As the clapping of the crowd slowly dissipated, Jonas could see Qrow's minor discomfort. As the two of them walked back to the table, he caught Qrow's attention with a tap on the back.
'Are you alright, Qrow? Not too shocking I hope, finding out you're right next warzone.' He smiled.
'Nah, I...it just didn't cross my mind at first.' Outside the shade of the parasols, the buttons and other metal pieces on Jonas' uniform gleamed. He still held his wine glass down at his waste. 'You've just come from it, then.'
'That's right.' Despite what would otherwise be a somber confession, Jonas' face was still bright. 'But, for these guys and me, it's over for now.' Qrow looked surprised.
'Really? Why?'
'They haven't told us for sure yet. In the middle of the night, three weeks ago, this communication came through to all the divisions on or near the front.' He took a long sip, downing the rest of the glass. Wincing and placing it on the table, he started again. 'High command voted unanimously on a rapid expansion of the reserve army and practically cannibalized most of the units that were left by placing them on Haushaltsbereitschaft. Basically, we were told to go home early and be ready to be called back in at short notice. So for now this is it.' He gestured around him to the soldiers still sitting at tables around them.
'So viel zur Rückeroberung Münchens in einem Jahr.' A voice said from behind them. It was the soldiers Jonas had been with before, sitting with two monstrous glasses of what looked like mead. Jonas beamed.
'Jungs! Ich dachte, du wärst da draußen. Wie geht's?' He turned back to Qrow. 'He's just upset we didn't get anywhere near Munich.'
'Was ist mit diesem Amerikaner?' One of them said.
'Er ist etwas verloren, ich helfe ihm nur.' Jonas said. The other soldier, who was much older than the first, (a spry-looking young guy with green eyes) looked as if his nose had been broken. The man nodded slightly, acknowledging Qrow's presence, but he didn't seem very interested in him.
'Du hast gesagt, du wohnst hier, Jonas.' The old soldier looked towards the formation on the square, who were standing at ease now that the mayor's speech was over. 'Kennen Sie einen von ihnen?' Jonas bit his lip as he said that. Qrow saw this and reckoned it had rubbed him the wrong way for some reason.
'Nein.' Jonas said. His older comrade subtly, but recognizably scowled at him.
'Nun, genießen Sie Ihren Urlaub. Es war schön dich kennenzulernen.' He extended his hand out from the table for Jonas to shake. Jonas moved over to do so. The older soldier's shake was loose and unethusisatic.
'Ebenfalls.' Jonas said, before turning to his younger comrade to do the same. Shaking, he started to speak to Jonas.
'Wann glaubst du, werden sie uns zurückrufen? Es muss passieren.'
'Puh.' The older soldier blurted out in response. 'Das ist es, das solltest du wissen.' He scowled at the younger soldier across the table. 'Diese Dummköpfe haben keine Ahnung, was sie tun. Abwarten und sehen. Wir werden für immer in einer Pattsituation sein. Sie könnten Himmler genauso gut hinter sich bringen!' He laughed gutturally and took a swig of his mead. Jonas and the younger soldier exchanged concerned glances, before Jonas quickly said.
'Es ist mir eine Freude, heute bei euch zu sein, Jungs! Aber ich und Qrow hier machen uns besser auf den Weg.' Turning heel he learned down and hurriedly slung his rifle and put his pack on.
'Qrow!' The older soldier said, almost spitting out his drink and pointing at Qrow, who turned to him and gave his own scowl. 'Das ist sein Name? Wie der Vogel?' The soldier laughed, louder this time, and slapped his knee.
'Let's go.' Jonas said to Qrow, before dashing into his pocket and producing a few banknotes, which he tossed loosely onto the table.
...
At the edge of the square, they now stood fully bathed in the sun and far away from the bar. The soldiers had broken formation and now many of them seemed to be eating from tables near the stage. The mayor had obviously made sure his hospitality to them was thorough. But Jonas had no interest in eating it seemed.
'Sorry about that. I only met them today when we were heading up from the last town.' Jonas looked out into the square, Qrow kept listening. 'The young one, he's probably just got in. That other one though, he was probably in the old Wehrmacht.' Qrow was still completely lost as to what much of this meant. 'What a piece of work-'
'Jonas.' He interrupted. 'Buddy, just...' Qrow could see the surprise on his face. 'Tell me about this war, then we better get back to... me, I guess.'
'Sorry, Qrow.' Jonas said, laughing softly at himself. 'You're right, we need to get to know you better.' He pointed at Qrow's chest for emphasis. 'Talking of the war can wait, though. That's the last thing you need to hear about right now.' He grinned and looked at the floor briefly. 'And thankfully, I know where we can go next to maybe get you some more help.' He slapped Qrow on the shoulder again and smiled. 'Let's get going.'
Following Jonas across the square and to one of the sidestreets, Qrow got a better look at the stage where the mayor had been giving his speech. It sat in front of the tallest building around; an ornate guildhall with a clock face flat on the front of it. The shops and bars around the square had awnings out because, despite the mild air, the sun beat down ferociously. As they reached the street, Qrow took a moment to glance at his feet. They baked on the cobbles, and only now did he notice that he had a few minor cuts under his toes and heels from having walked through the woods, grazing his skin over exposed rocks and sharp roots. Jonas noticed this.
'Don't worry, we'll get you something for that.' Qrow looked puzzled. 'You can borrow some of my clothes.' It was then that Qrow realized that Jonas must be taking him to the apartment that he mentioned. Under any other circumstances, this would've felt odd. But otherwise, he'd probably be sleeping rough. How his previous self might've thought of bunking with a stranger he didn't know, if he even had a previous self. It was still a bizarre feeling, but Qrow's resolve to follow any leads was now full. As long as Jonas kept helping him, things would continue going smoothly, he thought.
'Thanks.' Qrow said. 'Hope they fit.'
'Oh, I'd expect I've lost some weight since being called up. There'll be something. I hope you like check shirts, I have plenty of those.' Qrow chuckled.
'Yeah, that'll do.' He said.
'Guess you lost your preferences as well then.'
'My what?' Qrow cocked his brow.
'You know, your preferences. Tea or coffee. White wine or red wine. Well, I guess we know that one already, actually.' He laughed. 'But you know what I mean. You've just been taking everything as it comes. No'
'I suppose I have. I'm not pushing either way, because there's nothin' in here pushing me.' He pointed to his forehead. 'So yeah, you're kinda right.' The street was quiet; perhaps the entire town actually had been watching the parade. The loudest sound was Jonas' footsteps, heavy compared to Qrow's bare feet. He walked ahead of Qrow, who stopped momentarily as he noticed his reflection in a shopfront window. As with hearing his own voice for what felt like the first time, this was the first time he had gotten a proper look at his face. Under the gold-painted lettering on the glass, he seemed all the more scruffy. His black hair was greasy and flung in every direction. His stubble and sleepy eyes gave the impression that a clean could really help. Hopefully, Jonas wouldn't object to Qrow using his bathroom.
'Just in here.' Jonas said, pointing. Qrow turned and saw him standing by a door-sized passageway that lead into the buildings on the right side of the street. Walking over and then into it, he saw it was next to another closed shopfront. Jonas lead him down it and to a door that lead to the left. Putting his pack down he opened it and plunged his arm in, reaching right to the bottom. Pulling out a set of the keys, he shouldered the pack again and opened the door. Inside the door lead straight to a carpeted staircase, and the whole place seemed to narrow in on itself even more than in the first passage. The banisters and walls were freshly painted, but the age of the building was obvious. The wood on the stairs was cut at awkward and imperfect angles; it felt like it had been built centuries ago. Climbing the first flight, things opened up more once Jonas led him onto the landing, which had two doors opposite each other.
'Trautes Heim, Glück allein.' Jonas smiled and keyed open the door. Inside, there was a hallway that led to a kitchen on the right and what looked like a lounge with a couch on the left. Further down were two more closed doors. Jonas walked into the kitchen, and Qrow closed the door behind him. Lugging his pack onto a circular table in the center, he took off his sleeping mat and placed it on the floor, and leaned his rifle against one of the counters. The cupboards surrounding the perimeter of the kitchen seemed almost antique, painted in faded lavender. The centerpiece of the room was a colossal woodburning stove made of wrought black metal, a cradle of split logs for it stood by the kitchen door. Qrow watched as Jonas continued emptying his pack. Reaching into an outside pocket he pulled a roll of papers followed by a small metal tin. As he began unrolling it, he noticed Qrow in the doorway.
'Just my pay.' He held the papers up. 'Best to get that sorted. I'll set you up on the couch.' He pointed through to the living room. 'My bedroom's on the left, and the clothes I don't often wear are at the back of the closet. You can help yourself. I don't know what shoes will fit you, but you can take whichever is comfiest. The bathroom is opposite.' With that said he turned back to his papers and began laying them out on the table. He just thanked Jonas and headed to the closet.
Picking out a shirt and an undershirt, along with clean underwear and a pair of jeans, and a pair of socks, he headed into the bathroom, glad to finally be able to wash up. Jonas' lesser worn clothes had been balled up and thrown to the back of the closet or left to drop from their hangers, so they were a little wrinkled. But it was better than having to beg for them. After all, he didn't have any of the local money, which he still didn't know the name of. Jonas' room was relatively bare, Qrow wasn't sure why. But it was furnished well and had a window that looked onto the street.
In the bathroom, Qrow turned on the faucet and tested the water. Despite the archaic appearance of the kitchen and the rest of the building, Jonas seemed to have running water. As the bath filled Qrow took a better look at himself in the mirror His eyes were even more visibly exhausted. Turning off the water, he undressed and climbed in. His body was uninjured if a little stiff from waking up earlier. He might have been lying on a rock or something for all he knew. Getting in, the heat of the water was instantly refreshing, and he let out a relaxed 'Ah.' as he lay back. His feet stung a little, though, as water found its way around the cuts on his feet and into tears in the skin between his toes. He dipped his head back and let his hair and face soak for a moment. Laying back like that for a moment, he then chose to rest his head on the edge of the bath. Drowsiness set in quickly, and almost instantly he drifted off.
...
He was walking in a desert, a sandstorm surrounding him. Everything near was blurry, and the air itself could have been made of granules of sand in the storm. He walked but somehow didn't need to shield his face. Finally, he reached something.
An isolated formation of Jagged, grey rocks was in the sand ahead of him. They sat perfectly in his way. One was long, and two small, stubby ones lay next to it. Something wasn't right.
Suddenly, his view snapped behind the rocks. It was his naked corpse. The face was unrecognizable and completely deformed, sand stuck to it entirely, as if it had been pummeled in and the blood, sapped into a sticky mess, keeping the grains in place.
...
His eyes opened slowly. The water was still hot, and he hadn't moved. The bathroom ceiling quickly came back into view. He had dreamed, the first time he had now done so that he could remember; there were none he could recall from his time unconscious on the mountain. Being in the state of mind he was, searching for answers, few of which he currently had, he expected to feel vulnerable. It was still unnerving though seeing, himself like that. He didn't have any way to explain it himself.
As far as he could see though, he was clean and had soaked for a good while sitting there asleep. It had been longer than it had felt. Shifting his legs, he suddenly felt something on his feet. Before quickly realizing what he was feeling wasn't something on his feet, but rather something missing. The cuts and peeling skin that had been there from his traversal of the mountain had disappeared. Quickly getting out of the bath, water dripping rapidly onto the floor, he held one of his legs up. Wincing to get a better look at his skin amid the steam rising from his pores, he could see it clearly. All of the blemishes were gone. There was just clean, healthy-looking skin. As was the theme that day, Qrow was at a complete loss. Maybe he had been kidding himself about having cuts that whole day being caught up in the confusion of everything else. That dream hadn't helped with the idea that he might be hallucinating. Standing there for a moment, he ran through other possibilities, straining there to find one that made sense. But he had nothing.
Reluctantly giving up, he began drying himself with a towel that was nearby. Jonas only seemed to have one set of things in here, so he would make sure to clean them afterward. Picking up the only razor in the room, he began shaving down his stubble. It had an almost immediate difference. While the rugged look of it had suited him, he thought, it had grown out a little too much. It would look less scruffy if he could grow it out again and then cut it down regularly. He wiped away the last of the lather and checked it out in the mirror. Satisfied, he took to tidying his hair and caught a glimpse of what looked like deodorant sitting next to the sink. Picking it up he found that it broke in two and was a roll-on stick. Everything on the label was in German, and this was the same for all the products he had seen in Bergwand. Putting some on, he felt much cleaner. Having not caught a whiff of himself on the way down the mountain, he assumed that could use something to musk the panic sweat would be useful.
Finally, he dressed in his new clothes before cleaning the razor and leaving the bathroom with the towel and his old clothes in hand, intending to leave them wherever Jonas left his laundry. In the kitchen, Jonas was sitting at the table. His uniform tunic was on the back of another chair along with his belt and the leather webbing which connected to it. His papers were organized neatly on the table, and he leafed through some banknotes which had been in the metal tin. Without his tunic, his undershirt and the suspenders keeping his uniform trousers up were visible.
'Please, sit. I'll be done with this soon.' He said, eyes still fixed on the notes as he counted them. Qrow sat at the third, empty chair 'Stupid things, these are.' He gestured to the papers on the table. 'I bet that old boy I was with today, really any of them from the old army preferred the Soldbuchs. All this in something no bigger than a passport.' He sighed. Qrow guessed well enough that the papers were how he got his wage as a soldier.
'Why'd it change?' Qrow asked, curious.
'Just our government trying to be different from the Nazis, as seems to be sacrosanct now. That's the enemy, by the way.' Jonas remembered what he had and hadn't told Qrow so had corrected himself but carried on counting his money.
'These Nazis, you just got done fighting them?' Qrow leaned in over the table a little, noticing Jonas's distraction.
'Yep.' Jonas clicked his tongue. 'The good old Arbeiterpartei.' Jonas carried on counting the notes. Qrow was trying to meet his eyes, but Jonas seemed unable to. 'Bane of our existence.' He said that softly, before finally jerking his head up to look at the money. 'Huh.' He and Qrow finally made eye contact, but only for a second. Jonas jerked his head away as if he had suddenly awoken startled from sleep. Quickly, he looked to Qrow again. 'I said I wouldn't talk about the war, sorry.' He looked back to the notes again. 'Where was I.'
Qrow sat back in his chair as Jonas struggled with the notes for a moment. He didn't know exactly what had just happened, but Jonas didn't seem to want to linger on it. As he finished, he folded the notes in two and put them back in the tin. He turned back to Qrow.
'Are terribly you hungry?' He asked.
'Nah, I'm good.' Despite the events of the day, Qrow hadn't worked up much of an appetite. He put that down to his confusion, and the little anxiety that had crept its way in after he had awoken. Anything even half as absurd as his situation might leave a pit in someone's stomach, he thought.
'Then if you'll allow me to change, we can go and get you some of those answers you were looking for.' Qrow remembered what he had said earlier about going somewhere else. 'You can wait downstairs if you like.' Jonas fished the apartment keys from his pocket and tossed them to Qrow, who caught them. 'It's the large one for the front door.' Jonas grinned, before getting out of his seat and heading back to his room with his tunic. His pack and rifle were still sitting below the table. Qrow suddenly realized he hadn't taken the shoes Jonas had offered him. Heading to the bedroom door, he knocked.
'Hey, uh.' No sooner had he spoken than the door opened slightly and a pair of brown ankle boots flew out and landed in the hallway. Pulling them on, Qrow keyed his way out of the apartment and headed downstairs. Waiting on the tiny bottom landing, he wondered where it was Jonas would be taking him. At this stage, it could be anywhere. He didn't know enough about him or this town, or Germany as a whole to make any richly informed guesses. But Jonas had seemed trustworthy and willing to help thus far, so the chances he was doing something malicious were slim. Qrow didn't feel like entertaining what he might have to do if things somehow were malicious. If anything such a situation would be a setback. He pondered these thoughts somewhat aimlessly as he leaned against one of the apartment doors. But before long, he heard the door open upstairs and someone descending the stairs.
Looking up, he expected to catch a glimpse of Jonas, but he was coming down the stairs fairly quickly. And as he reached the bottom, Qrow started, realizing it wasn't Jonas. But then he quickly relaxed. It was a boy, no more than nine or ten, dressed in shorts and a white shirt. They almost seemed to glare at each other for a moment, before Qrow realized he was blocking the door to the passage outside.
'Oh, sorry.' He opened the door behind him, stepping out into the passage to let the boy through. Despite Qrow's apology, though, he said nothing. As he passed Qrow and stepped out into the passage himself, they made eyes again. The boy looked almost indifferent but somehow fascinated by Qrow. He looked at Qrow for just another moment, before exiting the passage and walking out into the street.