Inspired by:
Oneheart - Snowfall (Slowed Version)
Girls' Frontline
We keep on evading the enemy slowly encroaching on our positions, constantly moving our bases every so often, but after what happened with Kingmaker during our train escape, this tiny respite was perfect for all of us.
I dragged a chair and a couple of beers to the rooftop of one of the abandoned buildings we decided to use as makeshift dorms. And as I settled down, I quietly observed the shifts changing while snow slowly settled all around us. Small snowflakes gently clumped together as they fell.
As I cracked open my first beer of the night, I heard snow crunching behind me. The steps were slow and deliberate. Then a second chair appeared next to me. It was SV-98. What made that girl gravitate towards me, I've no idea.
"No music this time? I've been looking forward to some more of your Tsoi renditions."
She cracked open a beer of her own.
"Seriously though, what are you doing up here this late? I get it, we have some Slavic descent in us, but it's damn cold outside."
I let silence hang in the air a little longer as I slowly sipped my beer.
Shift change was complete, some of the T-Dolls busied themselves with sweeping the fallen snow.
"Couldn't sleep. Decided to go outside and think for a little while."
She looked at me with disbelief.
"In jeans and a t-shirt? Are you insane?"
I shrugged.
"You get used to it. But what made you come all the way here instead of getting your beauty sleep?"
Yet again she looked at me like I wasn't all there, can't really blame her. But then cold winds swept by and her cheeks got red ever so slightly.
"Someone has to keep you safe from yourself. Did you really think none of us noticed how you changed after the train?"
Confusion and anger seeped into her words. I finished my beer and opened a second one.
"He was my best friend in Rosethorn, y'know? Him, me, and a girl were supposed to settle down after hitting it big with the PMC. Now look where we all ended up."
I lit up a cigarette as I leaned forward. She didn't say a word.
"Kingmaker is dead, the original Nightingale is dead... and the idiot of the group is left alone to carry their will. I couldn't even bring myself to call her father... not after the talk we had."
That seemed to catch her attention.
"The talk? As in watching over her, sort of deal? Keeping her safe?"
I let out a humorless chuckle at that.
"That too, but mainly it was about settling down with her, going as far away from the fighting as we possibly could... I could have been a father."
A soft gasp and a hand on my shoulder pulled me out of my musings. I gave her a tiny smile as I put out the cigarette and slowly stood up, shaking off all the snow that had gathered on me.
"Don't stay up too late, SV."
Last thing I saw was her gripping her bottle tightly as I slowly walked away.