I helped Tanya put some equipment back so that we had an excuse to walk back together. Viktoriya offered to help, but Tanya gave a stern shake to her head.

"Thank you, Serebryakov, but you've worked hard today. Get some rest."

Viktoriya flashed a sincere smile and ran to catch up to Grantz, Neumann, Koenig, and Weiss.

A glance around revealed that Green Eyes was shooting me a grin and a hint of a wave. He walked back to the dormitory a few paces behind the crowd of new recruits.

I gave him a small wave back before finally returning my focus to Tanya. The sun was dipping toward the earth, casting long shadows as it struck the horizon. Tanya's back was to it, and I could just barely make out the features of her face. The wispy outline of her flaxen hair, disappearing into the intense oranges and pinks of the sky, captivated me beyond repair.

"Not a terrible set of men overall," she said quietly. There seemed to be a hint of malice in it somewhere, though.

"Yeah," I nodded. "Definitely."

She hoisted her rifle a bit higher over her shoulder. There was a clipboard tucked under the opposite arm. No words came from her mouth.

"It's been a while since we've been back out with the battalion. How do you feel? Are the wounds okay?" I took a step forward, one hand partly outstretched to touch her abdomen. But Tanya backstepped out of my reach and turned to head back toward the dormitory.

"They're okay."

I figured she was tired. This worried me, naturally, because too much physical strain on one's body while recovering from such serious injuries just seemed like an awful idea. Even for a mage.

"Are you sure you're not in any pain?"

She took a deep breath. "I'm sure, Lillia."

"W-well, if you wake up tomorrow and realize you've over-exerted yourself and you don't feel up to-"

"Lillia."

"It's just, as your field medic-"

Tanya put up a hand.

I went silent. It's not like I was going to stop being concerned for her well-being, but I understood it was time to give her a break from the nagging. "...Sorry."

Tanya shook her head slightly. She lowered her hand and - to my surprise - reached over and wove my fingers through her own. Neither of us looked down at the gesture. We just began to walk back to the dormitory without another word, listening to the rustle of our footsteps and the quiet ambience of the wind.

-XXX-

We sat down on my bed, and the silenced persisted on. By this point the sun had almost completely disappeared from the skyline, and my dorm was pretty dark. Still, I didn't touch the lamp near the bedside. The light seemed too harsh. I decided I'd rather the room stay soft and blue.

Tanya hadn't dropped her rifle by the door, like I had done with mine. Instead, she had grabbed a cloth off my dresser and set the gun down across her lap to clean it.

I listened to the slide of fabric over the wooden barrel. It made a sort of shnk, shnk noise that resonated through the quiet room.

My eyelids began to droop, so I let my body fall back across the mattress.

Tanya spared me a quick glance. "Worn out?"

"Aren't you?"

"Not really."

That surprised me, but I let it be.

I stared up at the ceiling until my eyes started to close. Suddenly, her voice pulled me back to full consciousness.

"Lillia..." She hesitated, then continued. "I don't think you should talk to that man."

"Huh?" It was so out of nowhere, it took me a minute to understand what she was talking about.

"The man from today. He was resting against the fence with you. You talked to him for a while, right?"

I nodded my head slowly. "Yeah...he was nice."

"Nice, huh?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well." She scoffed quietly. "That was Lukas F. Richter."

I propped myself up on my elbows. "Wait, what? You're joking, right?"

Tanya had stopped cleaning her gun and was looking at me with one eyebrow raised. "No, I'm serious."

A brief silence.

"Anyway." She turned back to her rifle, but her hands didn't continue working on it. "I don't want you to talk to him."

I squinted my eyes. "Not at all?"

"Not at all."

"I didn't think he was that bad. A little bit of a smartass, yeah, but he warmed up to me. We had a good conversation. I told him my story and he was really sympathetic."

Tanya shook her head slightly.

"Well, c'mon. You can't just tell me not to talk to him at all and not even provide a reason."

But still, Tanya was silent. It seemed she didn't feel the need to give one.

I could feel frustration beginning to bubble up in my chest. "Listen, Tanya. I get that you didn't get a great first impression of him, but he's really not a bad person. And you really can't tell me who I can or can't talk to."

"Look, Lillia." Tanya's voice was suddenly as sharp as a knife. "You don't understand this now, but-"

"Don't treat me like a child."

Part of me didn't want to start a fight, but as soon as that first line had come out, my tired brain couldn't stop the rest of the words from spilling out over my lips.

"You don't get to control me, you know. You can't act like you're an adult and I'm a child, and then tell me what I can or can't do. It doesn't work like that, even if you're my girlfriend."

"Well I am your commander-"

"But only when we're working!" I sat up, stiff with anger.

Tanya had turned her body to look at me now, rifle falling to the side. Her eyes had widened a bit in shock, but were quickly narrowing with anger.

"Honestly, when you first mentioned Richter to me, I was expecting a lot worse. But he's not even a bad guy. At all."

"Lillia-!"

"I know what this is really about, Tanya. You only hate him because he's a powerful mage, and you always have to be superior. It's all because he could make you look less impressive and get in the way of your career!"

"Why the hell-?!"

"-And you have such a superiority complex that you think you can tell me who I can or can't hang out with, just because you don't like someone? That's ridiculous!"

Tanya was glaring me into the ground at this point. Once I was done yelling, I just sort of froze and waited to face the consequences. There wasn't anything else to do.

The room was suddenly filled with a thick, suffocating silence. A twinge of guilt began to trickle down my chest, into my stomach.

She grabbed her gun, and before I knew it, I had flinched a little.

Tanya rose to her feet, turning to stare ahead at the door. "Always about my career...?"

I expected her to defend herself. To tell me, no, Lillia. It's not always my career. Sometimes I just do things because I care about you. Because I want the best for you. Because I know what's right and wrong for you. Even something like that would have been a more satisfying response than what I got.

"Everything's always about your career, isn't it, Tanya?"

"...You've had warning of that from the very beginning."

Tanya sauntered toward the door, lifting her rifle strap and dropping it down over her shoulder. She threw my cleaning cloth down on the dresser and exchanged it for her clipboard.

That line had made my heart sink deep into my chest. Then it dropped down into my stomach and I was suddenly feeling a vile hollowness.

I opened my mouth for words - something like "why" or "how could you say that", but I didn't seem to be capable of producing any noise. My vocal cords had shrivelled up into nothing and my mouth was dry as bone.

Tanya tucked her clipboard under one arm and pulled the door open. Still not facing me, she paused for a moment. "I'm going," she muttered, and then disappeared with a slam.

I stood up, not sure what else to do, but it quickly occured to me that I had no desire to follow her. I just found myself staring at the door.

The last thing she said played over and over in my mind like a broken record, and I covered my mouth with my hands as soon as I realized she was right.