The two Germans stood there in disbelief, Marius playing with his hands in his pockets while Dominic's eyes darted around the room, everywhere from the folder.
Harry looked up at the two with a detached glare, if one might want to call it that. Dominic definitely felt so, as he cracked his knuckles while shifting onto his other leg. His breathing quickened, becoming more shallow accompanied by a shiver down his spine.
"So?" Harry bounced his leg under the desk, tapping his foot rhythmically awaiting a response. He noticed the men's body language and realised that they probably knew nothing about it and whatever feud that had been happening was very intricate, more than what he could ever possibly know.
"Dominic was hast du-" (Dominic what did you-) Marius put his hands on his hips, turning to face Dominic but he was standing there, almost idly with his arms crossed.
"Nichts." (Nothing.) He cut him off coldly, Marius could tell there was a hint of anxiousness, perhaps confusement. The two of them had no idea of what could've caused their friend to resign from a job that he had appeared to love so much with people he cared about.
"O-oh."
----------
Elias stepped out of Monika's room, immediately drawing attention to him as various insults were being thrown at him. It was so easy for people to judge from what they've been told but no one ever really bothered asking him from his opinion right?
Well, either way, he was too lost in his thoughts as an attempt to block out the insults that came flooding in from every direction. He apathetically walked up the stairs, seeming unbothered whereas he really was bothered. He knew that it was his fault, and he was doing what he thought was the right thing.
He continued walking up what felt like endless flights of stairs, his legs slowly becoming more and more exhausted from stepping up the same pieces of stone. Once he had finally reached the top floor, he almost tripped over his feet as he had to physically remember that he wasn't walking upstairs anymore.
Looking around, he quietly made his way over to Harry's office, gently knocking on the door as he kept an eye out for other people. No one was really up here on this floor but Harry and the occasional staff, but that was really it.
He made his way in after hearing Harry's recognisable voice through the door, slipping inside the room much like how a snake would slither into a hidden corner. He sat down in the chair and placed the files on Harry's desk, slowly crossing his arms and his legs defensively.
"Oh, well, it's really a shame." Harry sighed as he leafed through the documents in the folders, skimming through them. He licked his finger and continued looking through the folder until he had skimmed over all of the lengthy pages.
"I don't really see an obvious reason here Mr Kötz as to why you would like to resign, may I ask for a further explanation?"
"Well... it's... it's complicated." Elias rubbed the back of his neck, leaning back into the padded chair as he felt sweat trickle down his forehead.
"You fit all of the physical requirements as well as the requirements of previous experience and training, so there's not much of an apparent reason in that field."
"It's not that, really. It's more... I guess social issues."
"Social issues? I believe you said that your ability to get along with various kinds of people was a strong suit a while back." Harry stood up and skimmed the various folders in his bookshelf, picking out Elias's folder and opening up his resumé.
"I-I am aware, just uhm..." He looked away, focusing his eyes on the group photo on Harry's wall. "I do feel responsible - well, I am responsible for a few... troubles here." He sighed as he tried to keep his eyes off his resumé and the folder, swinging his legs much like how a child in kindergarten would.
"Troubles?"
"The whole... feud. I'm sure you've heard of it, no?"
"I am aware of some disagreement with Mr Brunsmeier and Mr Streicher."
"Yes, that. Well, I am partly at fault for that."
"Is that why you've decided to leave?" Harry turned around to face Elias who had gotten up from his chair, brushing the dust and dirt off his pair of jeans. He stood behind the chair awkwardly as he pushed the chair into the desk.
"I suppose so." He sighed in defeat as he looked down, rubbing his shoes against each other as he looked back up to face Harry.
"Well, I won't keep you here for any longer then. I wish you the best of luck in your new career path, wherever that may be." Harry extended his arm, adjusting the sleeve of his suit coat while he opened his hand. Elias rolled up his sleeve and grabbed Harry's hand roughly, shaking it with energy but also a bit of haste.
"It's been a pleasure working for you." He commented as he made his way out of the door.
Elias skipped down the stairs, two at a time until he finally reached the floor with all of the male rooms. He was exhausted and he didn't want to waste time with extra goodbyes. Harry or someone would probably take care of his reason for leaving, knowing how fast news spreads in the base.
He unlocked the door to his room, quickly sneaking in, in a similar fashion as to how he did with Harry's office. He grabbed his backpack, duffle bag and his suitcases and began packing hastily, shoving as much as he could in every container.
Elias was driven by homesickness and a will to get away from a place where everyone basically despised him now, as for someone who cares heavily about everyone else's opinion, he didn't want to be somewhere where people didn't exactly want him around.
He grabbed all of his bags and ran down the stairs, rushing out of the front door before anyone in the cafeteria could notice. He doubted that people would even notice that he was gone or had left, and if they did, they probably wouldn't even bother staying in contact nor asking why he had left in such a hurry.
Elias ran as fast as he could to his car in the car park, his eyes darting around anxiously as he made sure that no one saw him. He swiftly packed the bags into the trunk of his car then jumped into the driver's seat.
His car skidded out of the car park onto the main road. As he was leaving, he felt that he was leaving a bunch of bad memories behind as painlessly as he could. He would cut off everyone and probably move back in with his parents or alone in some Airbnb.
The further away he was, the more he realised that he had zoned out and was basically in the middle of nowhere. He was stranded in the middle of the countryside and had driven onto some old dirt road. He stopped his car and just blankly stared into the void before breaking down into tears.
----------
Harry excused the two Germans, knowing fully what had happened. If Elias had not specifically mentioned that he wanted people to know the reasoning behind his "disappearance" so therefore he felt no need to tell Marius and Dominic.
Dominic walked down the corridor to a bunch of people gossiping, probably because of them seeing Marius and him together and not going at each other's throats for the first time in what felt like forever.
Dominic unlocked Elias's room door to find... everything gone. Or well, almost everything. All of Elias's stuff had just been picked up and left behind. He did leave behind things like his toothbrush but that was about it. It looked like it had all been packed up in a hurry.
"Was ist das..." (What is that...) Marius but his hands on his waist and sighed as he looked around, the room almost looked as dishevelled as Dominic when he woke up but he wouldn't say that out loud if he wanted to keep his nose intact.
Dominic tried to look around, but basically, everything was gone. He was seriously starting to consider the idea that Elias never existed in the first place, but that wouldn't make logical sense. He bent over to try and open some drawers as Marius stood behind him, holding his arm above Dominic's back, hesitating before making a move.
Marius had to make a move if he didn't want whatever was going on to remain in a stalemate, so he went for it.
"Fuck it." He bit his lip as he softly pat and rubbed Dominic's back reassuringly as he continued to search the drawers. Dominic was shocked slightly but felt butterflies in his stomach and his face turn bright pink.
"Y-yeah there's nothing..." He stood up and looked away, folding his arms as he tried to avoid eye contact with Marius. Marius held his arms close to his chest, slightly afraid of what the taller male might do to him.
Dominic mustered up the courage to shakingly put his hands on Marius's face, cupping it and feeling heat rush to Marius's cheeks. Marius put his hands on Dominic's wrists, not in an attempt to pull them off whatsoever, but almost as if he was enjoying it.
"D-Dominic I-I-" Dominic lifted Marius's glasses from his helmet to reveal his eyes. Dominic chuckled softly as he stared into Marius's eyes, rubbing Marius's cheeks with his thumbs. Marius bit his lip as he whined quietly, putting his hands on Dominic's chest.
Dominic bent down and softly placed a kiss on Marius's lips, Marius just standing there in plain shock, neither objecting nor kissing back. Dominic took his hands off Marius's cheeks as he grabbed his car keys.
"Come on, let's go." Dominic opened the door, holding it open for Marius as he uncertainly walked out of the room. He was still thinking about what had happened, what was he even feeling? He didn't actually like Dominic did he? But then why did he enjoy it?
While Marius was lost in his train of thought, Dominic knocked on Monika's door, explaining what they were planning to do. To Marius, it all felt like a blur, his vision was hazy, everything that he was hearing sounded so faint and he felt so light, like a cloud.
----------
The whole car ride, Monika and Dominic were chatting as if nothing had happened but Marius was still trying to process what this all meant, did Dominic actually like him? Did he necessarily mean this as a first move to indicate something?
Marius shivered as the car jolted to a halt and Dominic got out, feeling the sharp gust of night air come inside the car and pierce his lungs. Marius opened the car door and got out, following Dominic and Monika much like a penguin. He was getting drowsier and drowsier while they finally got to a gas station.
Marius was instantly distracted by the sweets aisle and started aimlessly walking around that area of the gas station while Monika was panicking.
Elias hadn't picked up any of her calls, nor had he answered or even read any of her texts and god knows what he had done with the hundreds of voicemails that she had left him. She ran a hand through her blonde hair and rubbed her eyes as she saw a 5'9 guy in an oversized grey hoodie with droopy eyes.
She took a deep breath before patting on the guy's shoulder, regretting it immediately. Who in their right mind would walk up to someone random at a gas station and just... tapping on their shoulder in hopes that it'll be that one person you're looking for.
"Uhm... what can I help you with?" to Monika's absolute horror, it wasn't Elias. It was some random guy who looked exactly like him. She made a mental facepalm as she played with her hands.
"I'm really sorry to interrupt you but have you seen a guy who's around... uh.. 5'9, blondish-brownish hair and rather... shaped jawline?" Her accent came through her words as she looked up at the man in question and he turned around, pointing at the window.
"Yeah, there's a guy who looks like that at the car washing area. He went there like, 10 minutes ago. No idea if he's still there now." The man pointed towards the car washing area as Monika hurriedly thanked him and rushed out the door, running hopefully towards the car washing area.
----------
o h m y l o r d
God my uploading schedule is just so messed up I'm so sorry, online school and real-life school has been a bother bla bla bla henbefdhjnfbdn yeah I'll uhm I'll attempt to write more but I hope that this is okay, take care of yourselves and don't forget to stay healthy, drink water and eat food you amazing human being.
Ciao :) (2148)