Chapter Text
‘This day couldn't get any weirder’ thought Camille to himself. But on the other hand what of this day had been normal? First he shared a cup of coffee with his supposed enemy and now he was sitting beside him watching a Football Match between their men. The Scottish and French Soldiers against the German ones. As if this Match would decide the fate of this war.
‘If only it would be that easy,’ he added humorlessly.
He wasn’t even sure who came up with that idea. Just suddenly they had all been called upon and there it started. All had been fine….
Until his fellow Officers started to yell and shout at their men. Be it to praise or correct them. Camille knew about the Football Fascination from the Scots and Germans, but he thought…..well that doesn’t matter now.
He felt a nudge against his side and glanced towards the German Oberleutnant beside him. He remembered very clearly the words they had exchanged just a few moments ago. He frowned confused for a moment until he saw him direct his gaze towards the game again
Oh. So that’s how it is.
He rolled his eyes a bit fondly and looked towards the game again just as the Germans infiltrated and annihilated the Allies Defense and their Pastor Goalkeeper. What a shame.
Camille could really not let that slide.
“Venez les gars! Vous pouvez jouer mieux que ça!” (Come on Men! You can play better than this!) he shouted along with Gordons “You’re better than some Beer drinkers!”
Karl stayed silent the entire time, but Camille could see the faintest smirk on the Germans face.
The Players turned towards their Generals and looked at each other then. Call it a gut feeling, but Camille was having a bad feeling about this.
“If we can’t play to your standards then why don’t you show us how to do it?” called out an either very stupid or very brave soul.
Camille didn’t know who said it and probably never will. The entire group protected each other already like a bunch of bees. But it would have been fine if they all would have just collectively declined the offer.
It could have been fine!
It could have…
“Oh, it’s on now Boys!” the loud voice of Gordon perked up and Camille knew he was screwed. Now he could not talk himself out of it without losing face in front of his men! He gave Gordon a very angry, but subtle side-eye, but the Scot just smiled at him and patted him on the back.
His last chance was Karl as he slowly turned to the remaining Officer. He hoped the other would dislike the idea just as much and they could refuse together.
But then he felt Gordon lean towards him and whisper. “You know this could be your chance to get closer to our German Officer.” He patted him again and walked off.
Camille stood still for an entire long minute and Karl started to really get worried. He slowly got up and approached the other carefully. He prepared to ask the other if he was ok, but then Camille perked up.
“Yes I will join the game!” He said suddenly and turned to Karl. “You too.” He said as if Karl had already agreed to it.
And as much as he loves Football…..
“I don’t think this is inappropriate so I rather d-”
“You remember my promise to invite you to a glass of wine? Maybe it doesn’t have to be at the end of the war at all~” Camille interrupted him in a quiet sassy tone and turned around. But he was slow enough to see the very amusing picture of Karl’s jaw hitting the snowy underground for a second in a state of shock.
Unbeknownst to them their men heard and saw all of that and gave each other knowing looks. They knew more than their competent idiots of Officers that they have. They are not blind after all. So these looks turned to smirks quickly as they got an idea.
And so it began.
Gordon joined his and Camille's group immediately as a Striker…sort of. With so little space and people it was a mix of everything really. Camille wanted to rather choose a more unimportant position as quite frankly ... .He never had played Football before aside from some fun rounds as a Rookie. But that could hardly count. So he chose a defense position until he saw that Karl was put into a Striker position too.
He took a deep breath and corrected the hat on his head, getting ready for the ball to get thrown into the pit and the battle to start. A second after finishing the thought the ball was thrown in and the Game began. He swallowed down a nervous shiver going up his spine as he followed the ball closely with his gaze, hoping it would not come to him defending it.
But Mother Fate was not on his side as he saw a German run at him with the ball steadily at his feet. Camille froze for a moment, but shook it off. He is a Soldier for Napoleon's sake. So he started running at him to block the attack. He moved with quick steps and saw an opening. He moved his leg to kick it away, but instead it slipped on the snow. He had no time to react as the world spun around and he lost his hold. He came back to it as he hit the, thankfully, soft ground, the laughter of his fellow soldiers filling his ears.
Ok now he was pissed.
He swept the helpful hand from a nearby soldier away and got up, freeing his uniform from the snow. He held himself as regal as he could as he motioned for the game to continue. He had to thank his father for giving him his stubbornness as that was the only reason he didn’t fall down again and actually played quite well.
But his worst nightmare of a Football Game came and he saw none other than Karl running at him with the ball balanced between his feet. None of them noticed the grins the other soldiers gave each other as Camille's bravado slipped as he charged against him.
He was almost by him as something or rather someone happened. The body of another person appeared and gave the Oberleutnant a shove from behind. Karl could not even look surprised and Camille could not even think of dodging as they crashed together. Karl fell forward and their heads nearly missed smashing against each other. Instead the slightly smaller German fell down against him and both went down like a trench after an artillery attack. They became a mess of uniforms and limbs until they came to a stop.
Camille groaned and wiped snow away from his face that had fallen onto him. Once his eyes were freed he looked up to see the field again……..and looked directly up at the face of Karl Horstmayer. Camille now realized he fell down onto his back with the German catching himself with his arms to prevent him crashing down onto the French Lieutenant.
But in exchange the German was now in a very……………telling position straddling the French Officer and having his arms on either side of him, faces dangerously close to each other. Their gaze crossed and their minds went blank while their faces took on a bright red color.
Bright laughter erupted around them, led by none other than Lieutenant Gordon himself. The others laughed too and all around them people perked up to see the commotion.
But Camille and Karl heard nothing of it. They both still stared at each other for a very long moment. Then suddenly Karl started to blink again and he quickly went off on him with a quick assault of German apologies following along. Camille needed a moment longer to get his mind to work again, but when he did he just quietly got up and freed his uniform from snow again.
The laughter slowly died down and all thankfully collectively agreed to end the game then and there. Camille ignored the approaching people and just dodged anyone coming at him. He needed to get away from the people and just breathe.
He definitely did not want to think how his blank mind could not stop thinking about how the German officer looked even more handsome up close.
‘Lieutenant Audebert’s eyes are unlike anything I've ever seen….’ Horstmayer thought, followed by a quick shake of his head as he dodged anyone trying to talk to him too. His reputation and the respect towards him was ruined! Even his mind was betraying him with these….thoughts.
Karl sighed and leaned against a tree, closing his eyes as he felt the cold wind hit his face. He let his guard down and that is the reason he flinched when he heard a voice beside him.
“I am sorry for what had happened.” said a voice beside him. When Karl opened his eyes he spotted Camille beside him. He felt his cheeks grow warm again as he found himself unable to hold eye-contact with the French Officer.
“I-It’s fine. After all, I crashed into you.” he assured him with a slight smile that he hoped would work. It did as Camille gave him a faint smile back. Karl’s heart did a flip.
Camille cleared his throat and shuffled a bit where he stood as he gathered his next words.
“I had promised you something….” by Karl’s curious gaze he raised his hands in which two glasses and a wine bottle were held. Karl’s surprised gaze turned to an amused one and he shortly after started to chuckle. Camille joined in and the awkwardness between them slowly disappeared as they shared a glass of wine now. But neither one mentioned the incident either.
Camille smiled at Karl as they took a sip together, but caught something in the corner of his eyes.
“Lieutenant? Do you see that?” he asked quietly. Karl stopped the glass and lowered his hand slowly again and looked over his shoulder. Both Officers froze.
In the distance, between a few soldiers building a snowman, stood two shadows. A person on the right that reached above 2 meters, with a long elegant black trenchcoat and well polished Pickelhaube helmet on his head. The person wore black combat boots and fitting black gloves. The face of the person was covered mostly from the person's black hair and the helmet, but what Camille noticed was that the face looked almost unnaturally pale.
Karl meanwhile looked bewildered at the second person on the left. The Person stood at a similar height to Karl and wore a uniform as colorful as that of Camille. But the hat on top of the person symbolized the rank of a General and not of a normal soldier. Both figures seemed to be completely ignored by the other soldiers, almost as if they were invisible.
Karl and Camille stared at the figures and then to each other. They spotted Gordon and called him over, asking if he saw them too.
The Scot looked into the direction and gave them a confused look. “I think you both did actually hit your heads. There are no people over there.” He told them and excused himself to call a medic for them.
The two figures then noticed Karl and Camille staring at them. Both figures turned around and left the field and the confused Officers…….
‘What just happened?!’