for everybody to live in the U.S. and live in la,” aKm said, “That’s not really the case. We miss a lot of things in France. We miss the food, we miss family, you know? That’s not really a dream.

“The dream is doing what we love.”

What they love is professional gaming. And even though the two are so different, it all comes back to that. It’s what can keep them going. But they know burn out can happen. It happened with ShootMania.

It’s happened with some of their OWL contemporaries.

Both have been advocates of player rights heading into 2020 — aKm more vocally so — and are cautious about the format of 2020 with travel.

Next season, the first where the Fuel will be headquartered in Dallas, is important for the OWL. The geo-location format will be put to its first real test.

For the players, they face a pivotal season. aKm has already predicted a mass of retirements after Season 3 if things don’t go well.

uNKOE is coy about his future. Right now, he’s focused on the offseason. Neither he nor aKm will compete for France at the 2019 Overwatch World Cup.

So they know it’s an important offseason. And even though uNKOE won’t jump up and down about it, aKm knows his compatriot will be ready for 2020.

“I think,” aKm, “he’s one of the most dedicated players I’ve played with.”

They have more in common than some might think.