Cracking The Commander (DJ x Commander)

CHAPTER 19

"Hey, Comm! Need a hand?"

"No."

"...Are you sure? You look like you're struggling."

DJ jogged up to Commander, who was all alone, holding an awfully heavy box of what appeared to be ammo, with unbelievably wobbly legs and heavy breathing. Commander tightly furrowed his brows and refused to even look his way.

Not a single word was uttered from the small, fat man as he continued his very painful trek to the storage room DJ was oh so familiar with. He left DJ standing there like an idiot, staring at him with a suddenly dropped grin.

He was seriously getting ghosted by an above 40 year old man. This has to be a joke.

Commander had been like this for about two weeks now — outright refusing any contact, snapping at him when DJ tried to make amends, and being as cruel as he possibly could be in ways DJ had no idea he was capable of. It seemed like some deliberate attempt to sabotage their relationship.

DJ'd hate to admit it, but it was starting to really hurt. Sure, it did hurt initially, though DJ thought he was well accustomed to Commander's attitude to the point he could stomach it. But now he wasn't so sure about that.

He scuffed his worn sneakers against the ground with a huff. Nothing was working. Commander wasn't budging one bit.

Part of him wanted to leave him be, let Commander hate his guts...but another part of him so desperately wanted to resolve what he fucked up in the first place. Of course, since DJ was notorious for being persistent, he continued to fight for forgiveness. Even if Commander clearly wasn't leaning towards that anytime soon.

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Commander stopped showing up to dinner again. Everyone had finally noticed the strange change of attitude from their leader, and were much too afraid to face his wrath by asking if he was okay. So, it went ignored. Thus returned the age-old routine of 'nose-goes' where nobody wanted to bring dinner to the angry old man huddled up in his office.

Everyone, save Commander, were sat at the dinner table, a few towers already eagerly digging into their meals. All was calm until Medic realized Commander's plate was untouched, still sitting on the countertop where everyone else had grabbed their own respective plates.

She sighed and frowned. Sitting up from her chair at the table, she walked over to the kitchen and took the cooling plate in her hands. "Commander didn't get his food. Someone—"

"Nose goes!" Scout suddenly shouted, instantly shooting his hand up to his face (and almost poking his eye out in the process).

It had become routine for the towers, as reflexively everyone followed suit — all but Mortar.

Yelping, Mortar jumped in his seat. "Dude, you can't just do that! I wasn't ready!" He narrowed his eyes towards the kid. "I'm not going up to his office. He will chew me the fuck out. You saw how angry he was at training today, I'm not taking that heat."

Scout crossed his arms over his chest fussily. "Well someone's gotta do it."

"That someone is youuuu!" Electroshocker sung, a grin on his face. He pointed at Mortar, who looked terrified. Genuinely.

"Why can't Medic do it?" Mortar snapped back.

"He doesn't want to see me right now. He told me. It's best I respect his wishes," she said, a strange look on her face.

DJ squirmed in his seat. The fact nobody was willing to even interact with Commander made him feel queasy. He watched as Mortar bickered with everyone, before standing with his palms slammed against the table.