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"Tell Ivushkin to come in, for I need to discuss something with him," Jäger ordered the translator girl gruffly. "And make it quick, I don't like waiting."
Klaus Jäger had long noticed something extraordinary in Nikolai but couldn't quite grasp what it was. During their first encounter, he felt that this humble Russian fighter was something more than just a tank driver. Klaus was impressed by his skill as he single-handedly defeated an entire combat unit.
"Junior Lieutenant Ivushkin is here, Standartenführer Jäger," reported the German soldier standing next to the translator. Jäger glanced at him and waved him away, indicating that he should leave. Klaus didn't want to see the woman here either, but unfortunately, she was the only one capable of bridging the worlds of Jäger and Ivushkin.
"Take a seat," Jäger said in pure German as Ivushkin walked in and sat down in front of him obediently.
"Ivushkin... can I call you that?" the German asked him.
"Nikolai is my name," the Russian mumbled, but the translator Anna heard him and translated it to the Standartenführer.
"Nikolai? Nikolai is your name? That means we're almost brothers! My name is Klaus, or Nikolaus. Nikolaus and Nikolai, get it?" Jäger replied, childishly pleased with this discovery. In his heart, he saw it as a sign from above and could barely contain his smile. Klaus's expressive blue eyes looked directly at Nikolai's face, which showed no emotions, understandably so... Klaus understood that but still couldn't help but rejoice at what seemed like a triviality. After a moment, the German even felt embarrassed, realizing that he seemed to have crossed a line by openly and amiably conversing with a so-called enemy.
Jäger changed his demeanour and began explaining his plan of action to Ivushkin, but he noticed that Nikolai had no interest in him; he was looking at the female translator, whom Jäger thought was stupid to the point of absurdity.
"Are you listening?" Klaus asked Ivushkin, to which he responded something to show he was listening, but Klaus again felt complete indifference from him.
"Leave," Klaus said to the woman. Nikolai sadly watched her leave, clearly not wanting to be left alone with the Fritz. Klaus gestured for Ivushkin to drink, and he didn't refuse, suspecting how it might end.
Jäger poured Ivushkin some rum, occasionally exchanging German phrases with him, some of which Nikolai had already learned during his time as a prisoner. The junior Lieutenant remained silent, sometimes smiling and chuckling. Klaus kept pouring for him, and Nikolai silently drank, not deviating from his usual self. But from his eyes, it was evident that Ivushkin was not feeling well; he was slightly drunk. Klaus abruptly stood up from the table and told Nikolai to do the same, still maintaining a stern German tone. Ivushkin stood up, swaying, but managed to maintain balance; he hadn't been drunk for a long time.
"Why are you silent?" the German asked him.
"You keep talking and talking, but I still understand nothing. I didn't learn German in school," Nikolai mumbled unclearly, raising his eyes to the Fritz. Ivushkin started swaying again, but this time couldn't return to his initial position and practically fell onto Klaus, who managed to lift him up. It was the first moment they were so close to each other. Jäger held onto Nikolai and rejoiced inwardly. Then Klaus finally lifted the Junior Lieutenant to his feet and pushed him onto his bed, giving him a chance to stand up on his own.
"Hey, you," Ivushkin addressed Jäger. Klaus understood that it was directed at him, so he looked at him with a questioning gaze.
"I wouldn't mind being your comrade if you weren't a Fritz," Nikolai said, sighing. His mind was heavily clouded due to the considerable amount of alcohol in his system, but still, he felt restrained and awaited a trick from Jäger.
"Too bad I can't understand your speech," Klaus said in a half-whisper to himself, not wanting Ivushkin to hear it. In fact, Jäger even thought about asking the translator Anna to teach him some Russian phrases, but some part of his soul responded to this desire, confusing his mind.
Nikolai got up and sat on the bed, but not for long. He rose to leave as it was not appropriate for a Russian to drink with a fascist. Without saying a word, Ivushkin tried to walk towards the door, but Klaus managed to grab his hand. The Junior Lieutenant turned his head and felt Jäger's questioning gaze. But beyond surprise, he saw in him an unusual kindness. Nikolai felt a shiver run through his body; Klaus's touch even warmed him, which he didn't expect at all. The Russian looked down at Klaus's hand, which, as he understood, the German had no intention of removing. An intrusive thought passed through Ivushkin's mind, that somehow, it should be like this. Ivushkin relaxed his muscles and let himself relax, but Jäger's grip didn't weaken.
"What do you want from me?" Nikolai said barely audibly.
Jäger was silent, continued to be silent, and so was Ivushkin, but one thing changed: Nikolai lifted his head and now looked with his own eyes into the bluest eyes he had ever seen. They communicated through their gaze; fortunately, neither Russian nor German knowledge was needed for this. Sensing that the Junior Lieutenant was starting to feel dizzy, he involuntarily leaned forward and their foreheads touched. In surprise, Jäger slightly parted his lips and widened his eyes. The German couldn't imagine such minimal distance between them. They were so close to each other that both could hear their own and each other's breath.
Nikolai stepped back and managed to leave Jäger's office because the latter released his hand and no longer held onto him. Even for Klaus, Nikolai was too much and too close.
The next day, Nikolai came to him on his own without warning. Klaus looked different from yesterday; today he looked more formal, in a buttoned-up shirt and uniform. He was sitting at his desk, smoking and looking at a pile of papers on the table. Wanting to scold whoever came to him without permission, Jäger was about to express his anger in enraged German, but when he raised his head and saw Ivushkin, he abruptly fell silent and even choked on his saliva.
"Nikolai?" Klaus asked in his accent.
"Good day," Ivushkin said, also in German, apparently deliberately. "I report on the tank's readiness for combat actions," Nikolai continued speaking in German, stumbling from time to time. Klaus smiled slightly and even chuckled, listening to such speech, but still responded curtly and clearly:
"Good. Anything else, Nikolai?"
"No."
Jäger lowered his head and continued to examine the papers, but Ivushkin stood in front of his desk and didn't move. Klaus felt that he didn't want to leave, so he removed the pipe from his mouth, put it down, and stood up, approaching Nikolai.
"Anything else, Nikolai?"
Silence. But now the silence was not because they didn't understand each other; this silence was special.
"Why are you the only Fritz I don't want to hit now?" Nikolai asked him.
Jäger walked to the door of the office, opened it, and asked Anna to come in; he was tired of playing such games. As soon as the translator came in, she stood right in front of them.
"Look down and translate. Don't even dare to look up," Klaus said to her gruffly, then looked at Nikolai. "Repeat what you said to me."
"Why are you the only Fritz I don't want to kill?" Ivushkin slightly rephrased the sentence and said. Jäger laughed.
"Because I'm extremely charismatic, Nikolai."
"I was ashamed of yesterday," the Junior Lieutenant continued.
"Nothing happened yesterday."
"Exactly."
After this statement, Jäger again told Anna to leave; he didn't need anything else. Klaus reached out to Nikolai and did what Ivushkin had done yesterday: touched his forehead with his. In a moment, Nikolai broke this little distance himself, touching Klaus's dry lips and immediately tasting tobacco. Klaus touched Nikolai's hand again, while the other without any tenderness grabbed the German's shoulder and held on tightly, already pressing his lips firmly against his.
"Are all Russians like this?" Jäger thought to himself...