Chapter Text
The first indicator of König's presence in a room was turning heads. The second was wide eyes. The third was awkward silence. Because what the hell do you say after you've gotten your eye-full? Sorry, did you just duck through that doorway?
Well, Horangi had an entire list of things racked up in his troubled head. Picking one out was like spinning some bingo cage and calling whatever numbered ball came out the thing, except it wasn't granny's weekly bingo game at the senior center. It was Horangi, whose mouth had no filter.
The Austrian hovered by the doorway for a second, doing his very best to ignore the glances and side-eyes. It didn't work; meeting their stares could be seen as confrontational, which was even more awkward, because König wasn't that kind of guy. Staring at the floor was a safe bet, until he remembered he was looking for someone, and definitely had to move away from the door so he wouldn't holding the room hostage.
The fourth and last indicator of König's entering into a room was Horangi himself. Given that the Korean was there, of course. He usually was, since König followed Horangi at a comfortable distance around base. It was like being tailed by a lost puppy. A sad, sort of too-large lost puppy. Bingo.
Horangi turned around in his spot. "Hi Clifford."
An awkward pause. The giant almost stopped moving across the room, hooded head ducked as he replied quietly, ".. My name is n-"
"Jesus," Horangi cut him off, "And I thought my parents hated me."
König claimed a spot on the edge of the sofa that Horangi had sprawled out on, promptly ignoring his retort. Even though they sat on opposite sides, Horangi found himself blinking at the fact that he could still feel the cushions dip at König's shape. He moved so that he was facing König, stretching his legs out until he could rest them comfortably on the gaint's lap, as though he hadn't made him flustered enough.
König's reaction was to balk a little bit, and then try and get comfortable with Horangi obnoxiously shifting around beside him. "I was looking for you," He said dumbly.
A strained groan as Horangi stretched. The turning heads made him grin. "Well, you found me. What is it?"
He watched König wring his gloved hands in his lap before settling them beside himself awkwardly. Horangi thought he looked like a total nerd. Where anyone else might have seen Horangi's dismissive behavior as, well, rude, it was welcomed by König. Usually he'd be bombarded by odd looks and constant questions like, are you okay? His anxious aura rubbed off on people and tainted the atmosphere, giving people fuel to feel nervous too, and feeding into the gaint's issues further. But Horangi?
The Korean kicked the heel of his boot into König's hand. "You look like a nerd."
"Makes two-!" König hissed at the pain, leaning over to swat Horangi.
He tried ducking away to avoid the bear paw of a hand. Horangi yelped, raising his hands defensively. "I yield!"
If Horangi looked closely, he could spot a smug, almost confident look in König's shadowed eyes. Roughhousing was part of military culture; it was a given, considering the amount of hands on work they did. There was never anything hostile between friends, but on the field, a switch was flipped. Sometimes it felt nice to be human, to be vulnerable and playful and childish and set aside the cruelty of the real world.
König retreated, victorious. Horangi shot him a warning look - this wasn't over, and he'd better watch his back. Horangi was notorious for taking out people's ankles with a well-timed kick mid step. König had been victim once when he made the mistake of walking infront of Horangi, and it'd earned him some nasty bruises when he'd lost his balance. Horangi said something about the ground shaking after he helped König up, the first time the Austrian had genuinely laughed since arriving months prior.
"I want pizza," König said quietly.
Horangi rolled his eyes, the epitome of sass. "Is that why you were looking for me?" He sighed.
König gave him the kicked puppy look. Big brown eyes all pathetic and sad, shoulders slouched, and a guilty look in his sincere gaze. ".. Ja."
It didn't take Horangi very long to realize that, for a man of his size, König did not eat enough. He wondered how the breacher managed to keep all the muscle he had when he only ever seemed to snack on small treats. At first he assumed it was some form of eating disorder caused by König's anxiety (Horangi had noticed quickly,) but König always scarfed down whatever food he did eat. So König could eat just fine. It was getting the food that was an issue. Be it asking the lunch ladies for more food, or entering a restaurant, the fear of an awkward interaction frightened König off to the vending machines far too many times. And if König ever wanted to order food over the phone, Horangi was his only hope.
It wasn't until Horangi began going with him for meals that König really started bulking up, too. The Austrian was happy to tag along if it meant building his confidence, and Horangi appreciated the company. Getting König out for some korean barbeque was always interesting, and nobody else could tolerate his brash humor and dirty jokes. It wasn't out of pity that he'd become friends with König, either. Surprisingly, the timid man was unapologetically funny.
Another sigh. "Fine. What is it tonight? Pizza Nut? Little Pleasers? Papa John's?" They were awful, but it made Horangi smile, and König cringe.
König, looking mortified, and then confused, asked, "Why did you not make Papa John's-..?"
Horangi silenced him with a raised hand. "Too easy."
"You are deplorable."
"Would you have me any other way?"
"Yes. With pepperoni."
Horangi laughed.