#kortac reader

Despite your name, you were hardly as threatening. You hid in the dark room for your own benefit, your eyes often freaking people out when you left the room from your pupils being so contricted in the daylight. If you ever stepped out of the room, you did it at night. The few instances that people have seen you as well. If it weren't for a Kortac hoodie, and your laniard, holding you badge, there was a chance someone might try to confront you, thinking you're sneaking around.

People did try to be friendly with you, but you just wanted to escape back to the coziness of your dark room and tech. Seriously, you hated when you were asked to attend briefings. More often than not you got stared at, or saw people whispering about you. Yeah cause that didn't set off your flight reflexes like a spark near propane. Once, your superiors tried to get you to explain how your program would work to everyone present and you just feverishly shook your head, trying to make yourself as small as possible. Luckily someone stepped in to shut down the idea, taking notice of your discomfort. They walked away before you could thank them, feeling obligated to express some gratitude.

On one such meeting you were early, and able to set up your computer and work before someone tried to make you present again. There were a few more attempts before you were given a presenter to assist and even then they would ask if you could try to present. You did practice in your room, but you didn't have an audience to help you build your confidence. You didn't record your voice either, not wanting anyone to make comments. It didn't stop people from making comments about you though. You overheard some regular human mercs coming into the room, but kept your head down. Maybe they thought you had headphones on because they started to make some comments about you, not bothering to whisper. As if you hadn't been called a freak before, yeah your ears were weird, you had a tail, and your eyes were big. Like you didn't know!

"Hey!" one of them called. You tensed, trying to ignore him. No good, he was coming over. Now he saw your name on your laniard. "Hey Void, is the program I requested done yet?"

You looked up at him with your eyes before going back to your current task, shaking your head slightly, and mumbling.

"What?" The merc asked, getting in closer. Personal space much?! You tried to shrink into the chair, wanting to run away.

"N-no... I haven't." You told him. You hoped that would be the end of it. Of course it wasn't. Before he could ask further, the door to the meeting room opened and you saw a familiar face. Okay, familiar face may not be the most accurate, becuase the two of you hadn't talked aside from the normal work exchange and you'd never seen his face with how he always had this hood that made him pretty intimidating. The merc left your personal space, backing off when Konig paused to glare at him. You just tugged further on your hood. Right behind him came Horangi, who'd interacted with you a bit more. Actually he'd been the one to get you out of presenting your work.

"There a problem gents?" Horangi asked. The merc cleared his throat and backed off even more, hiding in the corner. Konig kept looking at you, while you kept hiding behind your computer screen. Once more people arrived, you were able to hide in your seat near the back of the room. The merc kept looking over at you, seemingly annoyed. You knew what was on his laptop and what he was requesting. You should be going to the higher ups to report it, but you don't.

As you stayed in your seat, your knees to your chest on the chair, you watched as your work was dsiplayed for everyone to see. You ignored rhe merc, knowing he would probably ask about it again later. Out of the corner of your eye, a large shape came over to you. You looked up and saw Konig, arms folded and focused on presentation. The merc seemed to avoid looking at you once Konig stood next to you. There had been plenty of rumours about Konig and his hybrid abilities, but you'd never witnessed it yourself. You looked up at him, and could see him look down at you, giving you a nod. You looked away, swallowing. Holy hell, he was tall.

As expected the merc didn't leave you alone, making the request that you help him fix his laptop. Apparently he'd been watching something that had a virus. He wanted you to remove the virus and put in some protective hardware for him. You didn't want to for a couple of reasons. First off, it was a kortac laptop, a work one, so he'd been using it inappropriately. Second, if you do work on a work laptop, you're supposed to log it as it is additonal work and your contract requires direct payment for it. Third, the merc wanted it all done under the table and doing that could get you into a lot of shit if you're found out. The merc wasn't known for discretion, and if he started spreading word that you were doing work on the side and charging them for it outside your contract, you would lose your job. Finding an opportunity like this one where you had your own accommodations wasn't easy to come by. Reporting the request meant you getting pulled into a full discussion, and the merc could easily point fingers.

You moved quietly through the dark halls of the base, having a night shift. Work tasks were put in the mailbox of your office door during the day, and you returned to your room in the evening. Just in case, you had a small cot in your office space that you could sit on to be more comfortable, or to sleep on if you had more work to do in one shift. You could get up, make yourself food during the day. It was a good set up. As you went back and forth, you started to notice Konig more often. He started to give you acknowledgements if you ever passed him in the hall. Then Konig would ask how your sleep was, if you had a lot of work to do. Next thing you knew, Konig would come into the recroom while you were getting yourself some tea, asking if you wanted him to come back later. You were getting used to his presence, and even taking comfort in it.

During your breaks, if he was up late you started to approach him. He often looked tired when you saw him. Training was the only explanation you got. One night you decided to ask him more.

"What kind of training?" You asked, in a small voice.

"Work out." He answered. "What kind of training do you do?"

"Not much. Um... mostly typing exercises." You said, trying to hold your eye contact. Big deep breaths, this was going well. You were okay. This was a conversation, which wasn't easy for you.

"May I ask a question?" Konig requested. No, because the fact he asked if he could ask, meant the question might be personal or maybe awkward, or maybe it was something super intimate. With the warm mug of tea in your hands you took a deep breath before nodding. "What hybrid are you? Your eyes very big."

He didn't know? Really? Then again, you didn't interact with a lot of hyrbids yourself, so maybe it wasn't that weird of a question. Still, you kept tugging at your hood. You're not exactly attractive, and you used to be bullied a lot for it. Stuck with you throughout childhood to adulthood. "Um... tarsier."

"Interesting." Konig said. Something told you he didn;t know what a tarsier was, your tail and eyes could belong to another creature for all he knew. Instead of inquiring further, he stood up and said good night. You wished him a good sleep before heading back to your office. That interaction went better than you expected.

Horangi was waiting by Konig's room smiling at him. KOnig didn't pay him much mind until he said something. "You like em?"

"So far." Konig said, fiddling with the door knob.

"Good, you need more friends." Horangi commented before heading to his own room.

You tried to leave your office again, but the merc was coming down the hall so you ducked back in. He was knocking on your door asking to be let in. The morning was young, barely anyone else would be awake. He was keeping his voice firm, but low enough that no one would wake up. You kept the door locked, and put your headphones on. He can't come in, he won't break down the door, you're safe, safe in your office. The same things run through your head like a program, a firewall to keep you safe.

"I have other work." You finally told him, wanting the knocking and words to stop. You heard a bit more, before it finally stopped.

"I need it done today." He told you before walking away. You knew that already, but you were trying to avoid him, let the pieces fall where they may. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to fix his laptop, and just keep everything quiet. It wouldn't be the first time you did favours to avoid confrontation. If you did, he might get his buddies to ask you for free work. The laptop was sitting at your desk next to your monitors. You let out a breath, and then got to work on it, sitting down and opening it.

When he gave you the work order - if you could even call it that since it was written on a sticky note - he explained he had some important documents on there that had gotten hit by a virus after watching some adult content. Honestly how he was able to do that on a work computer with the restrictions you'd programmed in place you weren't sure... wait. If he could figure out how to access restricted sites then why couldn't he fix the issue himself?

You took some time poking around, knowing full well you were gooing into over time. You'd worry about that later, as you started to look around. First was a browser history check, not just the surface. You honestly didn't care what content it was, everyone had their preferences. You found nothing, completely nothing. You were able to uncover his incognito history, and it was blank, not even deleted. Next was his corrupted files. You noticed they'd been renamed, and access had been denied to them. They weren't corrupted though, they were locked. It was a failsafe you'd made yourself, that anyone accessing the files without the proper authority would have them appear as corrupted, but in reality they were just locked, and you cut the key yourself. If anyone stole the files, they would be able to access them, and if they tried to delete them from the system you could recover them.

You connected the laptop to your computer and started to chip away at the files. These were your files, or rather Kortac's files. Highly classified files. Files that shouldn't be leaving Kortac's system, and could compromise a lot of soldiers. You didn't bother reading any of them too closely, you weren't supposed to without being monitored. You wrapped everything up quickly, closing the windows, getting copies of the files on to a fresh new flash drive just in case, and then putting everything back to how it was on the laptop. Unfortunately, this had taken you some hours to do. The sun was up by now. People would be in the halls, and you had to get to your superiors quickly. You texted your superior that you needed to have a meeting with him, saying you'd found something important.

You gather some papers and notes to hide the laptop, and the flashdrive was shoved into your pocket. Once your hand was on the door knob you took a deep breath. Just look at the floor, keep walking, you know where their office is, you could do it. You got this.

You opened the door, and marched down the halls, your legs almost sprinting. You didn't want to run, you had to stay calm in situations like this. Keep walking, ignore everyone, shoot one of them waved at you. Okay just ignore her too, don't let her suspect anything. Keep your head down, keep going. Turn here, or wait...yeah no that was the right way. Almost ther- phone buzzed. Shoot, he's not in his office, you had to go to the briefing room. Damn it that was the other turn, okay, just a 180 and a walk. Your boss will take you aside before he tells the others.

Then you heard the merc calling after you. Your pace picked up as you tried to make yourself as small as possible. There were others in the hall, but they were focused on their own destinations. Focus on yours, maybe he'll leave you alone. Come on, come on, just breath. Why did everything seem so loud? Dang it you were getting stopped by people, nearly running into them. The merc was getting closer you could hear his footsteps. Almost there, keep going, come on, why were there so many people? You psuhed through, but got a little careless, stumbling. You ran into someone large, who only reminded you to watch where you were going. you fell to the floor and everything in your arms fell to the floor, the papers scattering and the laptop doing a bounce before sliding. The chatter of the hall was too loud, it was too full, it was suffocating, you swear you felt everyone was looking at you. Stop it needed to stop, it was too much. The merc was coming, you were screwed!

"Hey! Geht es dir gut?" You heard a familiar voice say, breaking through the noise, and your sleeve covered hands over your ears. When did you sit up? When did Konig get here? It didn't matter as he held your head, adding his own hands to muffle the noise. You were shaking, and your breathing was erratic. Too much it was too much. Konig got you to focus on his veil, his eyes specifically. You needed to focus, but the noise was too much. You kept trying to look to the side, check if the merc was still there, trying to find the laptop. Konig kept calling your attention back to him.

"You're safe." He told you. "Breath in, hold it... breath out, hold it."

You did as he instructed, recognizing the exercise. It was hard to be distracted by anything else around you when Konig's massive form was crouched in front of you. You did feel safe around him. He was a big shield against everything else. He breathed with you, needing to calm himself as well. The noise was pretty bad, and Horangi acting as an attack cat wasn't exactly calming. A welcome assistance but not a calming one.

You finally got your heart to stop beating so manically, and your breathing even. The light headed feeling had gone, but Konig didn't help you up yet, instead, he adjusted his position to sit with you more comfortably on the hard floor. After a little while longer you felt back to normal. As normal as you could be. People had left by now, and Horangi was standing nearby with the laptop and papers. The way he was looking up and down the halls, it was as if he were standing guard, ready to drive off anyone that posed a threat to break your calm state.

"Gut?" Konig asked you, as you slowly lowered your hands from your ears. You gave a nod. "Hand up?"

Another nod and Konig gave you a hand to stand. You clasped it with your smaller one. "Where are you headed?"

"Briefing." You breathed. Konig gestured for you to lead on. Horangi stood with the items, ready to go. You reached out for the items, and before you could request them, Horangi offered them to you.

"Salamat." You said. Horangi waited for you to start walking, his tail swishing expectantly. You started moving, your hunched posture and quick scurry resuming. The two men followed behind you, keeping an eye out. You didn't bother to ask where the merc was. You knocked on the door to the briefing room and your boss let you in.

"Sorry gentlemen, but this is a private meeting." Your boss told Konig and Horangi. You looked back at them. No, you needed someone else.

"Let them in." You asked. "Please?"

Your boss glanced at you, and you gave him a single nod. Then he turned and gave a nod to the two men before letting them in. Konig stood by you immediately while Horangi hung back watching everything unfold. You revealed the tampered documents and files to the others, exposing the merc's attempts to get you to give up information. You went as far as to hand over the flashdrive containing the files incase there needed to be a full sweep of every kortac member's computer or laptop to ensure no one could force themselves through.

The whole time, your breathing was uneven and you spoke quickly, sometimes needing to repeat yourself. During that whole time, Konig stuck close to you, leaning down to ask if you needed a moment. Then the merc was brought it. No cuffs or zip ties, just brought in and sat down in a chair, with all eyes on him. When he looked at you, seeing your big eyes under your hood, he flinched. Then again he might have been more nervous to see Konig, who was still leaning down and wearing his veil. With the illuminated screen behind you, casting both of you in shadow, it was certainly a creepy sight.

Horangi had to admit, the two of you made an intimidating pair in the right circumstance. He would tell Leo about it later. For now he got to sit back and relax, as the merc was questioned. Every answer left the merc with another bead of sweat dripping down, as you brought everything to light.

"I'm not proud of it, but I had a virus from watching adult content. It was stupid to do that on a work computer, it won't happen again." The merc said. Your boss looked at you, and gave you a nod.

"Then why did you download it instead of deleting the content?" You asked.

"I was hoping to get it fixed and view it but clearly that was a mistake. Like I said, I won't do it again. If the issue is fixed then-"

"There is no access to adult content through the laptop." You said.

"Well... yeah I deleted the browser history." He said shrugging. Gotcha. Even your boss had a smile, catching the lie. Perfect strike.

"I checked your browser history, even going further to recover the history previously deleted, and there is no access to adult sites. Also, there wouldn't be any to begin with, because like I said, there's no access to adult content on the laptops. There are site blockers built into the search browser, specifically designed to prevent something like a virus from a sketchy ad on one of those sites from spreading to the system. Even if you brought the content in from somewhere else and downloaded it, the files would not come up as corrupted."

"But if the files have a virus..." The merc said, clinging to the last straw he had. It wasn't even a straw, more like a wet straw wrapper.

"Then the system would have noticed it and prevented downloading or accessing it. The only time a file comes up corrupted is if it's protected by my program." You told him, not smugly but rather calm and informative. Your superiors stared down the merc, who was sweating through his shirt. You were dismissed with Konig and Horangi, so the merc could be dealt with. Good, you were hungry anyways. Could use some air too.

You were forced to work a little extra because of the rogue mercenary, going through laptops to ensure no one else had taken anything, or had something taken from them. Right now you were just glad to not have someone trying to hound you. You ventured out into the dark halls again to get yourself a snack and a drink.

When you got there you found Konig. You almost didn't recognize him because he had his hood off. It took you aback until you recognized his size. You greeted him, and got to chatting a little before the two fo you sat down. It had been a couple of days since the merc was exposed, and you'd been so caught up with work you hadn't gotten out as much as you should have.

"Thank you, by the way." You said, focusing on the table in front of you, instead of the large mercenary in front of you. "For in the hall. I... I think I would have passed out."

"Kein problem." Konig said. Then he waited a moment. "You have social anxiety too?"

"Y-yeah. I uh... I used to get picked on a lot for how I look, some times people uh... they would pull my tail...make fun of my ears or..." You gestured to your large eyes, that were bigger than any human eyes. The same eyes that seemed to avoid Konig throughout your explanation.

"People made fun of my height." Konig told you. "I was bullied a lot too."

The two of your sat there with your reasons hanging in the air. You didn't need to say much more about your past. That could come in time. You had to admit, you did like having Konig around for your conversations. It was helping you feel comfortable around people, and you hoped it did the same for Konig.

As time went on, you spent more and more time with him, and eventually other members of Kortac. It was thanks to you none of them ended up on a hit list and their lives weren't revealed to the wrong people. Eventually Konig had to leave with Horangi to a SpecGru base. By that point though you had other's that you were getting comfortable around, and still had plenty of work to do trhoughout the night. Konig said his good byes to you. Wishing you and Leo well before boarding the air craft.

The first night you got to talk to Konig over a video call, you took your mask off. Progress, you thought.

Instead, he can sense that something is off with the base in general. After walking out of PT with Horangi and Klaus, they pass a few marines who look at him and then start to whisper.

The other two operators don’t notice it but König does immediately, the anxiety of years of harassment in his youth stirring awake.

At first, it’s subtle. But then after two days, it becomes obvious that the marines are really talking about him, and even his friends realize.

“What the hell’s going on?” Zeus asks eventually when they’re all sitting in the mess hall, eating some sad excuse of what they call fried chicken. He points at König with his fork while chewing.

“They’re talking about you, right? Why?”

The Austrian shrugs his shoulders. “No clue.”

He really doesn’t know. He hasn’t done anything embarrassing and the others haven’t pranked him in a while so there shouldn’t be anything to talk about. Unless...

The image of Y/N licking his own blood with a smirk on his lips comes to mind and he closes his eyes to get that memory out of his head.

Not that he succeeds this time either. In the last few days his brain has run itself stupid with replaying it.

It’s absurd and he kind of questions his sanity but there’s this part in his head that finds the blood-licking extremely hot.

Maybe he got hit a bit too much or Y/N threw him on the ground too often. Or his madness rubbed off. He laughs to himself, forgetting that the lower half of his face is currently uncovered so that he can eat.

“What?” Stiletto asks.

“What what?” He tilts his head in confusion.

“Why’re you laughing?”

He shrugs his shoulder.

“You hang out too often with Atom”, Calisto says, leaning back as she stirs her tea. “He’s rubbing off on you.”

He halts and stares at her. Can she hear his thoughts??

He’s about to open his mouth when Horangi interrupts: “I haven’t seen him around for a while. You two finally buried the hatchet?”

König shakes his head, shoving a bite into his mouth to avoid talking about it. But the others all look at him with expectation, there’s something in their expressions that makes him feel slightly anxious.

“Yeah, what’s your boyfriend up to?” Conor asks, slightly smiling, clearly trying to vex him.

“Oh fuck off”, he mutters with a full mouth, ignoring the eruption of snickers from his friends. His glad that most of his face is still covered, he can feel how his cheeks begin to heat up and he’s sure that his complexion would show it off.

He wonders though. Where’s Y/N?

The question gets answered when they’re on the way to their barracks.

Horangi suddenly pulls König aside after staring at his phone for a bit.

“Dude”, he begins, sounding unsure of how to breach the topic of whatever he wants to talk about, “I think I get why they’re talking about you.”

The tone of the Korean opens a pit in König’s stomach and instead of explaining more, Horangi just gives him his phone, standing awkwardly to the side, while he looks at the screen.

It’s a picture.

The angle tells him it was taken from outside the barracks, the photographer must’ve stood really close to the doorway. Y/N blocks off König’s head but even then it’s obvious that they’re kissing, based on the posture of their bodies.

He stares at the picture, trying to coordinate his racing thoughts.

Who took it? He asks himself barely putting the first few moments after parting lips with Atom together. But then he remembers, there was a marine.

He looks at Horangi, who watches him closely, his sunglasses on his head for once.

König doesn’t know what he should say, if he should explain, how his friend was even thinking about gay people- or in his case bisexual people- but he doesn’t even get the opportunity to open his mouth, because a sudden shout can be heard coming from the left corridor that leads to the gym.

“What the hell, Jackson- grab him!”

The group of KorTac operators all turn their heads, the shout clearly setting off some alarm bells. With various levels of interest, they make their way toward the gym, trying to find out what is going on.

König follows in a slight daze, still holding onto Horangi’s phone.

When they arrive, they can’t see shit at first because the room entrance is blocked by several marines standing in the doorway. Shouts and grunts can be heard from inside.

Someone yelps: "Fuck man, it was just a joke- stop it-!"

König’s eyes go wide when he hears Atom's voice- his tone is furious: "Let me show you what I understand as a joke, you motherfucker!"

There’s shuffling and several people shout: "Get him off!" "Fuck, how strong is this bastard!" “Calm down, sergeant!"

Due to König’s size he can look over most of the marines who are blocking the doorway and he spots the cause of the spectators; Y/N is on top of a marine, holding him in some type of gi choke, while four others try to pull him off the guy.

König recognizes the marine’s face immediately, even when he’s all bloody. It’s the man from the hallway and he understands what’s going on.

He tries to push through the crowd, calling out the sergeant’s name.

“Atom, calm down!”

He manages to make it through and rushes to them.

“Atom, let him go. You’re going to kill him”, he says and to everyone’s surprise, Y/N stops struggling as soon as he hears the Austrian’s voice. They pull him off of the guy.

“König”, he mutters and it sounds almost... relieved?

E/c meets blue. His eyes wander to the white band-aid on Atom’s neck. He gulps.

“Whatever he said, it’s not worth it. Just calm down, he’s an idiot.”

The marine with the bloody nose and face grunts, obviously not liking the insult but he knows better than retorting especially because Atom’s still in close proximity, turning to look down at him with a death stare.

The sergeant seems to contemplate König’s words for a bit. The tension and fury in his body haven’t left yet, he can tell based on the way he clenches his fists.

“That bastard-” Atom begins in a low voice, when suddenly their team leader’s voice comes from the hallway: “What the fuck is going on here?!”

König looks back, his eyes meet Stiletto’s who gives him a thumbs up and he nods.

The murmurs of the people around them stop immediately.

Majka parts the spectating crowd like Moses and he looks at the men in front of him, scrutinizing Atom and then the marine on the ground who’s holding his bleeding nose. He glances at König.

“Atom.” His voice is stern. “Go to my office and wait for me there, right now.”

The sergeant looks at him, his expression grim. “Sir-”

“RIGHT NOW!” Majka isn’t taking any of his bullshit today, he’s dead serious.

Atom looks at König for a moment and then turns and walks out of the room, his head high as he passes the onlookers.

The RS team leader turns around to face the gawking marines.

“Do you have nothing to do?” he growls. They mutter something and he just looks at the door. “Fuck off!”

The KorTac operators watch as they begin to filter out of the gym, the four marines who tried to pull Atom off of their guy also begin to move, one of them helps the bloodied man up but Majka points at him.

“Major Briggs wants to see your ass.”

The marine’s eyes go wide. He stammers a “Yes, sir!” and then hurries out of the room.

When the only people in the room are from KorTac, Majka sighs deeply and wipes his forehead. He looks at König.

“I don’t give a shit about your or anyone else’s sexual preferences. You like what you like, I don’t care but I’m telling you if anyone gives you shit-” the team leader looks at all of them, “tell me or Ridgeback. We’ll handle it. And if any of you have some dumbass opinions about someone’s sexuality, I’ll make sure to beat your ass straight, understood?”

König feels relief wash over him even after being put in the spotlight.

“Yessir!” they all shout and Hutch whistles loudly. “Awe, you care about us!”

Majka clicks his tongue in annoyance. “Yes, I do.”

They laugh and Conor shouts from the back: “Even about the lunatic?”

Their team leader rolls his eyes. “Even him. And now buzz off.”

He makes a shoo-shoo gesture and they file out into the hallway, König following behind the Serbian and Stiletto.

Zeus and Aksel joke around with Majka but he just flips them off and then leaves in the direction of his office. The others slowly make their way to the barracks, talking about what had just occurred.

The Austrian lingers behind the group, feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the whole development of the last 15 minutes. Horangi seems to have realized that as he slows down to walk beside him.

“You okay?” he asks him. König shrugs his shoulders helplessly. “The marine- he took the photo.”

His friend nods. “Yeah, I guessed that...” He remains quiet for a while.

“So... Are you guys together then? Did you tame Atom without telling us?” The Korean shows a teasing smile towards the end.

König sighs deeply, the anxious knot in his stomach grows. “No. He just kissed me out of nowhere. He completely surprised me.”

Horangi tilts his head, eyeing him closely, trying to figure out how far he can prod. “So you’re not...?” he trails off.

Ah, fuck it.

“No, I am bi”, he states roughly, louder than he intended. The two KorTac operators in front of them turn around. “What does that mean?” Zero asks.

“He goes for both ladies and gents”, Klaus explains.

Zero nods thoughtfully. “I see. No mercy for anyone, makes sense.”

König looks at Horangi and they exchange eye contact.

His friend bursts out laughing, making more heads turn in their group.

“What?” Zero asks and Klaus just shakes his head, patting his shoulder. König can’t stop himself from smiling either, Zero’s answer was just perfect.

The anxiety in his chest slowly starts to disappear. Yeah, fuck it.

It isn’t his first coming out and he has good friends in KorTac. Worst case scenario, he’ll use the knife skills he has perfected over the last few months with Atom’s training to silence someone. His smile drops.

Atom.

Will he get a disciplinary meeting for beating up the marine?

König knows the sergeant has been warned several times about his behaviour. But Majka’s words from before... He knows that Y/N didn’t just beat the guy for no reason. Will they take that into account?

He doesn’t know and now the anxiety is back.

They reach the barracks and the women split with a “See you later, losers!” from them. König contemplates whether he should follow the others or go to Majka’s office to intercept Atom.

To be honest, he doesn’t really want to do the latter. He hasn’t talked to the sergeant in days and although he had a lot of time, he still hasn’t found the words he could say to him.

He knows they should address whatever that kiss meant but...

He just doesn’t know. Whether Y/N is serious or just toying with him. If he is, König doesn’t know if he would be able to deal with that truth. He feels someone’s eyes on him and he turns to his side, where Horangi is watching him.

“Are you going to talk with Atom about what just happened?” he asks, keeping his voice low this time. But he doesn’t have to worry because the others are walking off, disappearing around the corner.

König bites his lips. “I don’t know... Should I?”

Horangi looks at him baffled. “Why not?” he asks almost incredulously.

“We don’t usually talk”, he mutters fidgeting with the seam of his mask. His friend’s eyebrows almost disappear in his hairline. “So you do what...? Just fight all the time without a peep?”

He clicks his tongue. “No, I mean we just don’t... talk about anything serious. We don’t even do small talk. I have no clue what he’s doing in his off time, where he goes, what he likes to do. He just doesn’t seem like the guy for it.”

Horangi hums, understanding what he’s getting at. “You think it’ll be awkward?”

He nods. Yeah, that’s exactly it. He just can’t picture the conversation in his head.

‘Hey, so why did you kiss me out of the blue? Were you attracted to me all this time or was that just a stupid joke to throw me off my game? Because if so I’m probably going to go dig a hole outside at the obstacle course and kill myself in it. And why did you beat that guy up? Is it because he caught your joke and you’re a raging homophobe or because you wanted to protect your or my reputation?’ Ja, eher nicht.

He doesn’t know how Atom would react. Yes, he did get to know the sergeant better in the last few months, he got to know some of his personality and his quirks. But they’re mostly related to fighting.

König can discern when Y/N is in a good or a bad mood in their training fights.

If he’s in high spirits, the significant grin on his face is almost up to his ears and there’s a glint in his e/c eyes, his eyebrows raised. He trash talks more than usual and almost playfully strikes at him, a skip in his movements and sometimes it’s almost like he’s dancing.

The killing intent in his attacks is there but it’s more like he’s a cat playing with a mouse before biting it dead.

Unlike when he’s in a bad mood. Then there’s no amusement in his eyes, even though he keeps grinning. But the smirk combined with the furrowed line of his eyebrows is unsettling.

Y/N’s posture is usually an indication that he’s pissed. If he is, there’s a certain way he holds himself, the center of his balance low, shoulders tight.

His attacks are ruthless and precise and it always leaves König wondering if this is the time when he finally gets stabbed or cut. Those fights prove to him that there’s some truth behind Atom’s nut job reputation.

More than a few times he has witnessed the other’s temper when Y/N abruptly decides to end their fighting with a quick feint.

“It’s getting fucking boring.” And the next thing he knows a fist is smashing into the mat or wall right next to his head.

But usually, Atom feels better after sparring for a while, as seen by his walking away while whistling, even if he was pissed at the beginning of the fight. As he said, the sergeant seems to release his pent-up stress when they exchange blows.

So yeah... König can read Atom’s mood to a certain extent but there’s not much he knows about his personality besides that. In general, he doesn’t really know the man.

He’s aware of Atom’s exceptional combat skills, whether with a knife or a rifle and on ops he can count on him to carry on even through hell but more than that...

Not in a billion years did he think that he could potentially be attracted to him or other men in general. Okay, he was even questioning women, based on the lack of a reaction when they visited a strip club once on Hutch’s birthday.

But that’s beside the point. He just... König got to know Y/N’s fists throughout the last few months but other than that the man, his thoughts and feelings, they’re all an enigma.

Horangi stares at the pondering Austrian who looks hesitant and he could practically feel the anxiety radiate off of him.

But the Korean knows. He knows something König hasn’t realized yet and basically every one of the others knows as well, after all, they met Atom way earlier than he did.

“I think you should go have a heart-to-heart talk with Atom.”

The tall giant stares down at him.

“Yeah?”

He rolls his eyes and slaps his shoulders.

“I’m telling you there’s this raging sexual tension since you two met and I and the others are so fucking tired of dealing with it so yeah, please go talk about it, for fuck’s sake.”

König pulls a face not believing a word he just said but Horangi can’t see it.

“Okay, okay, I’ll go. Wish me luck.”

He begins to walk and he looks back at his friend. The other operator just shows him the middle finger. “Go get your boy!”

“Fick dich!” he replies over his shoulder waving him off.

“Mi-chin saeggi!”

The curses of his friend in his ears, König breathes in deeply and makes his way slowly to Majka’s office. He waits in front of the door for a while unsure whether Atom is still in there with his team leader.

Two minutes pass. Then five. Then ten.

He’s about to finally get a grip and knock when the door swings open and he stands tall, hoping to see Ato- and it’s Ridgeback.

“Jesus! König what the hell are you doing standing so close in front of the door?!” she yells surprised and he apologizes immediately, backing up from the doorframe. “Sorry! I wanted to uh- is Atom still in there?”

She looks him up and down, and an understanding expression grows on her face.

“No, Majka dismissed him already. He should be in the infirmary, he’s supposed to apologize to Mr. fuckface.”

König tilts his head, not quite sure if she’s meaning what he thinks she means. “The marine he beat up”, she clarifies.

“Ah, yeah. That makes sense...” he says a bit flustered. She’s about to leave when she halts and looks up at him, her eyes soft now.

“König, what that guy did? Taking pictures and spreading them around, making hateful comments? I’m not saying that Atom’s reaction was right but I can understand him. If someone did this to my wife... Majka and I are in agreement. And the higher-ups are too. We have a zero-tolerance policy for shit like that and if it happens again, come to us. We’ll handle it. Gladly.”

She smiles dangerously at the end and he nods slowly, a bit taken aback that she just casually dropped her marriage status.

“I’ll see you later, König.”

“Thank you, Ridgeback”, he says after her and she waves as she walks off.

5 minutes later he finally comes across Atom. Not in the infirmary though.

He wanted to take a quick trip to the toilet before the slightly nerve-wracking conversation when he walks into the bathroom and spots the sergeant with his back to him.

He freezes when he sees him and for a few seconds they’re quiet, the only sound is the closing door behind him.

He takes a deep breath and finally speaks:

“Atom...? Can we talk? About the uh- the photo and... that fight just now?”

Y/N is standing at the sink, cleaning up the blood on his knuckles with a towel. He turns to glance at the Austrian. "König", he acknowledges his presence before continuing to swipe at the back of his hands.

His demeanor is unlike his usual self. His posture is slightly hunched over, not standing tall as usual. The usual confidence - Conor calls it arrogance - was nowhere to be seen.

König looks at him, suddenly unsure if it really was a good idea to follow Horangi’s words.

At this moment, he’s not sure whether Atom’s agitated because he can’t see his face. But the tension in his body is telling him yes.

“That fight wasn’t just about the photo, right?”, he asks slowly, watching the sergeant with eagle eyes.

Y/N halts, stopping his mindless wiping of the blood. "Oh? Do I sense some brain cells from you König?", he jokes half-heartedly still standing with his back towards him.

König bites his lip, not liking the tone of the other’s words.

He’s already anxious as is and he feels like the Atom he’s facing right now is unknown territory. He almost feels like they’re back to zero like after their first fight when König believed he was a fucking psychopath. The operator standing at the sink feels like a stranger.

He hides his hands in his pockets, clenching and unclenching them into fists in an attempt to relax.

He waits for the h/c haired man to talk but Y/N doesn’t.

He takes a deep breath and asks quietly: “Why did you kiss me?”

The Austrian looks at the other man, he sees his back muscles tense and Atom puts down both hands on the edge of the sink, looking down. König waits with bated breath for an answer. Instead, he gets a question back.

“Did it disgust you?”

Y/N almost spats the words, they’re dripping with hostility and subconsciously, König clutches the hilt of his switch knife.

“No”, he says carefully but it seems like the sergeant misunderstands his tone and he growls: “Don’t lie to me!”

“I’m not lying!” he responds earnestly. Atom looks him in the eyes, then he stares at his hips, realizing something.

“You brought your knife?”, he asks in a low tone, his voice on edge.

König can feel the atmosphere in the room shift immediately and based on the furrow of Y/N’s eyebrows it’s not good.

“I always have it with me”, he explains, “just in case.” You taught me that he thinks. “Just in case, huh... Take it out.”

He looks at him baffled.

“No, why-” Y/N takes a step in his direction, his hand on the sheathe of his Atom Splitter at his leg. “Take it out, König.”

Fuck, he thinks. This isn’t how he expected the conversation to go. Fuck Horangi, man, fuck him.

He does as he’s told, activating the blade and Atom unsheathes his knife, twirling it in that familiar fashion while his significant grin forms on his lips. A shiver runs down König’s spine.

“Can we not do this right now?”, he pleads, holding the knife at his side, clearly not wanting to fight the sergeant. But Atom doesn’t care. He never seemed to care before either. He just attacks. Relentlessly.

By the first blow, König realizes that the other man is deadly serious about it this time. His mask gets cut, and the blade barely misses his cheek. The knot in his stomach coils.

If he’s not careful, he’s going to die. He can see the bloodlust in the e/c eyes.

König pushes Y/N’s blade away with his own. He put a lot of force behind it but the sergeant is unfazed, he attacks from a new angle, stabbing at König’s torso.

He blocks the knife but Atom gets a hit in, punching his jaw.

The bathroom is filled with pained grunts and the sound of punches but all König can hear is his messy heartbeat as adrenaline is pumped through his veins.

What ticked him off? I didn’t want this. That thought spirals in his head. I don’t want this.

Atom kicks his knee, making him falter.

Next thing he knows, he’s kneeling and Y/N’s knife is pressed against his throat. Even through the fabric of his mask, he can feel the coldness on his skin. They both pant. König looks up at the sergeant, his face is blank, the smirk gone.

Atom grabs his hair through the fabric at the back of his head, pulling it back harshly. He gasps alarmed, dropping his knife, and he searches the e/c eyes. They stare down at him, pupils blown wide.

“Y/N”, he whispers. The man begins to smile ominously. “You make my blood boil, König.”

His face changes when he hears those words.

The nervousness of having that knife to his throat when Atom’s eyes look dead like this is still fluttering in his chest. But there’s also something else. A knot forms in his lower stomach and his eyes land on the white band-aid on the sergeant’s throat.

Y/N continues: “Only you get me this excited... Makes me wanna fight all day long. What am I supposed to do?” He tilts his head.

König gulps and watches with eagle eyes how the h/c haired man uses his blade to lift the seam of his mask and flip it over his head, exposing his scarred face. A burst of anxiety and self-consciousness rushes through his veins as those e/c eyes study his appearance. A glint appears in them.

“Do you like our fights?” Atom asks, his voice slightly hoarse as he presses the blade to König’s cheek, tracing one of the pale scars with it.

The tone of his voice is light but he can feel the significance of that question, he sees the expectant look in Y/N’s eyes.

He nods. “Yeah”, he mutters slowly, staring up at him, “I do.”

Atom’s brows lift and his smile widens, showing the white of his teeth and his gums. “Really?”, he prods. He nods again.

He can see Y/N debate something, emotions flit across his face that he hasn’t ever seen before on him and the knot of anxiety in his chest unfurls, making space for something else. Hope, anticipation.

“Atom...” he begins and Y/N takes this as his cue to kiss König without hesitation. It takes him by surprise again but this time he’s prepared to breathe through his nose and he actually responds to the kiss.

Atom’s grip on his hair is tight and he holds his head in place as he practically devours König. The intensity makes him gasp and Y/N uses it to push his tongue into his mouth, exploring every inch mercilessly without allowing any pushback.

The sergeant kisses like he fights. Aggressively and intensely. He loves it. If he were touched carefully at this very moment, he would probably dislike it. After all, the ferocity is what he always enjoys about their fights.

König allows his eyes to close, leaning into the sensation, slowly getting lost, when he feels a sharp pain and tastes iron in his mouth. Atom fucking bit his tongue!

He grunts in protest but the other man doesn’t care at all. They part, their breaths mingling and Y/N groans: “You taste so fucking good, König.”

He looks up at him, seeing the intense desire burning in the e/c eyes and certainty washes over him.

He pushes himself off the ground, forcing the sergeant to let go of his hair. He towers over him and for a second they just stare at each other before König moves, his hands pushing Y/N back until he collides with the bathroom wall.

He dips his head and their lips connect again, the taste of iron intermingling. He can hear the clatter of Atom’s knife on the ground before two hands touch him, igniting a fire wherever they roam his skin.

Y/N tugs and prods at his clothes, pulling his shirt out of his pants to stick his hands underneath, and in the next second König can feel fingernails dig into his back. He growls and the sergeant smiles into their kiss. “’re always so aggressive-” König complains breathlessly.

Atom snorts. “Don’t act like you don’t like it.” His lips trail down his neck, biting and sucking and König presses his thigh between Y/N’s legs in response, getting a low groan out of the other man.

It sends a spark through his body and his mouth twitches as Atom grinds against his thigh. “Y/N-” he warns but he gets interrupted when the flush of a toilet can be heard.

Atom stops moving, his hand halting mid-air, only inches away from König’s belt buckle. “It’s the women’s bathroom”, he says, trying to calm the Austrian down before touching his belt. But it sobers König up a bit and he leans back, stopping his hands.

“We should probably stop here. It would be a bit awkward if someone walks in.”

Y/N clicks his tongue in annoyance. “Let them watch.”

He smirks and they look at each other. König’s hair is absolutely dishevelled, his face red from their make-out session. Atom doesn’t look any better, his eyes still hold the glimmering desire.

He breathes out slowly and begins to smile.

“We should continue elsewhere.” He licks his lips, the bloody taste still in his mouth but unlike before this day he likes it.

Atom follows his tongue’s movement with eagle eyes. “Yeah, we definitely should.” He pauses for a second, disappointment evident on his face.

“I can’t right now though.” He sounds grumpy.

König tilts his head, confused, staring down at him. “Why?”

“I have to clean the bathrooms as punishment.”

He blinks and follows Y/N’s eyes toward the mop in the corner.

“Will you help me?” The sergeant bats his eyelashes like the women who try to flirt with König at the local bars. He laughs, walking backward, putting his hands up.

“I just remembered I have something to do.”

E/c eyes darken. “Come on! Be good and help your boyfriend!”

His heart leaps. “Oh, so we’re boyfriends now? I don’t remember saying yes to this agreement.”

Y/N glowers at him, picking up his knife from the ground.

“It was a joke!” he protests but the man strides up to him, pointing the blade at his throat. At this point, it’s getting old.

“Say it.”

He snorts. Atom stares up at him, his dead expression suddenly looking less intimidating and more so somewhat adorable. He tilts his head, provocatively.

“What?”

“You know what.”

König grins and grabs Y/N’s hand holding the knife.

“I’ll let you be my boyfriend.”

Atom only raises an eyebrow and he guides the sergeant’s hand and knife away from his throat before dipping down again and stealing a kiss from his lips. A soft one this time. One that makes König’s heart swell and flutter from happiness.

Y/N closes his eyes, enjoying the moment and they stay closed even after they part. König coughs, smirking.

“Anyways, I can’t help you with the cleaning sorry.”

Atom opens his eyes wide and a breathy indignant laugh escapes him as he watches the Austrian turn around and leave the bathroom whistling, mirroring the many times Y/N did it to him. Payback’s a bitch, he thinks.

“You forgot your knife! König! Come back!” Atom shouts his tone almost pleading but König is already out the door and he laughs and yells over his shoulder:

“You can bring it to me tonight, mein Schatz!”

___

Translations (freely mostly)

Ja, eher nicht - German: “Yes, better not”

Fick dich - German: “Fuck you”

mi-chin saeggi  미친새끼 - Korean: “Crazy son of a bitch”

When König first met him, Horangi pointed him out with an “Uh oh, he is here. I’m gonna go on the toilet real quick-” and poof, he left him alone in the cafeteria, completely flabbergasted. 

The man Horangi had meant was standing before Conor, holding a strange combat knife as if he was about to attack the Irishman. 

König had never seen him before but the KorTac logo on his black shirt implied that he was one of them.

“Come on, Conny, it’s been so long”, the soldier goaded while smiling.

To König that expression had been unsettling.

But it wasn’t just that, it was his whole appearance. The all-black attire is in contrast with the landscape of pale scars on the man’s arms and his face and the dark circles under his e/c eyes. And the posture seemed casual and relaxed but König’s fighter instinct told otherwise.

If the Austrian came across him in an abandoned alley, he would be on high alert. 

Even during that moment, witnessing whatever the hell was going on between him and Conor, König’s body had tensed. And the other people in the cafeteria seemed to share his discomfort based on the murmurs going around and all the eyes on the two of them.

Additionally, König knew that Declan had a past reputation for physical altercations, and based on the growing vein on his forehead, it was likely that a fight would break out if no one stopped the KorTac operator.

He didn’t understand what the guy tried to achieve. Was he provoking Conor on purpose? To fight in the middle of the mess hall??

The look in the man’s eyes and the sharp blade in his hand weren’t implying some friendly sparring though...

Thankfully, Stiletto who had been watching with Calisto walked up to them before anything could happen. The badass she was, she grabbed the soldier by the biceps without any hesitation, diverting his focus. 

“Atom, Majka will be on your ass again if you cause another disturbance so soon after your return”, she warned him, her voice sharp. 

The man looked at her hand on his arm, then at her eyes. She didn’t let go.

For a second, König expected Atom to lash out but to his relief, he just held up both of his hands in defeat. He even smiled apologetically.

“You’re right, we can’t have that. Sorry, sorry. My bad, Conor.”

The Irishman showed him the middle finger. 

“Please eat shit and die, Y/N.”

“Awe, come on man. Don’t be so hard on me, I just missed our little fights. It was always so entertaining, even though you lost all the time!” 

“You can spar in the gym during PT, not here. Put that damn knife away, putain” Calisto interceded before Conor could explode. 

Y/N huffed and Salvatrice let go of his arm. He was about to sheathe his knife when his eyes landed on König and they made eye contact.

Something sparked in the e/c eyes and uh oh was all the Austrian could think before the h/c haired man walked over to him, his combat knife still in his hand, smiling widely.

“Who do we have here... Are you new? I’ve never seen you before!” Atom exclaimed, a glint of something in his eyes that König couldn’t quite name. 

The fact that the operator stopped barely a few inches away from him made him feel slightly uncomfortable. Those eyes bore into him and although the man was a head and a half smaller than him, König felt somewhat intimidated.

“Why are you wearing a shirt on your head?”

“I’m-” he began, taking a step back to gain some distance but Y/N followed him until a hand suddenly blocked him off. Horangi had returned.

“He’s König, our new addition to Strazar-1. Atom, can you just let us eat dinner? We’re starving.”

“I’m Sergeant Y/N L/N, but you can call me Atom. König means king in German right?” 

Y/N completely ignored the Korean, still holding eye contact with the tall Austrian. He just nodded. 

At this point, there were many eyes on him and he still was a little jittery because they arrived at the base only a few days ago and the local soldiers stared whenever they saw his height and his mask. It made his social anxiety flare up.

“I’m really fucking hungry, man”, Horangi said again, this time stepping in front of König who backed up, thankful to gain some distance. 

“Then go eat. I want to talk to our friendly giant here.”

Atom’s tone was almost aggressive now. He twirled the knife in his hand, a small smile on his lips as he stared down at Horangi. It didn’t reach his eyes though, they were cold. Fuck off, his expression said.

“I’m actually hungry too”, König says, not wanting to continue this very uncomfortable conversation with this weird guy. Der hat eine an der Waffel, dem geh ich besser aus dem Weg he thought.

“Oh, we can eat together then!”

Y/N was about to turn around and walk to grab a tray when they heard their team leader shout: “Atom, get your ass in my office now!” 

The sergeant swiveled around, saluting Majka who appeared out of nowhere at the mess hall entrance with crossed arms in front of his chest. 

“Jebote, put that fucking knife away and follow me.” 

Majka turned to leave and the soldier clicked his tongue in annoyance but he did as ordered and followed him without dilly-dallying.

König could hear the RS team leader growl You really need to stop swinging that around like it’s your dick when they both left the cafeteria and walked down the hallway.

Horangi turned to him, taking his sunglasses off and massaging his forehead.

“I should’ve known. You’re too tall for your own good, man. He’ll be after you.”

König stared down at him with a frown, not that his friend could see.

“What do you mean??”

Stiletto and Calisto joined them, the two women looking at him with a resemblance of pity. 

“That mec is crazy, König.”

The Italian woman nodded. “It was so peaceful when he was away”, she sighed.

Horangi added: “Yeah. I hope the higher-ups put his ass on another secret mission soon, I don’t want to watch my back 24/7 again.”

König stared at them slowly understanding that Atom seemed to have a pretty bad reputation. But was that really deserved? 

Calisto patted his arm. “Make sure to carry a tactical knife with you wherever you go.” Her tone was dead serious. 

He looked at her and then at the other two. They nodded.

“Are you saying he’ll try to hurt me?”, he asked, his expression a mix of surprise and worry. 

He wasn’t quite sure whether he should believe them. After all, Y/N was in KorTac just like them. They wouldn’t just let a crazy guy work in a PMC right? 

“He won’t kill you”, Stiletto said, turning around to go grab a tray to eat, “but if you don’t watch yourself he might poke you a bit with his Atom Splitter.” 

He tilted his head confused.

“His knife”, Horangi helpfully provided, as they followed Stiletto’s lead, each grabbing a tray and some cutlery to get some food.

“You’re messing with me, aren’t you?” he asked. They loved to play pranks on him.

“You’ll see, big boy.”

And oh, he really did.

-

At first, it was unnerving. Getting jumped whenever he wasn’t looking. He blinked once and before him suddenly stood a grinning Atom, his curved combat knife in hand, ready to strike. 

After the first time getting caught without a weapon and being slammed to the ground, blade held against his throat - Atom’s face with that unsettling grin barely a few inches away from him - he followed Calisto’s advice and brought a knife with him wherever he went. 

Not that he used it to injure the other operator. 

Atom hadn’t really hurt him either in all the fights they had, at least not with the knife. They threw some punches and did some tackling and throws but they never drew blood. This was one of the reasons why König eventually got used to the fighting, even if they always ended with the sharp metal against his throat and he was sore for days after it.

In the beginning, he was anxious that the guy would switch up and one day just drag the blade across his jugular but he never did. Not once did he slice König’s skin, not even by accident. 

Atom’s control over his knife was something he had never seen before. 

His fighting skills were on another level and although the Austrian considered himself an expert in hand-to-hand combat, he knew that he could learn a lot from the sergeant and their fights. When he realized this, his opinion about the attacks turned from unsettling fights into sparring.

Atom actually called it training and König began to agree. 

Even though the h/c haired man attacked him with true killing intent every time. But maybe that was what actually helped him.

It kept him on his toes, his senses sharp. 

And yeah it was a little weird that Y/N targeted him at all times of the day - he had literally attacked him in his sleep once on a mission - and that he always had a wide-eyed grin on his lips when they fought but hey, it drastically improved König’s skills and instincts. 

And after some time he began to even enjoy their little dances. Severely actually. Especially after he won for the first time. 

That moment when their positions had reversed - König’s blade to Atom’s throat for once, his knee digging into his chest to keep him on the ground - he felt an adrenaline rush he never experienced before and it left him feeling what he could only call giddy. 

It was 5am, most of the base was still fairly quiet and Y/N had surprised him in the gym room right when König wanted to go and change his clothes for a morning session.

The sergeant didn’t say anything, just swung his knife and König reacted in the nick of time, having felt something was off. He grabbed his combat knife and they exchanged blows and when Atom extended his arm a bit too far for once, the Austrian took the chance and grabbed him, twisting his body to throw him over his shoulder.

In an instant, he was on top of him, holding a dazed Y/N down with one hand, pressing the blade against his Adam’s apple with the other.

“You got me”, Atom grunted, panting slightly from the exertion of their exchange, his pupils blown wide and once again that familiar grin on his lips. And König returned it under his mask.

“Fuck yeah, I got you”, he said still catching his breath, emphasising a bit of pressure on the blade, not enough to cut the sergeant’s skin but enough for him to feel it.

“That’s 22 to one. Still got a lot to learn, big boy.” 

König rolled his eyes and sheathed his knife. He held his hand out for Atom to take and to his surprise, the h/c haired man actually did. He stood up with his help but without letting himself be pulled. 

“Well, you better be prepared.”

Y/N snorted, something flitted across his face. His smile widened even more.

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll see.” 

He picked up his Atom Splitter where he had dropped it and then turned to walk out of the room, whistling a tune. And so he was off to god knows where, like always.

The Austrian watched him disappear through the doorway and a breathy laugh escaped him. He shook his head somehow amused. How the hell did I reach this point? 

It was so strange to feel enjoyment after another of their exhausting fights. But he truly did enjoy it. The sweet taste of victory.

For a moment he let their sparring replay in his head. He was unsure whether it was just luck or if he actually overpowered Atom. His thoughts returned to the man lying under him, grinning, the e/c of his eyes almost impossible to see with his blown pupils. 

Something stirred in his chest.

He breathed out loudly and then went to go shower, trying to get that image out of his head.

-

A few months pass and one day when König has just returned after an operation in Al Mazrah, he’s on his way to the barracks after showering when he meets Horangi, Zeus, and Conor, the latter clearly agitated. 

“I hope he takes a fuckin dirt nap on his next op!”

“Relax, Declan, it looked like he was actually trying to help this time”, Zeus said, handing the Irishman a cool pack. The redhead put it on his nose which looked swollen. 

“Help?! The fecker can’t even-” Horangi interrupted Conor’s tirade with a “König, hey! You’re back!” 

He greeted them with a wave. “What happened?”, he asked motioning at Declan, pressing the cool pack against his face. 

“That nut job Atom-” he begins but Horangi interrupts him once more: 

“The marines are causing some trouble. Apparently, we’re overstaying our welcome, there’s a lot of tension, and Majka and Ridgeback are discussing things with the higher-ups for us to move to another base. Atom... isn’t really helping with the tension...”

“The cunt pulled his knife on one of their new captains!”

“He probably missed you”, Zeus jokingly adds, addressing the fact that the KorTac operator with his madman reputation hasn’t targeted anyone else but König since they started sparring together. 

The Austrian snorts, the thought would’ve never crossed his mind. 

But a few hours later after he parted ways with the three, the door to the room he shares with the other male KorTac operators gets thrown open with a loud bang and lo and behold; Y/N stands in the doorframe, in his hand his trusty Atom Splitter.

His heartbeat immediately picks up in anticipation.

The sergeant looks somewhat different. The dark circles under his eyes appear to be even darker than usual and he even has some stubble as if he hasn’t shaved in a few days.

Atom’s expression is unreadable until his eyes find König, sitting on his bunkbed at the far end of the room. 

“There you are!” he says joyfully and rushes over, reaching him with just a few strides. 

He stops, looming over König who’s still sitting on the bed. Their legs touch, he’s standing so close. König puts the book in his hands away, trying to appear casual and he looks up to him.

“Atom.”

“König.”

For a minute they just stare into each other’s eyes. The silence feels awkward, something is simmering in the air and König’s grip on his switchblade under his pillow turns sweaty. His chest flutters, a nervousness he knows only too well. He can feel heat radiate from where their legs touch.

Y/N’s look is different than usual. He seems to consider something.

“You...”, he begins, the sergeant’s eyes trailing to his backpack on the floor that he hasn’t unpacked yet, “had fun on the mission?”

König blinks, the sudden question throwing him off. 

He was expecting a knife aiming at his chest, not a small talk question. They never do small talk. He can’t even remember if Atom ever asked him a question after they first met that day in the cafeteria. 

They talk smack. But they don’t talk about their personal life or time or their favorite color. König only knows Atom’s age because Zeus told him he’s older by two years.

“I- uh... well, not really”, he says after the initial surprise wears off. Al Mazrah was just sweat, dirt, and not enough sleep.

Y/N nodded slowly, humming in acknowledgment. 

“It wasn’t fun here either”, he says light-heartedly while looking towards the door and casually twirling his knife in his hand but something in his posture tells König that Atom is not feeling relaxed at all. Rather he seems tense.

“Why’s that?”, he asks with an almost soft voice. He looks up at him.

The man remains quiet. König remembers Horangi’s words about the marines and although he’s curious, he doesn’t want to prod, and based on the sudden halt of Atom’s knife twirling, they won’t talk in the next few minutes anyways.

“Doesn’t matter”, Y/N starts, his signature grin forming on his lips, “You know why I’m here.”

He steps away from him, bowing mockingly. König rolls his eyes, seeing this as his cue to stand up. He pulls his knife from under the pillow, activates the blade, and stands tall, now towering over Atom.

“Since when do you announce your intentions?”, he asks, slight amusement can be heard in his voice. 

“Just today, since I missed you”, Y/N replies and the Austrian can’t even be surprised that Zeus was actually right or question the flutter in his chest because in the next second Atom Splitter is aimed at his chest and he blocks the knife in the nick of time. 

Their dance begins. But something’s different this time. The h/c haired man isn’t showing any killing intent at all while he attacks. It throws him off his game a bit.

Additionally, König quickly realizes that the barracks aren’t a good place for him to fight, the space between the bunkbeds isn’t that big and his size makes it hard for him to move his body effectively. 

He retreats towards the door, luring Atom towards the front of the room where there’s more space. Y/N follows him eagerly, taking the chance to stab at him with a knowing look on his face. 

The Austrian isn’t sure if it’s his own exhaustion after the op or if Y/N got some Dragon Ball power-up during their time apart but he understands that, unlike their last fights, Atom is not taking him seriously, instead he’s teasing him. And somehow it annoys him. 

The sergeant throws a glove from Hutch’s bed at him and he ducks, when a sock follows, blocking his eyes for a second. He receives a kick to his thigh as a reward.

“No fighting dirty!” he protests, knowing full well that Y/N is just trying to agitate him like he often does. 

“Tell that to all the hostiles out there!” Atom responds, grinning, dodging König’s knife effortlessly. The giant snorts.

“They wouldn’t throw a goddamn sock at me!”

He blocks the Atom Splitter, a few inches away from his throat. 

“Based on the smell, it could be considered a biological weapon, so yeah, they would”, the sergeant responds, laughing, blocking the other’s fist.

König rolls his eyes, cursing when he gets kicked again at the same place. Y/N dives low and picks up Hutch’s sock again attempting to throw it once more, grinning.

Oh no, you don’t!

König seizes his knife arm and he flips Atom onto the ground in one swift motion, holding his arms down with his legs on each side of his torso, pressing his knife against the sergeant’s throat.

“Got you”, he pants, knowing that Y/N probably let it happen. But it doesn’t matter. His knife reached his collar first. In their usual terms, it’s his win.

The h/c haired man lifts his hips in a fake attempt at throwing him off while grinning widely, the knife digging into his skin, almost drawing blood. "Come on König, we just started..."

“You’re crazy”, the Austrian says, shaking his head, smiling weakly under his mask, “have you ever considered therapy?”

The h/c haired man laughs an amused look on his face. “Fighting is my therapy.”

“You could use a punching bag then.”

Atom shakes his head and replies: “Why should I? I’m having so much fun when sparring with you. I can let go of all my pent-up stress.”

König can see that he means it, there’s a glow in the e/c eyes. He looks rejuvenated. So ein komischer Kerl.

“Why not let off some steam elsewhere?”, he begins, a thought forming in his head when he realizes that they haven’t competed against each other in anything besides sparring. 

Y/N stares at him with a surprised expression but he quickly smiles, intrigued.

“Oh? What do you suggest?”, he asks, lifting his head to lean closer, his voice suddenly deeper. 

König retracts his knife and stands up, deactivating the switchblade.

“How about- and hear me out - an obstacle course? Winner gets to boast about it to the others and loser will take his guard shifts for the next two weeks? Sound good?”

Atom wrinkles his nose, clearly not interested. He sits up, propping up his arm on his knee, twirling his knife. He clicks his tongue in disappointment.

“I’m good thanks.”

König holds out his hand and he grabs it, standing up swiftly. Instead of letting go, the Austrian keeps holding on, staring down at Y/N.

“Are you scared? What - you’re only confident in putting a knife against someone's throat? Makes you feel tough?”, he provokes him, grinning underneath his mask.

He’s feeling daring today after having won that fight and seeing Atom so playful.

The sergeant looks up at him, narrowing his eyes.

“You’re misunderstanding”, he begins, pulling his hand away with force, “I get excited when a knife is against someone’s throat. Try riling up Horangi with these remarks, he cares about stupid contests like that.” He sighs dramatically. “This got boring real quick.”

He dusts off his shirt and König crosses his arms over his chest.

“So you’re calling me a bore?”, he asks acting offended.

“Here I was thinking you’re having the time of your life when fighting me.”

He made a swiping motion over his mask as if wiping away a tear. “Okay then, let’s make this exciting again.”

König activates his switchblade once more, lazily holding it against Y/N’s throat. He tilts his head as if asking: you good now?

Atom just looks up at him, his brows knitted, somewhat annoyed. 

“Don’t tease me, König”, he grunts, “You can’t handle the consequences.”

The Austrian ignores his warning and he smirks: “What's the matter, sarge? Getting excited?”

Atom harshly grabs him by the collar, pulling him down, while simultaneously snatching his mask, lifting it against his eyes, covering them with the fabric. 

“Wha-”, he begins but gets silenced by the sudden pressure on his lips and the taste of coffee. 

It isn’t a kiss, it’s more like Atom is trying to bite him. 

König’s subconscious reaction is to shove him away, but Y/N’s grip on his collar is tight. 

After a few seconds, the sergeant lets go and retreats and König automatically gasps for air, utterly shocked about Y/N’s action. 

"What the hell are you doing-?!”, he asks, staring at the man who just smiles, his e/c eyes dark. 

He looks down at König’s knife and then touches his throat, wiping his thumb across it and then he licks it while holding eye contact with him.

“Don’t bite off more than you can chew, König.”

And then Y/N turns and walks through the open door. He disappears. Just like that, leaving the flabbergasted Austrian alone in the room, breathing heavily.

What the fuck?? Is his only thought. What the absolute fuck?! 

Did that really just happen? He stares at his hands, he’s still holding the knife. The blade is slightly red. 

He cut him. 

König is the first one to actually draw blood. 

Oh, mein Gott. He could’ve killed him. Had he actually pushed him, he could’ve-

No matter the absolute loop the kiss is throwing him into, he’s more concerned about Atom’s well-being and without thinking any further he hurries out of the room trying to follow wherever Y/N could’ve gone. 

In the hallway, he passes a marine who looks at him strangely for running so fast. 

König reaches the end of the corridor where it parts into two ways. He goes left.

In the end, he doesn’t find Y/N and instead meets Stiletto and Roze who stop their conversation immediately when they see him turn around the corner, frantically looking around.

“König? You good?” Roze asks. He shakes his head. “Have you seen Atom?”

Stiletto lifts an eyebrow. “No? Why?”

He uses his mask to wipe the building anxiety sweat from his face. “I injured him, in a- a fight. He’s bleeding.”

The two women look at each other, they’re clearly taken aback by the concern in his voice. 

“Maybe he went to the infirmary?”, they suggest and he nods. Yeah, that makes sense. Before they can add anything else, he’s off.

A few minutes later he reaches the infirmary where their medic is currently stationed. 

“Vic, did Atom pass by?” he asks when bursting into the room. She’s eating an apple and continues scribbling something in a file, completely unfazed by his dramatic entrance.

“Nope”, she says, popping the p. 

“I accidentally cut his throat”, he explains. 

She hums in annoyance. “I didn’t ask- you cut his throat?” The woman looks up, lifting an eyebrow at him with a deadpan expression.

“Shallowly- I think. I wanted to know if he came to take care of it.”

She takes off her glasses and kneads the bridge of her nose. “No, he didn’t. You sure it was shallow?”

He nods slowly. “There isn’t much blood on my knife.” He holds it up to her, activating the blade. She looks at him, then the knife, and then back at him, before sighing. 

“König, get the fuck out of here.”

“Can you tell me if he-”

 “Now!”

She points at the door. He walks out without protesting and softly closes the door behind him.

In the hallway, he just stands there for a minute. 

The last ten minutes feel like a fever dream. His mind is blank as he stares at the mental health awareness poster on the opposite wall, the only questions in his mind why did he kiss me? and did I really like it?

Part II

___

Translations (freely mostly)

putain - French: “fuck” in this context meant more like “idiot”

Der hat eine an der Waffel, dem geh ich besser aus dem Weg - German: “He lost his mind, I’d better avoid him”

Jebote - Serbo-Croatian: “For fuck’s sake”

mec - French: “dude, guy”

So ein komischer Kerl - German: “Such a weird guy”