#perconte

the first time Perconte calls O’Keefe by his actual name is when O’Keefe is witnessing one of the darkest aspects of the war, the concentration camps.

no one called O’Keefe by his name because they didn’t respect him as a replacement since he had never experienced the hardships of warfare or front line combat. O’Keefe is seen constantly correcting Perconte when he calls him by the wrong name.

O’Keefe was obviously upset when his truck drove past those three krauts getting shot in the back of the head. He was not desensitized to death yet so it was that which bothered him, not who was getting killed. Perconte knew this because O’Keefe turned to him on the truck after seeing the krauts get shot.

furthermore, for O’Keefe to witness the absolute tragedy that is a concentration camp, perconte knows how deeply upsetting this must be for him. death had not been readily present in O’Keefe’s life up to this point (at least to what the show portrays). to be suddenly surrounded by countless abused, emaciated prisoners and even more bodies of passed prisoners would be incredibly jarring for the psyche of O’Keefe.

perconte finally verbally recognizes o’keefe as worthy of being called his own name after seeing O’Keefe sitting in the camp, starring off into space for a thousand yards. finally getting called by his own name signals that O’Keefe is effectively respected by Perconte. O’Keefe has finally witnessed enough horrors of war for Perconte to treat him with the same respect he gives every other Private.

this relationship and interaction occurred out of incredibly devastating circumstances and this type of respect dynamic can only exist in such circumstances. although war is inhumane and brutal, scenes like this remind us that humanity remains between soldiers no matter how much they try to rid themselves of it.

“Good luck ladies.”

Easy company was moving back to its old position in the forest that sat looking over Foy. Four were left tethered to the end of the line made up of Dog company men. Perconte sat behind Christensen as they both chuckled at the comments of the leaving Easy men that had been about a particular D-Company officer. The new kid had watched the other men wander away but looked more confused as every passing remark was made. He glanced at the two men and the woman beside him before deciding he too would try to look entertained.

“Been nice knowing yah.”

“Wouldn’t drink too much if i were you.”

“Hey. Be careful if he offers you a cigarette.”

“What are they talking bout? If who offers us a cigarette?” The new kid had finally decided to speak up as pure confusion finally set in and the opportunity to ask had arisen.

“Speirs.”

“Who?”

Toye and Guarnere shared a look before smirking in Y/N’s direction as she sat pretending to clean her rifle, an amused smile tugging at the corner of her lips as she glanced up at the two of them passing. They knew, of course, as did a few of the other men she had grown close with; Toye, Guarnere, Lipton, Buck, hell even Nixon. The legendary officer with the reputation for violence and the sergeant with the honey coated smile to kill, what a match made in heaven.

“Lieutant Speirs.” 

Lipton had patted Y/N gently on the shoulder as he passed muttering a quiet ‘be careful’ to his friend. She’d replied with ‘careful’s my middle name’ as she dropped her eye in a sly wink to which he rolled his eyes at before moving into the distant snow covered forest. Y/N had watched the remainder of her company disappear, leaving only the four of them to sit in the somewhat shallow foxhole. 

“The stories about Speirs are probably all bullshit anyway.” Christensen had said, earning a snort from the woman beside him. He glanced at her with a smirk though he had misinterpreted her reaction to his comment. The new kid had begun to ask about Speirs’ menacing reputation as he seemed to grow more and more intrigued by what he had heard.

“Well supposedly Speirs shot one of his own men for being drunk.” Perconte had answered with his trusty toothbrush held between his teeth, his arms wrapping around himself to find some warmth.

“You’re kidding. That’s unbelievable.” The kid had replied in awe.

After cleaning her rifle, the woman had kept a watchful eye on the line as the men, or two men and one boy, talked beside her. She’d seen his shadow moving in the distance as he approached, holding off from holding her firearm up as the familiar walk of the man confirmed who it was.

“Yeah. And there’s another one about him giving cigarettes to 20 POWs before killing ‘em.”

“If you wanted to know more bout the shit he’s been up to ask Y/N here. Apparently he dislikes her almost as much as our first CO did, ain’t that right Y/N/N?” She let out a huff to cover her amusement as she remembered the day that rumour was started, though she guessed it didn’t cause any problems and in fact, got quite a laugh out of Ron when she told him. She could see the look on Liebgott and Malarkey’s face when they’d come over to her concerned when Speirs had finally wandered off. The man had been angrily yelling, yes, but it wasn’t directed at her. After one too many screw ups from her newest CO, Lieutenant Dike, Ron was sent into a fit about how he was supposed to be ensuring her safety, and yet that was far from it. Obviously the boys had believed he had been yelling at her, as she had appeared upset. She had, indeed, been upset after Ron had whispered several comments like ‘the thought of losing you is almost physically painful’ and ‘if that bastard would spend less time going on walks and more time ensuring his company is looked after i wouldn’t have to be sitting here so fucking worried Y/N’. So you could say there had been more evidence to believe this rumour compared to the others but even this one wasn’t completely right. “And also I heard it was more like 30.” Perconte had continued. 

By now, Y/N was staring straight into her lover’s eyes as he stood so close, the look of pure amusement swimming deep in them as he listened. The woman’s lips tilted in a smirk as she waited for the other men to get the fright of their lives.

“Christensen.” He spoke suddenly, causing everyone save Y/N to jump out of their skin. They looked at him trying to not show how intimidated they were by the man that crouched before them. Ron’s eyes had wandered to Y/N quickly, giving her a once over to ensure she was okay, and when receiving a nod of confirmation, had turned back to look at the man he had addressed as he replied. “I got the name right didn’t I? Christensen?” 

Ron continued to ask the men some questions, with Y/N sitting there quietly watching the line while trying not to laugh at the way the men had all tensed up. Her attention had turned back to her lover fully when he had questioned Dike’s insistence on not reinforcing their shallow foxhole, the bitterness clear on his tongue as he all but hissed the question out. His eyes had moved to her on her place at the edge of the foxhole, her body leaning slightly over the side with her hip pushed against Christensen’s side to make her as comfortable as possible in the small space. The men had watched the fiery look that the officer had sent her, once again, assuming nothing but the worst. But she had known the meaning behind it and was only able to send him a reassuring calm look to try and cure his anger. 

His jaw had tightened as he pushed himself to stand, beginning to all but stomp away from four of them. Perconte had let out a quiet breath, glancing at Y/N quickly before whispering about how much the man must hate her. Ron’s ears had perked up at the comment before he spun around quickly, one of his hands moving to grasp at his lucky strikes.

“Oh, anyone care for a smoke?” He’d asked, and he watched as the smirk rose quickly to Y/N’s lips. She’d glanced at the three of them and took in their expressions, taking a mental picture of the amusing moment. They had all but furiously shaken their heads ‘no’ aside from Y/N who tilted her head as a thought popped into her head. 

“Yeah i’ll take one, Sir.” The woman said feigning a completely innocent, naive look, causing all three of the men to snap their heads to her. Ron pursed his lips to stop himself from breaking his expression with a smirk before nodding his head and holding one out to her. She leant forward so the man was able to place it directly into her mouth before staring straight up at him through her eyelashes. The man’s eyes flashed dangerously as he pulled his lighter from his pocket and lit it. 

After taking the first inhale, the woman took it from her mouth and flashed the most charming smile she could muster before blowing the smoke directly into the man’s face. Ron looked almost taken back but no sense of anger crossed behind his gaze, but he trusted the woman was only having her fun as she always did. Perconte had proceeded to drop his toothbrush from his widened mouth in shock as he waited for the coming demise of the woman he’d come to adore as his friend. Christensen looked on in similar fashion as he glanced between the two figures, one who still held a witty smile and the other who looked like he wanted wreck the young woman; guess that wasn’t entirely wrong.

“Thank you Lieutenant.” She had said while taking another drag of the cigarette. The man had only nodded, his eyes squinting curiously at his lover as he rose from his crouched position and took a single step back. The three other men had looked at her like she’d grown three heads and sprouted wings as she took a glance at them, her lips only twitching into an even bigger smile. She had made a decision in that split second as she revelled in the situation she was in, turning back to Ron who still stared at her, now with a much softer look.

“While we’re at it, maybe I could get a kiss too, baby?” She’d boldly exclaimed and she was sure she’d heard Perconte almost collapse in shock, a quiet but clearly strangle gasp leaving his lips. Ron had caught on by this point to her fun little game of amusement and just let play away as he crouched once more. She had leant over the edge of the foxhole again as she had when he had passed her a cigarette while he had moved his hand to grasp the back of her neck, his fingers intertwined with the braid that had sat there. She had smiled at him, rocking onto her hands to push herself higher to him before placing her lips firmly to his as he did the same in return. She felt as the tension swept off his shoulders while she kissed him so strongly. It had been so long since they’d even been able to hold each other and now they were lost in the idea of one another’s lips. 

Ron pulled away first as he remembered his place, but not before he leant his forehead on hers and sending her the smallest of smiles.

“You look after yourself, you got that? Or so help me-”

“Baby, I’ve got this.” She’d replied gently while he pulled away fully, and moved to stand. He briefly glanced at the men and held back a smirk as one of them looked ready to pass out and the other two were borderline shell-shocked. He nodded once more before wandering off into the mist and disappearing completely. Y/N watched him until her was gone with a dreamy look in her eyes until she shook herself from her own loved up mind and turned back to the men beside her. None of them were even able to form words, with the closest communication being Christensen as he just pointed towards where Ron had left with his mouth opening and closing like a fish. In all honesty, she was surprised Perconte was still breathing as he just stared with the widest eyes at the woman before him. She just smirked at them before wiping the back of her gloved hand across her lips dramatically.