You were given a spare room and placed under 24/7 surveillance. Your meals were brought to you on prison-like stainless steel trays and you couldn't leave without an escort, even to use the bathroom.

Despite your agreement with the soldier who interrogated you—whom you now knew as König from eavesdropping on conversations outside your door—you were still being treated as a prisoner. That was to be expected, you supposed, since they didn't exactly trust you yet, but you had no reason to jeopardize your current situation by doing something treacherous.

Until some dumb fuck decided to push your boundaries.

He'd entered your room without permission, claiming he had the right to do so as your 'guard' for the day, and attempted to kiss you while pinning you against the wall. Needless to say, you were having none of it and sent him to the infirmary with two less teeth, a broken nose, two black eyes, and possibly a fractured jaw.

You knew to expect a visit from König once the news reached him, so you simply sat on the edge of your bed and stared at your bloodied knuckles. Waiting.

König wasted no time. He always got straight to business. You didn't look up at him when he stormed into the room, able to feel the anger radiating from him in waves.

"Care to explain why one of my men is in the infirmary and barely able to speak?" König seethed, his tone tight and sharp. He loomed over you with his arms crossed over his chest.

You swiped your tongue over your teeth and sighed, still able to taste the blood from when you'd been punched in the mouth for refusing the kiss.

"If you ask me..." You murmured, slowly raising your head to reveal your battered face. "...I think he deserved it."

König's stiff posture slackened.

"Mein Gott..." He muttered as he knelt down in front of you. His eyes were strangely soft as he studied the damage, his hand ever so gently tilting your chin up. "Who did this to you? What was his name?"

Your breath hitched in your throat. With him so close, you felt helpless. It terrified you that he'd gone from ruthless to gentle within a matter of seconds—all because of you. Something about you made him act differently. He wasn't even sure of it himself.

"I don't know. I don't remember the name on his uniform." You mumbled, praying your voice didn't betray what you felt inside.

König's eyes grew dangerously dark. He pulled his hand away, brushing his fingers along your jaw as he did, and rose to his full height.

"Soldat!" He snapped in a commanding voice.

The guard posted outside the room had barely set foot inside when he was grabbed by König and dragged over to you. König held him by the head, forcing him to look at you while his other hand held his shoulder in a death grip.

"Do you see this?" König seethed.

"Yes, sir..."

"This is unacceptable. There were two of you posted outside. Why didn't you report the incident?"

"I-I don't know, sir..."

König tightened his grip. "All I asked you to do was one fucking thing and you fucked it up!" He snarled.

"I didn't want to get in trouble!"

"You didn't want to get in trouble, huh?" A dry, unamused chuckle escaped König as he turned the guard around and pulled his pistol from its holster. "Well, getting in trouble is the last thing you'll ever have to worry about."

You watched him shove the guard into the hallway, a pit forming in your stomach. Seconds of silence went by, then... bang.

You felt sick to your stomach, yet satisfied. You hadn't thought that he would go so far as to dispose of one of his own soldiers for you, let alone over something like not reporting an act of violence. The fact that he was so protective was... interesting. You weren't quite sure how to feel yet.

When König returned, he had a packet of medical supplies that he must've taken from the guard. He knelt down in front of you again and began rummaging through it for gauze.

Finally, you gathered the courage to ask the question that was burning you.

"Why did you do that?"

König found a piece of gauze and gently dabbed at the split in your upper lip.

"I don't tolerate incompetence." He murmured.

"But—"

"Stay still, Schatz."

You huffed through your nose. His frequent use of German was annoying since you couldn't understand him, but at the same time, you found it strangely attractive. You liked that it brought out more of his accent when he spoke it.

When he finished cleaning up the wound, he got another piece of gauze and put a few drops of antiseptic on it before gently pressing it to the split. The way he handled such delicate things in hands that were capable of such destruction was mesmerizing.

He moved on to a small cut just above your eyebrow. Absentmindedly, he leaned in to get a better look, unaware of just how close he was to you.

He was even bigger up close despite part of his bulk being attributed to the gear he carried. You couldn't tear your gaze away from his eyes—oh, his eyes—and the little frown of focus he had. He had the most luxurious eyelashes too, ones that had a light dusting of white to them, making them stand out more.

You couldn't breathe, absolutely entranced. How could a brute like him be so gentle?

König let out a hum of satisfaction as he finished cleaning up your face. Only then did he recognize the tension and sat back a little.

"May I offer you something?" He asked after a moment, his eyes showing hesitance.

You sucked in a long breath to fill your lungs and shakily exhaled, your heart pounding against your chest.

"...Sure." You replied, unsure of where he was going with this.

"I do not like leaving you here alone for all hours of the day, especially now that something has happened to you." He muttered a few curses under his breath upon thinking of the guard that harmed you. "Perhaps we could chat sometime, ja?"

"Oh, uh... alright."

"Excellent. How about you tell me more about your little task force tonight over dinner?"

It almost felt like he was asking you on a date, though it seemed far from it in these circumstances. Still, you'd rather have someone to talk to rather than no one at all. No one would bother you while he was around.

"I think I'd like that." You said. Your heart fluttered when you picked up on a slight glimmer in his eyes.

This would be interesting.