Super Glitches 5: The Soldier's Vow

Officially, Generally, Uniformly

Half an hour I was sat downstairs in a new outfit, spooning cereal into my mouth at an unhealthy rate. I paused briefly and coughed, making sure I didn't choke. The bran flakes stuck to the back of my throat and I retched, lunging wildly for a glass of water.

I gulped down hurried mouthfuls of water and shook my head to try and dry off. A smattering of laughter followed my rushed movements.

"Calm down," Georgina said, smiling.

"You'll choke and die," Rebecca added, eyes wide, mouth in an evil leer. I leaned backwards slightly and resumed my eating.

"Come on, you can eat later," Shaade said, tugging my arm. I scowled and threw my spoon into my bowl, milk splashing up and sprinkling across Sophie's arm. She squealed and wiped it on my shoulder.

"What's the fuss about this General guy anyway?" I grumbled, being dragged after Shaade. He didn't reply until we were out of earshot.

"Nothing," he shrugged, one hand on my upper arm, "I just wanted to get away from Sophie. I'm getting slightly fed up of her constantly squeaking and shouting to everyone what she saw."

"Which is no big deal," I muttered. Shaade laughed and continued walking. He beckoned with one crooked finger and I jogged to keep up - he takes massive strides yet seems to float along in a very peculiar way.

"Anyway, the General," he said. "I've met him before."

"What's he like?"

"Grumpy but alright. He doesn't really like me, he says I'm too childish."

"You are though," I said as Shaade did a backflip and then walked on his hands down the rest of the corridor. I rolled my eyes and stopped walking, folding my arms.

"You're not following," Shaade noted, doing a handstand and watching me closely. I nodded.

"Why?"

"I can't walk if there's the risk that you'll kick me in the face, can I?"

"Oh, no. Sorry." Shaade laughed sheepishly and righted himself. Surprisingly no blood had rushed to his head and he was fine, if a little unsteady on his feet.

"Gentlemen," a soldier said, saluting as we reached a large, oak door. "General Sidneys will see you now."

Shaade led the way through the door, saluting sharply the second he got into the room. The sunlight cast a peculiar glow over his grey waistcoat, his black jacket shrouded in shadow and his pale blue shirt illuminated like a neon light. His trousers looked like hundreds of threads just stuck together but were, in fact, blue jeans. His trainers were bright white and cast a glow over the thick rag-rug covering the floor.

"Boys," a rich, deep voice boomed. "Stand at ease, Shaade. Introduce me to your companion."

A man stepped out of the shadows and walked forwards. He was tall and imposing, thick, curly brown hair falling in tangles across his head. His face was scarred and square in shape, a jutting out chin ripped apart by a deep gash. One eye was covered by a bandage and his leg was twisted at an awkward angle as he limped forwards. He wore the same uniform - can I call it that? - as Shaade, a black jacket, sky-blue shirt, blue trousers (I'm guessing Shaade stretched the rules there) and white shoes. The General wore boots, splattered with mud but still with the white visible beneath.

"State your name, rank, intention and link to Private Jaetun," the General ordered.

"Joshua, surname confidential."

"Rank?"

"Erm..." I glanced at Shaade and he mouthed a word to me. "Private."

"Very good. Intention?"

"Um... Getting home? Winning this fight?" I suggested. "Fun?"

The General smiled. "Interesting. Now, your link to Shaade."

I bit my lip and said nothing. I knew what some authority figures (namely, Inspector Isaac Mathews) felt about homosexuality and the last time I'd been, ahem, 'found out' I was fired. Well, nearly. I ran off and fell through time and parallel universes to find myself in the middle of a warzone.

"Joshua, talk," the General said sternly. I lowered my head and looked at the floor. I could feel Shaade's eyes boring into the side of my neck, a confused, hurt and angry gaze.

"What is your link to Private Jaetun? Come on, boy, talk or we cannot take you on. You could be a traitor, an imposter. Jaetun may be a spy." The General raised his eyebrow.

"Sir, if I may speak?" Shaade spoke up. The General granted his permission with a nod of his head and Shaade darted closer to me. His hand slipped into mine and he smiled slightly, rainbows curling around my shoulders and creating a joint cape.

"Shaade, I suppose that you are going to talk instead of Joshua here," the General sighed. Shaade glanced at me and nodded, smile fading oh-so-slightly.

"No," I said, guilt spreading across my face. "No, I'll speak. I'm still slightly reeling from being fired just 'cause I have a boyfriend."

I raised my head high and stared the General in the eye to see his reaction. He shrugged and sat down behind a large desk.

"If you were afraid of telling me," he said softly, "then you should know that I support all my soldiers and will not indulge in their private life at all. However, I also hold post of councillor for all my troops so at the same time I know most things. But please, if you do have a falling out over something, don't trouble me with it." He ran a hand through his curls and barked a laugh. "The amount of soldiers I have who come moaning to me about girlfriends doing one thing wrong... So what you're telling me is that you and Shaade are boyfriends?"

"Yep."

"Alright. Well, don't come running to me if one of you insults the other."

"No problem, sir," Shaade said, moving his hand so that he was hugging me instead. "Josh and I are safe."

"But what about that demon corpse?" I pointed out. Shaade gave me a wide eyed glare but it was too late.

"Oh? What's this?"

Shaade groaned and buried his head on my shoulder. I explained the best I could, leaving out Sophie marching in. Once my tale was done the General nodded.

"We'll sort that out," he assured me. "Now, you can go back and finish your breakfast, if you have enough time."

A bell rang in the distance and Shaade's shoulders slumped. "No food," he groaned. "Yay."

"You two need to get to training, ASAP," the General pointed out. "Shaade, show Josh the way. Is it alright if I call you Josh?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Now, off you go and try not to get too injured. We are only training for battle, after all."