BIRD OF PREY | a reiner braun spinoff

chapter s i x

AIRFEILD, MARELYAN CAMP

Gelvar sighed. He had come to the sole conclusion that morning that it was going to be one hell of a disastrous flight. He shuddered alone at the thought of the rather chilling demeanor the Dragon projected towards the Armored over dinner the night before. And he knew well that his Captain's unexpected friendliness was purposefully meant as a distraction, to stir anyone clear of ever figuring him out, throwing them into an abyss of confusion. He also knew that whatever Saito held against the Warrior was far from hatred... It was far more complicated and delicate than that. And Gelvar didn't even want to think about how the two of them would need to survive off of each other for the next couple of days.

Saito was undeniably difficult and proud. That goddamn, beastly ego of his. And the Warrior seemed equally stubborn. While he understood that they were both chosen based off of the skills they posses for the mission, he couldn't help but question if sending those two particular bullheaded idiots into the heart of enemy territory would be the best idea. They'd no doubt fuck each other up before any Allied bastards get the chance to.

But alas, he didn't want to worry himself over trivial matters. Matters that didn't involve him. He was simply content to have been spared from the mission as a whole and only be involved in the drop off. He found it comforting to see himself that his Captain was sent off properly and safely.

But the issue between the two fuckers continued to loom over him and his worries. He let out a roar of a groan as he surrendered to his concerns. If they could only just talk it out first. He banged his head on the steer in frustration. He had witnessed them talk a moment the night before, just as he was leaving dinner. They seemed to have a short conversation but it didn't look like they resolved anything. Hell he wouldn't even be surprised if their conversation only forced up some kind of new layer of defense.

"At this rate, they'll really kill each other before the operation does it itself." Gelvar sighed.

"Kill who, Gelvar?" Saito heaved his pack up before tossing himself into the plane.

"Captain." Gelvar greets him with a salute. Saito nodded in response. He didn't seem too interested in Gelvar's self muttering just moments earlier because he didn't poke further and instead settled his pack on his seat before coming up to the cockpit.

"How is she?"

"There's never been a better prepared bird, sir. You did take her apart and pieced her back together yourself..."

A smile spread on Saito's face as he peered in and inspected the controls again carefully, looking softly at it like a father would for their own child. Ugh-- Gelvar made a face out of his judgement of Saito's deep affection for his aircraft. He really do treat these birds better than he treats anybody or anything else.

But somehow... Gelvar can't say how or what exactly, but there was something different on how Saito handled the Armored. He wouldn't dare say it was gentle because it wasn't, actually it was the farthest thing from it... but... the word popped up in his head for some reason. There was something tender... and raw in his jarring attitude towards him. And Gelvar couldn't understand it because there was nothing gentle, or tender- or raw- about how Saito treated him.

In fact he seemed bitter. Spiteful. But the thing was.. he doesn't act on those clear raging emotions. And it wasn't like Saito ever let rankings or formality ever stopped him from raging freely on what he had in mind. So it was truly fascinating to Gelvar to witness.

There were just so many layers to his Captain. And he simply came to the realization that he himself, someone who was perhaps closest to the fearsome Captain, had barely scraped the surface at all.