2nd part of wHenReAliteAhItS's request
ENTJ (male) x INFJ (female)
60 hours have passed since the moment they unconventionally met at the tree. Well, roughly 60 hours, Mala has been losing track of it since she would unconsciously fall asleep and wake up at odd hours when the night has gone chilly and there is nothing that could be heard aside from the soft grunts Ben makes in his sleep or the heavy beating of her heart.
Ben had thousands of stories to tell, but neither of them was his. He would talk about the people he would encounter at the public library and the lives they share with him at times. He talked about his friends back in school and how he was considered a smart-ass at times by his jealous classmates. But when Mala would ask specific questions about him, he found ways to shut them down. Sometimes he would change the subject smoothly or he would flash a smile at her and ask, "Is this your way of flirting with me?"
Mala could not understand how she felt about it because, weirdly, it made her heart stop beating for a millisecond or that her breath would hitch at the back of her throat. She's not aware that she brings the same effects to him, as well.
In this time of turmoil and endless deaths, they both are each other's silver linings. Who would have thought that in the arms of the enemy one would find comfort?
One night, as Mala is awoken by Ben's soft grunts from beside her, she does the unthinkable and scoots closer to him and hesitantly rests her arm over him. He visibly relaxes, prompting Mala to start rubbing circles on his back.
Suddenly, he tenses and gasps softly as his eyes flash open in an instant. Mala notices the shift in him and she shushes before he could say anything. "It's just me," she reassures him in the dark of the dugout.
"Shit, Mala, I almost got a heart attack."
"I thought you might need a warm body."
Ben swallows thickly, his eyes blinking as they try to adjust to the darkness. He slowly moves a bit closer into Mala's embrace and even rests his head in the crook of her neck, feeling her soft skin and aimlessly tracing it with the tip of his nose. "...I do," he admits breathlessly, wrapping an arm around her.
Both their hearts are erratically beating against their chests. Mala's especially since she's never been this close to a man.
But she doesn't want to push him away. Ben does not want to as well.
"You always seem like you're struggling when you sleep…" Mala whispers slowly, careful not to move too much for she might accidentally hit the man's wound. "Is it because of something you see in your dreams?"
"Nightmares," Ben breathes out, correcting her.
"Nightmares," Mala repeats. Saying that word sends a shiver down her spine. She gets nightmares, too, but she has a feeling that they are not as intense as Ben's. "What do you see in them?"
He exhales heavily, "My sins."
Mala halts at that and Ben immediately feels her against him. "Don't be afraid," he continues, "they only hurt me, not you."
"But still, I-"
"I'm used to them."
"Ben," Mala whispers in a stern manner, "just because you are doesn't mean that I am."
"...You're too kind to me, Mala."
And with newfound confidence, she replies, "And you're scaring me, so kindly shut up and go back to sleep." Though in the end, it was Mala who couldn't fall back asleep.
This definitely has now become an unwritten rule between them. It's hard to now be without the other.
"You remind me of a book character," he tells her the morning after. Mala faces him just in time to see a smile play about his lips.
"Hm?" She hums, taking a few steps toward him before kneeling down to check on his healing wound. "From a fairytale?" She asks nonchalantly.
“No,” Ben answers, smiling at her before emitting a soft groan as Mala exposes his wound to clean it and cover it with a new wad of gauze. Thankfully, it’s not bleeding as much as it did when he first got it. “You remind me of a character from a book entitled, Little Women.”
Mala pauses in her actions to throw him a look of confusion. “Little Women?" She understood a bit of what he said. "Why would a man like you read a book about short women?”
Her innocent question catches him off guard for a second that Ben stares at her in disbelief. "Did...did you seriously ask me that question?"
Mala, unaware of his bewilderment, nods and repeats the question. "I was serious. Why would you read a book about short women?"
The man then busts out into loud and raucous laughter, throwing his head back. It came to the point that how hard he was laughing caused a bit of physical tension on his wound which started to ache in pain. Yet he did not care as Mala's confusion and pure innocence amused him so much. It's been a long time since he's had a normal conversation with someone outside of war. "Not literal short women! Mala, my belly hurts from all this laughing!"
"Hey," Mala pouts her lips as he continues to laugh. She lightly punches his arm. "I didn't grow up with a lot of books, okay? How was I supposed to know a book with a weird title such as Little Women?"
“When things get better, I’ll make sure to send a copy of it to you. I promise.” Ben raises his right hand a bit as a sign of his oath in the midst of his laughing which is becoming quieter by the second. “Though, I’m serious when I say that you remind me of a character from that book. Her name is Jo March.”
“Jo...March?”
“Yeah,” he breathes out, smiling slightly despite the pain in his leg. “She is a bit more talkative than you, though. But you’re the same...strong-willed and determined.”
“She seems like a nice and pleasant character,” she comments as she finishes cleaning his wound.
“It’s not every day you come across someone like a character from the book.”
“Yet, I’m real,” Mala utters to which Ben instantly replies, “And I’m glad you are.”
Mala could only stare at him after he said those words. She did not want to read too much of his reply, but it reminded her so much of how the other guys back at home would tease her. She was apparently oblivious the whole time since they had been trying to flirt with her, or well...that’s what one of her good friends back home told her. Her mind is always thinking of other things - what needs to be done back at the farm or what she has to do at the town square - that the things that suddenly happen before her are left unnoticed.
She forces herself to look away and chooses to slowly push herself to lean against the makeshift wall in the dugout. “You…” the words die in her throat. She can’t seem to get her point across. Clearing her throat, she decides to go back to the first topic they were talking about. “The only story I remember is of the Bogeyman. My father would always tell me that story growing up.”
“Bogeyman? Does he eat unruly children?”
“Yeah,” she whispers. “You know that story, too?”
“We have our own version of that story back at home.”
“I’d rather you talk about that story than something about short women.”
Ben chuckles softly from beside her. “How many times do I have to tell you that it’s not about short women?”
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Mala offered to take tonight’s shift of watching over the dugout, but she’s been falling in and out of sleep for the past...hours? She can’t really tell anymore. Her head would slowly hang and her eyes would flutter close before she would shoot up awake and find herself disoriented for a moment before realizing that she’s still in an abandoned dugout with an enemy soldier.
From the opening of the dugout, she faces the inside even if she cannot see anything in the dark. The soft snores from Ben reach her ears and she fights the urge to sleep all the more. She wants to make sure that he’s kept safe, so she needs to do her job well.
Yet just as she was about to turn back to face the entrance of the dugout, a pair of hands grab her from behind and pull her roughly to the ground. She audibly gasps and instinctively moves her hands to pry whoever is holding off her, but suddenly she feels more hands holding her down.
“Who do we have here with us?” A ray of light flashed over her. Her eyes widen and she stills in fear when she sees that men have surrounded her.
“Not one of ours,” another man answers.
Mala cannot understand a word they’re saying, but she can deduce that they are not good. Her mind is racing a mile a minute. It made her question then if Ben called them here.
But he wouldn’t do that. He does not have the equipment to do so...and he would not betray her. Mala did not want to think that he would ever betray her despite being enemies in this war.
“Who would have thought that one of them would be left behind? It’s a treat for us!”
All of a sudden, they turn her around to lie on her stomach. She can feel the ground beneath her - fallen leaves and branches and the dirt press into her skin as one of them presses on the side of her face with his boot. She grunts and tries to fight them off despite being one against many.
“Let her suffer a bit more before we finally kill that pest.”
“B-Ben!” Mala manages to shout, before one hand clamps over her mouth. She opens her mouth and bites one of the fingers on the man’s hand. He shouts in pain and for a moment moves his hand, enough for her to shout Ben’s name again. “BEN!”
“Leave her alone!” She hears his voice and the flashlight from one of the men above is now pointed at Ben, standing at the entrance of the dugout with one hand holding onto the makeshift to support his weight and the other holding a gun cocked at them.
She also breathes out a sigh of relief, that is until she hears one of the men gasp and utter, “Lieutenant Walt…”
Did...did she hear him correctly? Even if it was spoken in another language, she knows that man uttered the name of the frightening lieutenant, the man she constantly prayed that she will never encounter. Lieutenant Walt is here? Who is he out of all the men surrounding her?
“You’re alive?” One of the men mutters in awe, his gaze transfixed on Ben. No, all of their gazes are transfixed on Ben that it’s starting to make Mala feel that realization is dawning on her. She feels her heart pound against her chest not because of the mere fact that she could die at any moment, but because she now realizes who Lieutenant Walt is.
Ben clenches his jaw and keeps his gun pointed at them. “I said leave her alone!”
“B-But, sir-”
He pushes himself off the wall and forces himself upright to march toward the man. He masks the pain he feels by gritting his teeth and letting his anger fuel him. “Soldier, did I not give you a command?”
“Sir, n-no sir. F-Forgive me, sir.”
“Now help that woman up and desist any actions of anguish toward her. She is now a POW.” He throws a stern look at all the men. “We handle POWs back at the garrison, that is the rule. Tie her up and make sure to escort her back. No one is to touch her!”
“Sir, yes sir!” The men shout in unison and they immediately help her get up to her feet. Only then was Mala able to meet the strong gaze of Ben. In an instant, his stoic expression falters. He wants to explain everything to her, he wants her to understand, but he cannot bring himself to utter anything to her. Maybe not now...maybe back at their garrison. Swallowing down a huge lump in his throat, he forces his eyes away from her and tries to suppress the feeling of guilt and pain starting to cloud his mind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
I think this begs for a part 3? Hahaha don't worry, it's in my drafts already ;)
Another favorite couple of mine HAHA
I hope you liked this! ♡