𝚑𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚝𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚗𝚎-𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚝𝚜

𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚠𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚍 [𝚕𝚊𝚖𝚜]

𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚖𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚜𝚘 𝙸 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚒𝚝. 𝚒 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚎𝚗𝚓𝚘𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚒𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜 (𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎, 𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝙽𝙾𝙽𝙴 𝚕𝚘𝚕)

                                                                       "𝙸 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢

                                                                     𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝙸 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞

                                       𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚞𝚙, 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢, 𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚝

          𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚊 𝚋𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚎 

                                                       𝙸 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍"

When you're actively fighting for your country, there isn't much time to simply sit and relax. Even if there was, it isn't like you'd be able to, anyway. The ground was cold and your hands were colder, shaking around the rifle they held, your body jammed behind some makeshift barrier with five bullet holes already carved into the front. And, if the temperature didn't bother you, I'm sure the screams of agony would. The battlefield is rarely silent. Men and horses are getting shot and killed, canons are going off, bombs are falling, commanders are yelling their orders to attack and retreat and whatever the hell else they might possibly want. The only time there's much peace is in the dead of night, after troops have gotten their share of food and curled up on their cots to rest, and even then there isn't much you're able to do. After all, this was war. You can't expect a romantic dinner date after spending the whole rest of the day trying to avoid getting shot. 

Still, though, they work with what they have. Laurens brings his company and Alexander brings a sea bass caught earlier, cooked and wrapped in cheesecloth. It was warm by now, rather than hot like it should be, but they learned not to complain about conditions a long while ago. And, besides, the food wasn't where the majority of their attention landed, anyway. Despite the grass being covered in frost, they still laid together, hand-in-hand and admiring the stars.

Inevitably, Laurens has to leave. He has a letter to write, sleep to catch, and besides. It wasn't necessarily his job to keep Alexander's internal monsters at bay, anyway. Time was fleeting and one had to make the most of it, rather than curl up in a lover's embrace and pretend like everything is fine. Still, though. The smaller Scottsman stays curled up where he was once accompanied by the man who's coat he was wearing, imagining a life without him outside the boundaries of bullets and aching at the prospect. 

                                                              "𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚠