"Let Me Be Your Tourniquet [Part II]"
The Night of 45th Ash, 122
Location: CLASSIFIED
Reiner blinked, taken aback by the sudden shift in Kuno's demeanor. At first he thought it might have just been a playful tantrum, like usual. They often pretended to be cross with one another when they were satirizing the fancy fops who'd kept the working man down, or the newlywed couple they often unintentionally evoked as such swimmingly complementary roommates.. But Kuno had never seemed genuinely mad at him, apart from once. It had been early on- the time he'd misspoken and earned the then-private's ire for seeming to claim that he had it worse facing the Blitz from afar than those who'd been in the thick of it.The Night of 45th Ash, 122
Location: CLASSIFIED
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"Whoa, Kuno... are you all right?" But the lieutenant seemed to be rushing to get away from him. His heart sank. "Konrad! Please talk to me?" If the man had looked back, he'd have seen Reiner's expression was harrowed and haunted. Terrified he'd done irreparable harm, but having no clue what he'd done to deal it. Then the influence of the beer the lieutenant had shared, took Reiner's mind in another direction...
As Kuno continued to ignore him, and outpace him his fear turned toward anger. This wasn't fair, at all. It was... womanish! Giving him the silent treatment and running off without even cluing him in as to his wrongdoing. How could you litigate his innocence, if he didn't understand the charge? Because surely he was innocent! In just two weeks, Kuno had become his best friend in the world. Both of their worlds were so much smaller now that Zaichaer was rent by breaches. These were times when friends were all important and their bond felt so potent to Reiner. How could Kuno turn on him like this? Eventually he slowed his pace. If Kuno wanted to be a bitch, let him.
That was all well and good until he actually got back to the apartment and his hand trembled as it reached for the door. That wasn't anger. The fear was back, because maybe he'd really hurt Kuno. He'd been thoughtless before. It wasn't out of the question that he'd been thus tonight. He took a breath and he tried the handle. Kuno hadn't locked it, so that was something, he supposed. Still, he didn't say a word when he stepped inside. He just locked the door, took off his shoes, removed his coat and folded it. Pretty routine, all things considered, except for the silence that hung between them like a pall.
He took a seat at the edge of the bed, burying his face in his hands and sighing. By and by, he lifted his head to look across the room at Kuno by the stove, facing away from him. Finally, he had to break the silence, because he couldn't take it anymore.
"Hey..." His eyes darted to the floor. He wasn't sure he could face that green-eyed gaze directly, right now. "I... must've done something to really irk you, and... I won't lie and say I know what it is, but I'm real, real sorry, Kuno. You're..." He clenched his eyes shut. Fucking beer must've been making him histrionic, because his eyes were moist and stinging.
"You're my best friend, all right? If I hurt you, tell me how to fix it. I can't stand having you mad at me. It makes me want to jump off the island."