My personal take on the merc lifestyle
Respawn isn't constantly on, it's usually shut off after fights. I'd like to believe that keeping respawn on for too long could either get expensive or damage it
The mercs have ceasefire days (where they don't fight at all) every so often. I'm thinking once every two weeks. It's a day where they can just wind down and be people with each other
Weekend fights don't last as long as weekdays. Maybe.. A few hours less?
The mercs are allowed to go in and out of the base as they please when they aren't fighting, but it's still heavily restricted. They aren't allowed on the battlefield, and they cannot leave the town the base is near/in
The mercs are like a tight knit family, though, let's be real, everyone probably universally agrees that this group of dumbasses is some dysfunctional, but tight knit family some way or another
With that in mind, they all have equal amounts of chores to help around the base
That doesn't stop them from using games/bribery to get out of doing them. Sometimes the "loser" of a game has to do the winner's chores that day. Bribery can come in many forms. Buying snacks, money, beer, etc in the form of bribery.
I'd like to imagine that they take turns doing chores such as dishes, cleaning, laundry, and shopping. There's a chart for that sort of thing
A few of them will allow the others to help them, whereas others prefer to do it alone. I can see heavy, sniper, engie, and spy wanting to do them alone to clear their heads/leave reality for a bit
The mercs all take turns cooking dinner too.
I'd like to imagine that during dinner, they can contribute what they want for the meal, so long as it'll get eaten. Candy doesn't count, much to pyro's dismay haha
Like a family, they occasionally get into spats and arguments. Mostly, they're quickly resolved. There have been one or two very bad ones that needed Miss Pauling to intervene so nobody would die
Speaking of Miss pauling, they have her over once a month. Sometimes it's for business, other times it's to allow her to unwind too. More often than not, it's just for dinner
During holidays, such as Christmas, thanksgiving, etc, the fighting stops for an extended period of time. Maybe three weeks or so. The two teams are allowed to meet up and celebrate together, on the condition that it isn't in either of their bases. (Intel reasons, go figure)
Their parents are also allowed to visit for the holidays.
I'd also like to think that the mercs get delivered care packages from their families. Those contain clothes, and other things that they would find happiness in. Gotta love gifts from mama :)
They're also allowed to contact their parents via phone year round. Sniper probably uses this privilege the most.