“Something far too many people make a mistake on is how things they thought were obvious turned out to not be obvious to the other party. If you care about someone, let them know, in both word and deed, lest the situation turn into an unfortunate misunderstanding between you.” - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.
“Ugh, it bloody reeks here. Just how much have you been drinking and smoking this week!?” said Reinhardt as he entered Grünhildr’s tent together with Elfriede. It was late in the night of the seventhday of that week, the last day of rest they had before the coalition army would continue their march towards former Gestis territory, and Grünhildr had yet to recover from her loss. “Are you trying to preserve Sal the old-fashioned way or something?”
“Hey, now, I aired this place out just earlier this evening!” replied Grünhildr with some mock outrage. As career mercenaries none of them were particularly touchy and they always interacted rather roughly like that, often making jokes that wouldn’t have flown in “polite” society. At least Grünhildr had recovered enough to be able to joke around a bit.
“Still reeked of smoke and booze in here, though. I guess Rein could only come in at all without sneezing his snout off because you already aired it out, because if this is aired out I really don’t want to know what kind of stink you had been wallowing in earlier,” quipped Elfriede in turn even as she walked over to give Grünhildr a friendly embrace.
“Shush, you, You never had an eye for the good stuff anyway,” countered Grünhildr in turn. “Though I guess you got some feel for the ones with the big dicks.”
While the three of them didn’t mean it with the mockery, such words would have likely resulted in conflict or violence had it been used by other people towards them. It was a showcase of just how well the three of them knew and got along with each other that they freely spoke that way amongst themselves. It was how things were between them… and with Salicia too.
Salicia’s body still laid atop the bed as before, looking solemn in death, though the three of them could almost imagine her smiling at their shenanigans like she usually did. That brought a somber note back to the group as they sat down by the side of the bed together, Grünhildr in between the couple. Just like that, they basked in the comfort of each other’s presence for a while, until Reinhardt finally broached the reason they came that evening.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
“So, how are you feeling, Grün?” he asked, almost too quietly to be heard, probably so he could just pretend he never said anything if Grünhildr was still too lost to have noticed the query.
“Still feeling like shit, pretty much,” replied Grünhildr with a heartfelt sigh at the question. She then turned to look Reinhardt eye to eye before she continued her words. “I’m sorry to disappoint your expectations, Rein, but it turns out I’m nowhere near capable of shrugging off things like some others could… I guess I just don’t have it in me to move on so swiftly.”
“It feels almost like a chunk of your soul was torn apart, never to heal back, you know? To lose someone you care so much about… I guess I kinda get why neither you nor Friede ever really invested yourself in people other than a very few… would probably be hell to be in your position when you’re close chums with everyone under you just to have them die out there…”
“I told you she wouldn’t be ready in time,” said Elfriede somewhat accusingly from the other side.
“I know, I know… just that… one can hope, you know?” replied Reinhardt somewhat defensively to her words.
“I assume you already have plans on how to handle my boys and girls without me, don’t you? I know you too well to think otherwise at this point. You’ve definitely prepared some sort of contingency in case I’m not up to fighting trim again, didn’t you?” questioned Grünhildr to Reinhardt with a somewhat sad look on her face. “I feel bad that I can’t be with them in such a grandiose campaign, but I don’t think I’m in any shape to lead them like I usually do right now.”
“Yeah, likely going to have them shore up the other platoons that took losses,” replied Reinhardt honestly to the question. “I’m not going to let you take the lead when your heart is not into it, or worse, when you might be looking to go after her.”
“Haven’t had such thought after the first couple of days, but I’d call you wise for having considered that anyway,” replied Grünhildr a bit too nonchalantly considering the weight of the topic. “I guess this way is better for everyone.”
“So what do you have in mind, Grün?” asked Elfriede from the burly woman’s other side.
“I’m definitely going to bring her back home in person. I owe her at least that much, and to uncle Adenauer and the rest too. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t do this in person, at the very least,” said Grünhildr with a sigh, clearly having come to terms with some of the troubles that plagued her at the moment. “As for where I’d go from there, I’m not sure yet. Maybe I’d head into some forest to vent my frustrations on the monsters there. Maybe when I’ve got my head on straight again someday, I’ll look for you guys to rejoin… it’s too early to tell now, I can only make guesses.”
“You’ll always have a place with us, Grün, you know that, right?” asked Reinhardt as he gave the burly woman a friendly hug with one hand. “If you end up not knowing what to do with yourself later, feel free to look for us. As long as we’re still around, we’ll be happy to provide you with a home.”
“You really didn’t need to amend that ‘as long as we’re still around’ part,” chided Elfriede from the other side.
“Hey, I’m just being realistic, you know? We’re deep in a campaign that’s larger than any I’ve read in the history books. You can never tell how things would end up in something with that sort of scale.”