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SpecGru and KorTac were not enemies. It was more of a friendly competition where, while pursuing one goal, the successes of one group motivated the other. That didn't mean there weren't any provocations or friendly banter - as long as it didn't come to blows, no one really cared.
When fighting against a single enemy, it was nothing new for groups to work together, to learn from each other - and generally to be in one environment.
Although everyone rather stuck to "their own", proudly wearing the appropriate marking, it was impossible not to recognize the other side - not living in the confines of a military base.
Sobiesław Kościuszko, who at some point gave up trying to give his name, always introduced himself as Gromsko. Although he had heard different versions of the nickname - Thunderbolts, Gromski, or even Gromnica (if he was dealing with someone from his country; then he also preferred to use his middle name - Paweł, which sounded somehow better).
Gromsko hated the fact that he started smoking in the army - he sometimes complained that his hair was worn under his helmet, depriving him of his high school hair. So not only did he keep his hair short, military-style, but he actually burned it military-wise. He consoled himself that he hadn't picked up another military habit - drinking alcohol.
He didn't think that first habit would be his curse.
Although he didn't flaunt it, many noticed the look he cast toward the tall and mysterious König of KorTac. Several times he was told by his friends that they "didn't even see his face" (to which he always replied that MacTavish was dating Ghost and no one made a problem of it). However, he did not defend himself too much when someone teased him about his little crush. because it was little. Just... Something attracted him to König. And it wasn't his mysterious appearance (he was rolling his eyes at him, half of them actually treated the mask as an inseparable part of the uniform), not built like a three-door wardrobe - rather something about his calmness, his composure, the fact that he wouldn't let himself be easily led out of the room. balance. In the way he moved, and when he finally spoke, he did so carefully. Of course, he also appreciated his skills. The solid thighs were just an add-on.
Gromsko did not expect any revelations that evening. Everyone was a little tense, waiting for that golden moment when something would start to happen. He saw how busy the base's canteen was, so, for lack of other plans, he went to a local bar. Nothing fancy, but close. Granted, he didn't drink alcohol, but you could always find someone to talk to and let some bartender make you something non-alcoholic for a ridiculous amount of money.
But it was unusually hot in the bar; just in case he pays for his unusually colored drink (if he didn't drink, at least he could enjoy the colors) if he didn't go back inside.
He leaves the bar, passing a group of loud people, a quick glance confirms that they are soldiers, but he does not pay much attention to them.
He walks around the corner of the bar and takes a battered pack of cigarettes from his pocket. The brand wasn't important, it was important that they were good - and good cigarettes were cheap; the rule he learned when his friends smoked in high school still guided his life.
You stare at the package in your hand for a moment, remembering pre-army times, truancy, beloved history lessons, Sunday dinners at Grandma... And that damned painting.
He shakes his head, expelling the winged rider. He opens the package and... Shock. It's not empty, but the lighter is missing. He takes out one cigarette and dangles it in his mouth, rummaging in his pockets - must he really have had the ability to smoke at a point like this?
He sighs and heads towards the entrance - someone must have had the fire. A group of soldiers in front of the entrance left, some with drinks or beer in their hands. They are leaning against a high table.
Gromsko smiles to himself, recognizing several people from KorTac - including König.
He is about to approach when the skin on the back of his neck rises.
"Hey, König, have you heard that someone from SpecGru has a similar crush on you?'
Laughs. Haha, very funny, thinks Gromsko. And he's about to ditch it and approach, he wanted to light up finally, but he immediately gets a harsh answer:
"That wretched Polacke [pejorative Pole]? What a nuisance."
Oh. Okay, now Gromsko understood what the "oh" so popular in pop culture was about. Not that it was the first time someone he hadn't expected had insulted him. It hurts especially now.
"I wish you were joking, but I'm not stupid." continues König calmly.
"Have you seen him? Years with a mop on his head and a hammer in his hand, I think he got the industry wrong." someone adds, and König doesn't correct him. Someone else responds, "Hey, okay, chill out."
"Have you seen his drink? Colorful as..." Before he says a word too much, the hand of someone from KorTac - Horangi? Konig covers his mouth.
"You're exaggerating, König."
The alcohol seems to have gone to his head, and Gromsko is standing there, having long forgotten about his cigarette. As if he wanted to let König finish him off.
Austria seems to be on the move. "I'll bet SpecGru pays him less than we do - and he kisses the hand anyway."
Oh yes, jokes about the superiority of one country over another, very original. He sighs loudly, and his grandmother told him that an Austrian was nothing but trouble (although she was referring to very historical arguments).
"I am taken anyway." the Austrian shrugs. "But besides, no hate on SpecGru-" this must be some kind of a joke because the group laughs. Sobiesław digs his nails into his hands. "But if he was such a good medic in GROM, why did they kick him out?"
"And why did they kick you out of the army, colonel?" military ranks were not a requirement for military contractors, but Gromsko takes a small - but always - satisfaction from the sudden silence as KorTac realizes he has heard them. He frowns and walks back to the bar, not even trying to listen to the others.
He can't show weakness now.
As he sits on a stool outside the bar, the barmaid is surprised to see him; She probably thought he wouldn't come back.
"What can I get you?" he asks over a wiping glass; there were no crowds for a while.
"A most colorful and gay drink." says Kościuszko.
"Alcoholic or non-alcoholic?" he asks, remembering his past choices; normally he would probably get something with alcohol right away. He hesitates for a moment, fiddling with his bank card.
"Non-alcoholic." his logical side wins. The wounded one howls inside. As if the fact that König wasn't interested wasn't enough, he also tried to insult him. Means offended. Just... Bullying. It wasn't surprising. Not with his name.
He glares down at his drink - he didn't think drinkable glitter existed. But as they say - for the motherland.
Sweet, colorful, with lots of crushed ice. And him looking like a 30-year-old divorced man, hunched over the bar.
So he turns around, holding a tall glass with a palm and a cherry in his hands. His grandmother always said to let him who sees be ashamed.
He sees the depleted group of KorTac back at the bar and suddenly seems quieter; Horangi is clearly arguing about something, judging by his gestures. When he sees Gromsko, he pulls König by the sleeve. In reaction, Sobiesław raises his glass to them, like Leonardo DiCaprio in The Great Gatsby. Only the smile is less sincere.
König does not approach. Gromsko doesn't know what to feel about this.
The drink starts to taste like ashes.
During the following days, almost all SpecGru avoid Gromsko. He bit back at everything.
He didn't cry, he didn't have red eyes. He promised himself that he would not let König see how much he had hurt him, whether knowingly or not. Maybe sometimes you could hear Gromsko tearing his throat to music with Polish lyrics. loud. So much so that it was starting to get annoying.
But everyone tried to approach Sobiesław, adults - and they were afraid to tell their friend to turn down the music.
Finally, Chuy considers declaring war on Gromsko, playing music from his country. He decides that in the beginning, it will be better to talk and treat with him,
Chuy finds him crouching next to the gym. Reluctantly, he crouches beside him as Gromsko ignores him as he stands beside him.
"You can hardly be seen crouching like that." Chuy says, trying to lighten the atmosphere. In response, Sobiesław stares at him, then returns to staring into space. He takes a drag, exhaling the smoke before he responds.
"Heels on the ground, comrade found. Heels in the sky, western spy." he murmurs in a grave tone, deliberately giving his voice a stronger Slavic accent than usual.
Chuy is confused, to say the least.
"Sorry?"
Gromsko nods at his heels - indeed they don't touch the ground.
"Uh..."
Sobiesław rises to a standing position and Chuy behind him. The Pole offers him a cigarette. Ordaz doesn't normally smoke, but he does.
"Sorry for the music." says Gromsko, as if unable to bear the silence that fell between them.
"How did you..."
"I am not as stupid as some people think I am."
Gromsko sighs. "Again - sorry. Will stop playing it that loud."
It was easier than Chuy expected.
And for a few days, there is silence in the base - not total, but the volume level returns to its normal level.
Gromsko sticks even more to SpecGru than before; he did not seek contact with the opposing team, or its members, for provocations, both positive and negative (it was spread around the base that he drinks colorful drinks and some considered it a great topic for jokes) he usually answered with his middle finger.
König didn't even have a chance to get close to him, as Sobiesław suddenly gained a sensor for where the giant was. Once the Austrian got a chance to approach him when he was talking to someone, König almost shouted an apology.
Sobieslaw just shrugged. "You said what you thought. Drunk people say sober thoughts, they say."
And he left.
Basically, it wasn't a conflict. Nobody told SpecGru to like KorTac, they were just supposed to work together. And that someone's heart was broken in the process?
"Shit happens." said Gromsko when someone from his team tried to talk to him about the confrontation with the Austrian. He did not want to delve into the subject, although it seemed that the furrowed brows and the downturned corners of the mouth took up permanent residence on his face.
Only late at night, often close to morning, would his expression change when the dam fell. He cried into his pillow - he didn't even know why König acted like that - only to build the walls around him anew. He promised himself not to let anyone in.
Little came of it.
Because a few days later, a new sound was heard in the base - laughter. Often, loud, breathless - Gromsko, almost bent in half, with tears in his eyes from laughter, and Chuy, all content with himself, next to him. It wasn't too much of a challenge - it was easy to make him laugh, and Ordaz liked the sound of his laugh.
Perhaps someone - quite tall - lurked in the shadows and watched this version of Gromsko from a distance. Not the hurt, gloomy one, but - well, it was hard to admit, but happy. Especially when König was not its source.
And Gromsko liked how he deployed him - when the joke was good and Sobiesław reacted, Chuy's eyes seemed to sparkle.
Of course, none of them analyzed what they felt.
They quickly get into a rhythm, eat meals together, train together and spend their free time learning from each other.
The first time Chuy said “ Rusz dupę” [Move ye ass] on Soap during on movie night, Gromsko nearly dropped his bowl of popcorn. He didn't teach him that - he didn't teach him anything at all, Chuy picked up common phrases easily (the problem was that many of them were swear words, so he could insult someone, and only he and Gromsko would know that).
The moment when Gromsko couldn't take it anymore and had to leave the combined SpecGru and KorTac meeting was when Chuy, in all seriousness, said “ Nie zesraj się ” [Don't shit yourself] to König. Maybe Chuy had a little vendetta against König. Or maybe Gromsko then had to hear how unprofessional his exit was - but it was worth it.
They don't feel like going to another meeting with KorTac sometime later. They try to hide in some vacant office; at first it seems to work. Gromsko leans against the desk as Chuy sits in the office chair. The trouble begins when they hear that Ghost and Soap are looking for them. The door opens - Gromsko falls under the desk and Chuy packs up behind him, pushing the chair behind him. It's not the best hiding place, it's cramped, but they laugh a little.
You can hear and open the door to their office. A moment of silence. Are closing.
"Leave them, Johnny." Ghost's grumpy voice is heard.
"Did it really work?" Gromsko is surprised.
There are more such situations; Chuy says anything about pain, from being hurt when cutting to having a headache, Gromsko is right there for a kiss because "kissed hurts less"; he also carries colorful plasters with him, and no one dares to ask why suddenly Chuy's fingers are plastered with dinosaur and princess plasters.
"I really didn't mean to offend you. He was drunk and..."
"Heels in the sky, Russian spy." Gromsko shrugs and straightens up. König hesitantly stands up with him; it was hard to get Gromsko without the company of Chuy and König tried to take advantage of the situation, to close this chapter.
"Nikolas is Russian and he keeps heels on the ground." he mumbles as if it means anything.
"Being Russian doesn't make you a spy. It's not the nation that is bad, it's certain people." Even though there is still half left, Gromsko puts out his cigarette. He doesn't feel like having this conversation; it would be different if he was talking to Ordaz.
"I didn't mean to offend you." König repeats dully.
"But you did."
"Listen, I'm sorry."
"Okay." Gromsko is silent. He does not look at König standing next to him. "And I don't forgive. I've been bullied enough in my life as a kid. No need as an adult."
König tries to say something, but around the corner, as if summoned, Chuy appears and puts his arm around Gromsko. The expression on the Pole's face immediately softens.
"You have been bullied?"
"My name - Sobiesław Kościuszko - didn't gather me many friends. And these-" not caring, he picks up his shirt; so he has a happy trail. He points to the stripes on his sides.
Chuy puts his hands on his skin and, to lighten the atmosphere a bit, he makes a trivial joke, "Will you stop for me?"
"Jesus... I was a big child." Gromsko laughs, though it seems forced. "Grandma [grandma] fed me well. So yeah, but who didn't get bullied as a child? In school? It's just... You think that at some point it would stop and then it doesn't."
"He was childish. Doesn't know what he has lost."
"You know, I even started smoking to be more social. A twisted way, but I think it worked out?" asks Gromsko. Chuy raises an eyebrow questioningly.
"You know, in a twisted way, if you hadn't come over so I wouldn't play music... And I wouldn't if I didn't smoke - because I wouldn't have found out, huh." he looks away, blushing. "Cause... We are friends, right? Not only... Colleagues."
"Yes, Sobi." He immediately rolls his eyes as if it's something obvious.
Due to the fact that both SpecGru and KorTac operated internationally, this meant frequent base changes - they were not attached to the place, not having even one main base so far. Gromsko didn't know whether to look forward to the move or not; theoretically, he liked to explore places, and a change of scenery could do him good. At the same time, he had time to settle in and get used to it; the more so because the move did not guarantee that he would continue to avoid König. He really didn't want to talk to him.
The more so that Enzo, with whom he had previously shared a room, had been hinting about a vacation. New place, new roommate. He missed that.
The base was only a few hours' drive from the current one, so they loaded them into two army cars and told them to drive, shoulder to shoulder.
Gromsko fell asleep, falling into this semi-conscious state, the music in the headphones instead of waking him up, additionally put him to sleep.
When they stop for a break, he ignores a little what is going on around them. He hears nothing to suggest danger, just a bathroom break. It improves as the warm body sitting next to it disappears. Be right back; he tilts his head back, trying to find support for it. He almost jumps in fear when suddenly someone touches his thigh. There was a possibility that he just resisted passing by, but when the hand did not disappear and someone sat next to him, he opened his eyes with a disgruntled groan. To meet the gaze of Ordaz's brown eyes.
"Hello, sleeping beauty."
"Chuy?"
"I've switched places."
The jaw dropped. There was little Gromsko could do about his fatigue, but even the prospect of a few hours' drive with Chuy cheered him up.
"Come on." the hand from his thigh disappears as Ordaz straightens up as the car starts moving again. "Maybe it's not a pillow, but you can lean on my shoulder."
When the opportunity arises ... Gromsko takes advantage. And this time he really falls asleep.
Waking up is not pleasant. It turns out that he was practically alone in the vehicle. He quickly grabs his backpack and jumps out; in night lighting, it can tell little about the base.
"Oh, our master is sleepy." Alejandro laughs as he takes the keys from him. Gromsko rolled his eyes; on the one hand he had great respect for Vargas, on the other - they liked to banter from time to time.
Vargas shows him which way to go and wishes him good luck; he wonders who will accompany him - all 141 and Los Vaqueros are out; they are stuck together. Cleopatros always shared a room with Nila - he doubted that it would stop being an accident at any point. Enzo was out. Gus? Ronin? Winter?
He prayed under his breath, as long as it wasn't Ronin - apparently he snored terribly...
With that in mind, he turns the doorknob - the door is open, so his roommate must have been inside for the next who knows how long. He takes a deep breath and tries to smile as he steps inside.
"Hi." gentle voice. Gromsko stands like a pillar of salt, dropping his backpack in shock. "We've slept in worse - and it has a private bathroom." the owner of the voice indicates an additional door.
"Chuy?" Sobiesław asks as if he needs confirmation.
"Aren't you happy about the change of tenant? Because Enzo probably won't want to change again. Nor will Alejandro try to change-" Repulse stops as Gromsko catches him in his arms.
"If this is a dream, I don't want to wake up."
They quickly settle into the base; Gromsko and Chuy are practically inseparable. Vargas only rolls his eyes when he sees them, occasionally throwing something about him leaving them for a "white guy" at once.
If they used to spend every possible moment of the day together, now it was the same with the nights. Maybe two nights passed and they pushed the beds together.
This led to the fact that Gromsko, usually quite firm and sometimes even cold, walked around beaming, like a faithful dog following Chuy - or Chuy following him. The close beds meant that they fell asleep in each other's arms practically every night, and Gromsko was beginning to miss touch during the day as well. As much as he tried to keep his hands to himself when they were in company, Chuy could be sure that as soon as he closed the door, Gromsko would immediately hold him - by the waist, by the shoulders, cuddle. So much so that Chuy quickly has to learn how to use a computer with a warm body cuddled up to him in an office chair.
In the end, the armchair cannot withstand the load, breaking and posing a threat to them. No way out. Target: IKEA.
Gromsko, when they get off in front of a shop at the end of some larger city, looks a bit like a beaten dog. He felt guilty that the chair broke.
"Nice to get off base." says Chuy to cheer him up and - as if by magic - of course it works.
Not knowing much about the store, they head to its upper floor. They stop at baskets filled with stuffed animals. Chuy takes an interest in a stuffed rat, throwing something to Gromsko that might help him with his "touch-starving". He freezes with a stuffed toy in his hand, because he sees that Sobiesław's big eyes are staring at stuffed orcas and sharks.
"Sobi, they're too big for the base." must dampen his enthusiasm. Gromsko can't help but agree, but by the time he leaves the stuffed animal stand, his attention is drawn to smaller versions of the popular Blahaj and his orca version.
"Choose." says Gromsko in a tone that brooks no objection.
"Is there a deeper meaning behind this?" Ordaz hesitates, looking from one stuffed animal to another.
"Choice? No. But they will be able to accompany us when the other one is not there. And someday ... They can become a souvenir, a memory." He smiles softly, though his eyes are sad.
"Sobi?" Chuy reaches for him, toward his forearms, not the stuffed animals he's holding.
"Because... If you leave... Everyone leaves at some moment. I got used to it. Not like to death or something, I know I am much sometimes." Gromsko quickly completes, realizing how dark his thoughts sound in English.
He immediately takes the stuffed animals from his hands and throws them back into the pile.
"Hey-!"
"Leave them, we will come back for them. Come on." he pulls Sobiesław into the direction of the restaurant IKEA “Didn't think our first date-, our first dinner, I meant dinner, outside the base would be at IKEA, but life is unexpected, isn't it? I haven't eaten here in a long time, so maybe let's have desserts too, okay?" Chuy is babbling, not sure what exactly he wanted to say.
The line goes fast and they are seated right away with portions of warm food.
"I am not going to leave, Sobi."
"Yeah..." - I've heard that before - Sobiesław thinks, but he doesn't say that part.
"I'm dead serious. If anyone was stupid enough to leave you, they didn't deserve you. If we will have any problem - we must resolve it, not break things up."
Gromsko sights and then smiles slightly. "Okay, I believe you."
They leave IKEA with two stuffed animals and a new chair to assemble; after dinner and dessert, both of them were suddenly cursing the cramped corridors, the carts, and the couples clearing the way. Finally, Chuy, without thinking much, grabs Gromsko's hand and leads him behind him - as a child, he often led people through the winding streets of his city. He slows down his quick breaths to the pace he's imposed - they wanted to leave quickly, didn't they?
The stuffed animals end up on the bed with them, Gromsko was always indignant when one accidentally landed on the floor, so they were often crushed between them as they intertwined their legs and wrapped their arms around each other. Or when Gromsko was lying on Chuy, stuffed animals safely hugged on the other side.
So far, whatever happened, from injuries of all kinds, successes and failures of sports teams, long days and sleepless nights, he had never seen Gromsko cry. And he intended to keep things that way.
He didn't expect that he would be the cause of Gromsko's tears.
He happened to be waiting in the canteen for Gromsko for some reason, talking to Enzo about switching rooms.
"So what, did it work? Are you dating?"
Chuy laughs at such a direct question; he'd never actually asked Gromsko about dating, but I guess they weren't at the age where it was necessary. Maybe they haven't kissed yet, but there just hasn't been a chance.
Friends don't sleep every night cuddled up in the same bed. And they don't do many things that they did, do they?
"Yes, I think we are dating-" he is interrupted by the crash of a plate falling. Gromsko stands empty-handed, broken china lying in front of him.
"Sobi?" Before Chuy disentangles his legs from under the bench, Gromsko is already disappearing around the corner, not bothering about the broken plate.
Enzo says to him: "Follow him, I'll clean up."
"Thanks." and At once he uses all his strength; finds Gromsko near the gym - it's no coincidence. Although it was a different base, Chuy remembered that conversation that changed the course of their lives and brought them closer together.
"Sobi?" he asks softly and crouches beside him. Gromsko sniffles and surveys Chuy’s posture.
"Heels on the ground, good." he says but wipes away a tear.
"What happened?" Chuy asks, not caring about the compliment.
"Who is it?" Gromsko's voice is weak.
"Who...? What do you mean?" After all, Gromsko knew Enzo, what could it be?
"Who is the person you are dating?" His voice is breaking when he asks this. "I need t-to know if they make you happy-"
"Eh, estúpido [dummy], I was talking about YOU."
"We are dating?"
"I thought so."
Thunder freezes as if he needs a moment to process it; his brain recognizes that thinking has a day off, so he asks:
"you are gay?" and he doesn't ask it in any bad tone, but with genuine surprise in his voice.
"For you." Odraz rolls his eyes. "I think I felt it first when you laughed. For my lame joke; I don't think I heard you laugh before."
"Yeah, I sometimes look unapprochable. Part of nature. I think I felt when you said that joke." replies Gromsko, resting his cheek on his knees; still wet with tears.
"So, do you accept it and wanna be my boyfriend? Now with knowledge. Official."
Gromsko is silent for a moment, trying to be a tease, but his expression is enough for an answer. Still, when he says, "Of course." it is Chuy, feeling a sudden rush of happiness, wanting to hug him, knocks him to the ground.
"Whoops."
"Worth it."
They immediately get up and sit next to each other, laughing like teenagers.
"There is one thing left, skarbie [sweetheart]."
"What is it?"
"Ohhh, you know, first kiss..." and that's enough - Chuy leans in and kisses Gromsko. Their first kiss is calm, gentle, and causes laughter as they pull away from each other. The second one, when Gromsko has his hands around Chuy's neck and Chuy's hands are on his waist, is more violent and fierce. As if they didn't know they missed it.
"Hey, kochanie [darling], I got you a blanket." and Gromsko actually has a rolled up and wrapped blanket under his arm.
Chuy, still sleepy, barely lifts his head from the pillow.
"Because?"
"It's getting colder?" answers Gromsko's question with a question. "And you get so cold so easily~"
"Said the one who can't stand the heat." Chuy rolls onto his back and stretches, stifling a yawn. He liked the sun; maybe not necessarily that he had to make sure his boyfriend put on SPF, but that it made his freckles more visible - and Chuy could spend hours counting and kissing them. But the sun was slowly beginning to shorten its shining time - at least in the part of Europe where they were now. It didn't matter much where the base was - as long as they were together (and preferably a room with a double bed).
Gromsko, grinning from ear to ear (his smile couldn't get tired of Chuy), unfolds the blanket. Even from a distance, it looks soft. The brown patterns on the sides give way to a lighter pattern with flowers in the middle.
"Colorful." Chuy asks, and Gromsko doesn't seem to hear the sarcasm in his voice. Or he can hear it because he throws aside his boyfriend's quilt to throw a blanket over him.
Indeed, it is soft. And warm.
"And how?" asks Sobieslaw.
"I don't know, I have to check." answers Odraz and lifts the side of the blanket, and Sobiesław quickly gets under the blanket. "Perfect now."
Despite Chuy and Gromsko's newfound happiness, König still felt bad about not being forgiven. He wasn't proud of his words, spoken under the influence of alcohol. Although it sounded corny, he really didn't think so; he didn't know what came over him - he wanted to pretend to be someone he was not? Show that… what? It did him no good, Gromsko stopped looking at him, moved away from him, and Horangi became colder towards him. So he decides to try to apologize again.
However, as rumor had it, Chuy and Gromsko were officially dating, so another one-on-one opportunity isn't coming soon. He even tried to practice the pose with his heels on the ground, but his thighs hurt too much. He had to apologize - without it, his contacts with SpecGru, and in particular with Horangi, will not return to normal.
So he slowly approaches Gromsko, trying to look as friendly as possible even though they're both in gear. He even raises his hands up; he sees a hammer resting on his shoulder and a rocket launcher standing against the wall.
“Gromsko?” gets his attention; can't read his expression. "I really wanted to apologize to you."
“You've done it before. We're not together in KorTac, what do you care?"
"What can I do to make you forgive me?" König asks dodgingly.
Gromsko just stares at him; Chuy, looking menacing, appears from behind his shoulder.
"I don't know if he will forgive you because I - on behalf of my boyfriend - doubt it." and the fist meets König's nose. He takes a few steps back in shock and pain; his hood is quickly soaked with blood.
“I'd say it's good I'm a medic, but do wesela się zagoi [it will heal in no time]. But that's enough.” Gromsko sighs and laughs.
“Just behave for the future, królu [king].” and stops paying any attention to the Austrian - he asks if everything is all right with Chuy's hand.
Although Gromsko was aware that Chuy used several Polish phrases, he did not pay much attention to them - and in particular, he did not think that Chuy understood them. Why would he study them?
Hence, when Gromsko lies awake one night, watching Chuy sleep peacefully next to him, he whispers: " Kocham cię. " [I love you]
Without hesitating, Chuy replies, "I know."
Gromsko freezes. So he was awake, he heard and responded. He feels lights start to go on in his brain - colored like Christmas lights. And this answer? Broke? It was nice but...
Chuy turns from his back to his side to see Gromsko better; he touches his stubbled cheek. And he smiles, that special smile that seemed to be reserved only for Sobiesław.
"I love you too."
And Gromsko doesn't have to be a polyglot to understand it.
The next morning, Gromsko rummages on his phone - as Chuy hugs and watches what he does, he sees that Chuy has completely removed the German course in Duolingo, replacing it with Spanish.
Sent
"I don't believe you had a German chosen at all."
"I learned it in school and I wanted to remember..." he tries to explain stupidly. Chuy doesn't believe him. "Okay, okay, I did in fact learn that in school, but thankfully there was somebody to cure me from this awful, awful crush."
"He doesn't deserve you."
"I don't deserve you."
"Hey, we talked about it. There is a need to heal and not shame."
"Sorry. Force of habit."
"Listen, Chuy, I really love your cooking and appreciate that you do it but-"
Chuy almost broke down hearing it - isn't cooking a love language? He loved to cook and loved to Gromsko cook for them, to be in the kitchen together, now Sobiesław had some issue?
"But could you... Use a little fewer spices? I mean, the hot ones."
"You said you liked it spicy."
"I thought so! But... White spicy." Gromsko seems embarrassed by his vulnerability to spicy spices.
"Let's hope you are spicier in bed." Chuy shakes his head.
"What?" Sobiesław raises his head sharply.
"What?" Chuy pretends not to know what it is.
"But we already sleep together?"
"Oh, you sweet boy..."