Many thanks again to my two faithful reviewers, beth-rodrigues.77 and link55-06, you are awesome!
Here is the next chapter of the story (now even with a picture, yay!), hope you enjoy!
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"I've got another one, I've got another one!", Dick told them in a gushing voice over the laughter, the big grin almost splitting his face. "What nationality were Adam and Eve?"
Nix looked around in their circle that had slowly grown since Lipton and Martin had joined them, and saw the Easy men shaking their heads in response to Dick's question. Speirs had passed out some time ago, head down on the table, while Harry was still working on emptying his barrel of beer.
"Anyone?", Dick asked again, grinning and waving around an unsteady hand, almost knocking over the bottle of schnapps that had miraculously found its way into his hands. "They're Soviet. No home, no property, no clothes, but they think they're in paradise!"
Harry and Martin both laughed out loud, although Nix was not so sure they were just laughing because they were both drunk almost senseless or because of the fact that no one could get Dick to stop telling jokes.
"Good one, sir", Luz said from behind Dick, having listened in, and patted him on the shoulder, big grin and cigarette in place as usual.
"Thanks, George", Dick answered straining his neck to smile into Luz's face.
"You're welcome, buddy. Cigarette?", Luz asked and patted down his chest for the packet Lucky Strikes that he always kept on him.
"No", Dick replied, trying to frown, but then opting for a grin. "I don't smoke."
"You don't drink, either", Luz replied, all smartass, looking at the empty packet in his hands. "Good thing you said no, seems like I've run out of Luck."
While the Easy Sergeant went in search of some more cigarettes, Dick looked after him with a smile on his face.
"They're such good men", Dick slurred, taking a swig from his bottle. "I've never seen such good lads b'fore. They're so... so... loyal, and... brave... and... loyal."
"Sir", Lipton spoke up, probably the only one at their table besides Nix himself to still be able to form fully coherent sentences. "Maybe you should tell them. They would love to hear such words from you. The men respect you more than anything else."
Dick made a thoughtful face, a comic parody of his usually quite serious look, then nodded enthusiastically.
"You're right!", Dick said to Lipton, smiling and taking another swig. "They should be told, what a great bunch o' people they are."
Standing up too fast, Dick knocked over his chair and had to grab the table for support, because he was swaying so badly.
"You sure that's such a good idea?", Nix asked Lipton, looking doubtful. Somehow his plan had spun a little bit out of control. "He probably won't even be able to climb the pedestal. And then someone has to make sure he doesn't fall down."
"Don't you worry, Lew", his totally wasted friend tried to reassure him, patting Nix's cheek. "I feel pre... perfectly fine. Never felt better!"
Lipton gave Nix a smile, shrugging, then together with Martin accompanied a swaying Dick to the pedestal, while Harry and Nix stayed at the table all alone, only the sleeping Speirs in between them.
"What's the matter with you, Nix?" Harry asked him while drinking his beer. "You barely spoke a word in the last hour, you're hardly drinking anymore and now you turned into a mother hen?"
"Well, I didn't have the chance to say anything because Dick was telling jokes all the time", Nix tried to make fun of the situation. But it was true, he had been unusually quiet and he was holding back drinking.
"Really?", Harry drawled, prodding for the truth.
"Someone has to keep an eye on Dick", Nix eventually admitted. "You know he's not used to drinking. I don't want him to do anything stupid and ruin all his good reputation in one evening."
"Especially when you're responsible for him drinking in the first place", Harry slyly stated, being far too quick-witted for the amount of alcohol he had already drunk. "You feeling guilty already? I thought it was a genius plan."
"Yeah, I just didn't expect it to work so nicely", Nix replied quietly, taking a small sip from his whiskey and following Dick with his eyes. His friend was only making small progress to the pedestal, being held up on the way many times, speaking and laughing with the men. And not too few times clinking glasses.
"Aw, Nix, how cute", Harry goaded, a smirk on his face. "He's fine. Probably the first time in his life he's actually enjoying himself. Look, he's all happy and smiley."
Again, Nix looked to Dick and saw him laughing so hard at something Malarkey had said to him that he had to clutch the back of a chair to stay upright. Brushing aside tears of laughter, Dick clapped Malarkey on the shoulder, then – with some considerable help from Lipton and Martin – climbed the pedestal. Once Dick was up there, Lipton had to quickly grab his arms, because his friend almost fell down backwards again. Nix winced, just hoping Dick's evening would not end with broken bones in the aid station. It might be awkward to explain to Colonel Sink.
"Uh... boys, there's something I wanted to say", Dick tried to make himself heard above the noise, but failing miserably. The band was still playing and people chattering. "Guys!" Still no success. So drunk-Dick reversed for a short moment back to Major Winters, shouting, "Listen up!"
Finally, the desired silence ensued, the band stopped playing. A grin broke through on Dick's face, showing that he was quite pleased with himself.
"Thanks, that's better", he stated, taking a swig from the schnapps. "Easy company... no... no, let's start anew. Dear friends."
There was already cheering from the ranks of the men for that, and Nix, despite himself, had to smile. He knew that Dick had always been popular among the men, but they had never treated him as chummily as, for example, Buck. Seemed like the last few hours had changed that.
"You're the best soldiers... men, I've ever had the pleasure of serving with", Dick continued, swaying dangerously on the pedestal. Luckily, Lipton still stood behind him and kept a watchful eye and hand on him.
"We're the only soldiers you ever served with!", one of the men butted in cheekily, receiving some laughter for it.
"Yeah, that too", Dick grinningly acknowledged, then turned serious. Well, as serious as possible, given his inebriated state. "I'm so proud of you. You took the challenge, risked your lives, came here to Europe and won this war."
Some more cheering for that.
"With some of you I began this long journey, years ago in Toccoa. I watched you become good soldiers and good men. It's like watching your first cattle grow up. You go down to the meadows in summer and there they are. You know they'll always be there, as if waiting for you and trusting you to lead them to even greener pastures."
"Oh no, farm boy is coming through", Nix commented to Harry, cringing.
There were some whispers in the crowd, "Is he comparing us to cows?" – "I think it's meant as a compliment."
Dick's eyes took on a faraway look, probably seeing his home, somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Saw maybe even his own damn cows, Nix thought, shuddering. When the silence stretched too long and some muffled laughs could be heard, Lipton loudly cleared his throat behind Dick, bringing him back into the here and now.
"... where was I?", Dick asked, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah, what I wanted to say is that I'm very proud of you. Very, very proud."
He stopped again, but this time only shortly, then lifted his bottle of schnapps, at the same time turning more solemn.
"I'd like to remember at this point all the difficult situations we went through and all the good men we've lost along the way. We're different people now than when we set out from Toccoa or Aldbourne. This war has changed us, and hopefully showed us that life should be treasured. Close friends were ripped away from us, either being killed or too wounded to carry on with us. They'd deserve to be here tonight, too, but they can't."
Now the room had turned completely silent. Dick had despite his drunk condition found the right words, and Nix found himself thinking back to all they had lived through. He remembered how he had arrived at Toccoa, just a rich kid that had joined the army out of boredom. He also remembered the day when he had first met a certain red-head, standing all lanky and serious in their shared room. They had come so far and grown up so fast. He remembered the adrenaline-filled night of D-Day and the first few weeks, and the icy nights of Bastogne. When he tried really hard, he could even hear the "zing" of the bullet that had almost killed him in Holland, only sheer luck that had kept him alive. And then, just a few weeks ago, he had received the message that his wife wanted a divorce. How could he just go back, after all that had happened? It seemed like there was a lifetime between when he had left his country and the present day.
When Nix brought himself out of his reverie and looked to Dick, he saw that his friend's eyes appeared all of a sudden dangerously damp.
"Jesus, keep it together", he heard Harry mutter beside him.
"Let's remember our dead and wounded", his friend carried on, overcoming his sudden emotionality, "by celebrating tonight in their honor."
All the men were clapping and cheering, while Dick made an attempt to climb down from the box, then stopped in his tracks and turned around to the crowd again.
"Oh, and I almost forgot: Currahee!"
More cheering and an alleviating laughter, as well as a corporate "Currahee!" was the answer to Dick's speech.
"That wasn't all too bad", Harry commented, leaning back in his chair and nodding his head. "I'm sure I couldn't have given such a speech in his state."
"You couldn't do it sober, either, Harry", Nix replied lazily, lighting a cigarette. "The only time I've heard you giving a speech, you couldn't string two words together."
"That's not fair!", Harry complained. "That purple heart reception speech doesn't count! They shot me up with morphine before, I was with my thoughts somewhere in fairyland while giving that speech."
"You're in fairyland all the time", Nix quipped. "Just that usually all your daydream fairies are blond-haired, long-legged and wish to go skinny-dipping with you."
"You don't know what that fairies did to me while on morphine", Harry replied, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
Nix just smiled at that. Harry was a good man, he really liked him. Big mouth, quick to irritate, but he had his heart on the right spot. Nix would probably have gone up the walls back then in England, with Dick playing poster boy for officer school and all that crap. There were times when he had been sure he would shoot himself if he had to hear just one more time how marvelous Dick was doing with everything and how everyone else should follow the example of Saint Richard. Going out with Harry and drinking a beer or two (maybe more, no need to keep a close count) at the local pub had probably saved his life back then.
Still, when it came to the things that really mattered, Dick had always been the first at his side. And the most tenacious one. When life had thrown all that shit at him, a few weeks back, his friend had been there. Dick had never been a big talker, but he had just stubbornly refused to leave Nix alone and to give up on him. It's probably what had kept him sane in all the chaos. And Nix was really grateful for that.
"What's he doing now?", Harry suddenly muttered, waking Nix from his thoughts, and pointed in the direction of the pedestal.
Nix followed his pointing and saw that Dick was chatting with one of the German women, a pretty brunette with bright eyes. His friend was telling a story, gesturing wildly all the time, probably because of the language difficulties. He need not have worried because she was giggling and giving him flirty looks anyway.
"You'll understand when you're old enough, Harry", Nix deadpanned, not letting Dick out of his eyes.
"They're probably discussing cows", Harry continued, not letting himself be goaded by Nix's comment. "I bet Dick's not even realizing she's fawning all over him and would probably satisfy his every wishes. And I really mean every wish."
Nix snorted at that.
"I wouldn't be too sure about that", he answered. "I know you and everyone else in this company thinks that because he doesn't drink and doesn't smoke, he has no experience with women and is all shy about them. That's not really the case. I know for certain he had something going on with a nurse back in England. He's just not so obvious about it like you and the rest of the guys. And he's not bragging about it, another big difference to everyone else here."
Harry stared at him, then downed the rest of his beer in one gulp.
"You sure?", he asked, incredulous. "Saint Richard? I always thought he's never even discovered yet what he's got there in his pants."
"I didn't know, either, he didn't actually tell me", Nix explained, while lighting a cigarette. "I just discovered it by chance. When we left England that second time round, I went to the aid station to get some more of these air sickness pills. Just when I came out, I saw Dick leaving the barracks of the nurses behind the station, tucking in his shirt and fixing his collar. I ducked behind a car so he wouldn't see me, when a woman called out to him. A brunette stuck her head out of the window and I recognized her as one of the English nurses. Dick went back to her, kissed her and then said his goodbye. I never told him I knew about it."
"Well, well, still waters truly run deep", Harry commented slowly, refilling his glass at the beer barrel. At that moment, Speirs mumbled something to himself in his sleep and sighed deeply.
"Yeah, I know", Harry remarked wistfully, patting Speirs' cheek without actually waking him up. "It should be our turn now. I've gone much too long without laying my hands upon a nice, round ass."
"This is your chance, Harry", Nix answered, grinning slyly. "I don't think Speirs will even notice."
With a cry of outrage, Harry chucked a wine cork at a laughing Nix, who was able to duck in time.
Music started again, and Nix looked up to see Dick dancing with the brunette. Well, not actually dancing, more like stumbling in some kind of rhythm. Nix winced again. It really looked painful, to be honest, with Dick stepping on her toes all the time.
They did not even make it through the first song. The music was a bit too fast and Dick more than a little too drunk, and he spun her around with way too much force. Suddenly, the woman stumbled and Dick was too slow to react, stumbling along with her. For one moment, they teetered on the edge of falling, then they both crashed with full force onto a table, that collapsed under their weight. The racket of wood splintering and glass breaking was deafening.
"What happen'd?", Speirs asked befuddled, jolting up, but sinking back down before anyone had the chance to answer.
Silence followed, and Nix got up, sighing.
"Alright, I think it's time to get Dick to bed, before he demolishes the whole place", he said to Harry, then made his way through the hall to the crash site of his friend.
A small circle had gathered around Dick and the brunette, the men making sure no one had got hurt. When Nix arrived there, he could see that his friend was still lying on the collapsed table, the woman on top of him. Even now the perfect gentleman, Nix thought, cushioning the fall for his lady. Dick made no move to get up, looking rather comfortable where he was lying.
"You all right?", Nix could hear him asking the woman slowly.
The brunette nodded and then started laughing, prompting Dick to laugh with her. Nix, relieved that they were unhurt, released the breath he was holding and with the tension broken, his foxy friend used the opportunity to pull down the brunette and kiss her deeply. Another cheer, for the upteenth time this evening, erupted from their small circle, not at least bothering the couple in their middle.
Nix had the decency to wait until his friend was done sucking face, although it took forever, until he approached the two of them and kneeled down beside them, mindful of the shards lying around everywhere.
"Riiiiight, Dick, be glad the owner of this hotel is the loser of this war or you might be paying for repairs until the end of your days", Nix remarked, while giving the brunette a hand up, which she took gratefully. By the way she swayed, she was well into her cups, too.
"Just lost my footing... Could've happened to anyone...", Dick replied, then chuckled to himself. He was still lying where he had fallen, blinking lazily up at Nix and the pretty brunette, who started giggling at that.
"Come on, Don Juan, I can hear your bed calling", Nix tried to get his friend to move, extending a hand.
"What's it saying?", Dick slurred, grinning.
"Get up, smartass, now."
"I don't wanna leave", Dick replied, now adopting a whiny tone. Christ, he sounded like a five-year-old when he was mopey. Just the pouting was missing. At least Dick accepted the hand and let himself be pulled up by Nix, who kept a steadying hand on him.
"Sir, if the Major wants to stay, just let him enjoy the party some more. We'll keep an eye on him", Bull spoke up from behind, voicing the opinion of the other Easy men around him.
The situation was so absurd that Nix almost laughed out loud. Here he was, designated party pooper of the evening, because he was for once trying to do the responsible thing and get a drunk-as-fuck-Dick to bed. But no, the boys were getting protective of his friend, taking his side and making this all the more difficult. Two against one. Good thing Nix had never really cared for odds.
"Look, boys", Nix drawled, trying his best I'm-an-officer-and-you-better-crawl-in-the-dirt-before-me-tone, "you won't have to lead a battalion tomorrow. He does, ok? So lay off, drink your booze, play some Monopoly or do whatever you do when you're not shooting people. He's coming with me."
Nix heard some grumbling among the men, but nobody dared to speak up and they slowly took some steps backwards, giving them a bit more space. Now to the more difficult obstacle.
"I'm staying, Lew", Dick declared, swaying on his feet. "You know what? Maybe you should try and loosen up."
That was a dirty move of his friend, throwing his own words back into his face. But two could play that game.
"Well, Dick, you told me not to overdo it, because we have a meeting tomorrow afternoon", Nix replied smoothly. "If you carry on drinking like that, you'll not function at all tomorrow. If you even survive to see the sunrise."
"I'm fine", his friend stated, although tiredness had crept into his voice, the fight slowly going out of him. He dragged a hand across his forehead, leaving a bloody smear on his face. Nix quickly looked for the source of the bleeding and saw that Dick had cut his hand in the fall.
"You're bleeding", Nix pointed out, reaching for the injured hand and pressing a napkin on the wound.
"Oh", Dick just said, looking at his hand, but having some difficulty bringing it into focus. "I didn't even notice. It doesn't hurt."
Nix chuckled and then looked into the sweaty face of his wasted friend.
"No shit. Trust me, alcohol is quite a good anesthesia. For bodily and mental hurts."
Dick gave him a lopsided grin in return and watched, while Nix examined and bandaged the wound as well as he could.
"Maybe you'll need stitches", Nix declared, not liking the way the cut bled through the makeshift bandage. "But first you need a bed. Say goodbye to your Fräulein and your friends."
Dick nodded obediently and waved to the Easy men, receiving a very last cheer from his men and a smack on the lips from the brunette, then they left the party, Dick's uninjured arm slung across Nix's shoulder.
-TBC-