Re: Blood and Iron

153  Mending the Rift One Step at a Time n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

It was not long after Bruno had met with Heinrich and Erich that he forced the two men to sit together at a local pub. Hearing Heinrich pledge that he would let bygones and be bygones was one thing. But actually seeing it in person was another. And though Bruno trusted Heinrich well enough to be a man of his word. If the two men were still going to talk about one another behind their backs, while not saying a word to each other until the war finally broke out, then what was the point of all this work? Because of this, Bruno arranged for a meetup between the three of them where he would act as the mediator. By now, they had all consumed over a liter of beer. Which, for Bruno, was not enough to even catch a buzz. As for Heinrich and Erich, their alcohol tolerances were as different as their personalities. With Erich being a man capable of contending with Bruno for the heavyweight crown of the world's greatest drunkard. While Heinrich would pass out and throw up after consuming a little over a liter of beer. Because of this, only one of the three men was dreadfully drunk, slurring his words as he decried his old friend, turned bitter enemy sitting across from him with a smug look on his face. "Y… you.. You're a … A psycho… Psychopath you know that! What… What you did….." The man trailed off into total silence, blinking his eyes as if he was trying to figure out whether he was awake or not. All the while Erich shook his head in silence, a look of disdain was clearly on his face. Bruno felt quite embarrassed by his friend and his inability to hold his liquor. He was one sip away from rolling back in his chair and splitting his head against the edge of another table. Because of this, Bruno was facepalming and sighing heavily. Using his index finger and thumb to rub the bridge of his nose as if he was trying to soothe a headache, or worse, a migraine. After several moments of awkward silence, Heinrich was about to say something again when Bruno swiped the man's beer from him and downed what remained of it. Something that took a whole fifteen seconds for Heinrich to fully process and formulate a response to. "Ey… You… Bastard! That's mine!" Bruno, however, pulled out his wallet and tossed a few marks on the table. There was no way they were going to get anything done tonight, now that Heinrich was completely wasted less than an hour into their discussion. After paying the bill, Bruno patted Erich on the back and told him to go home and rest. And that he would be in touch with him soon for a special assignment. All the while, Bruno picked Heinrich out of his seat and helped him walk home, primarily by acting as a means for the man to grab onto and not fall over. As the two men walked through the streets of Berlin in the middle of the night, Heinrich couldn't help but make a comment to Bruno, having seemingly forgotten entirely about his drunken spat with Erich only a few moments prior, let alone the bitterness he felt towards the man this past year or two since returning home from the war in Russia. "You're a good friend… You know that, Bruno? I like hanging out with you… and Erich like this! Why don't we do this more often…?" Bruno couldn't help but chuckle at this comment, seeing how just a few minutes ago he was telling Erich that he was a psychopath, and a terrible person. The get-together had gone about as well as Bruno had planned. But the enmity between both Heinrich and Erich was deep. Neither side was really wrong as far as Bruno was concerned. Or in the right, for that matter. Heinrich felt that Erich was a danger to himself and everyone around him. And had done many unforgivable things to state his own bloodlust. He did not want to associate with such vile people for obvious reasons. Meanwhile, Erich felt as if he had been betrayed by one of his closest friends. They had all done horrible shit in Russia, and though people referred to Heinrich as the Saint of Tsaritsyn, he had spilled more than his fair share of blood during the conflict. Much of which belonged to prisoners of war, which itself was a war crime, according to the Hauge Conventions, and was no worse than what Erich had done. Heinrich had after all participated in the rounding up of the Red Army's survivors within the Ingria and Volga regions, which under Bruno's orders were executed. He knew they were going to be killed and was complicit, nonetheless. Because of this, Erich believed Heinrich was a massive hypocrite and was simply judging him for acting the same way they had done in the early stages of the war. From Bruno's perspective, both men had as much blood on his hands as he did. And frankly speaking, he did feel Erich had a point that Heinrich was judging him rather unfairly, considering all they had endured together. Besides that, Erich had already been punished for his insubordination. Not in any official capacity, but Bruno made sure the man learned never to betray his orders ever again. At the same time, Bruno was not blind to the fact that the war had changed Erich into something akin to a demon. Psychopathy, Machiavellianism, narcissism, and sadism were all archetypical traits of the archnemesis of the Lord's Angels. And in many ways, Erich displayed these psychological tendencies after surviving the war in Russia. This was no fault of Erich's. War had a way of changing men, especially after they were forced to do horrific things, either in pursuit of victory, or merely for their own survival. This change was seldom for the better. And because of this, Bruno did not blame Erich for what he had become. If anything, he blamed himself, and because of this, he had an almost self-loathing tone in his voice as he responded to Heinrich's words. "I would also like for us to go out together more often. As much as I love my family, I do miss hanging out with my friends on occasion. But Heinrich, you do know why this is not the case, right? You and Erich don't get along so much these days…" Heinrich was barely conscious. It was a miracle he could even speak, let along walk. Well, frankly speaking, Bruno was the one doing most of the walking for the two of them. Either way, it was because his mind was not exactly functioning as God intended that he was quick to deny this very real fact of life. "What? You… You're jo… joking, right? Why … Wouldn't Erich and I talk? We… We're best friends! Almost as great as you and I are! We …. We have known each other… known each other since…." There was a long pause after this, almost as if Heinrich could not even remember how he and Erich had met. And then after several moments of silence, he was quick to ask what the hell he was even talking about in the first place. "I'm… sorry… What were we… talking about?" Bruno chuckled, because he knew his friend was in for a world of hurt the next morning. But at the same time, he was happy, not because of the horrific hangover Heinrich would have when he woke up. But because somewhere deep down inside of his mind, the man still thought of Erich as a great friend. And if that was the case, then mending the rift between the two of them was indeed a possibility. Because of this, Bruno was about to say something when he realized they were already at Heinrich's door. He quickly knocked on the door, making sure that the young girl who Heinrich had adopted would open it. And sure enough, she came down the stairs a few moments later. It was so late in the night that it was no wonder that she appeared rather tired as she opened the door, still dressed in her pajamas. When she saw the state, her adopted father was in, the young girl quickly woke up and frowned. Bruno was shocked by what he saw, because he had seen the expression on her face a million times in his own home. It was the same expression Heidi took whenever she was scolding either him or their children for doing something wrong. Even more unbelievable was that the teenage girl had damn nearly perfected the tone which Bruno's wife used when she was furious. "Papa! What the hell are you doing out so late? I told you to be back by 10 o'clock! Do you have any idea what time it is? And look at you! You're an absolute mess! Did you put him up to this? You know what kind of lightweight the old man is!" Bruno felt a bit awkward looking at the teenage girl, who was striking a similar pose that his wife did whenever she was furious with him or their children. It was almost instinctive for him to apologize, and quite frankly, she was owed one. "I'm sorry… It had been so long since the three of us went out for drinks that I kind of forgot about his… problem…" Alya sighed heavily and shook her head, before grabbing hold of Heinrich, she proved to be remarkably stronger than Bruno thought she would be as she told him to get lost, while helping Heinrich climb of the stairs of their home, so that she could help him get into bed. "I'm going to tell your wife all about this tomorrow morning! Speaking of which, I bet she is waiting for your return even now! So, hurry up and get lost! I have to help this old drunkard get into his bed. If he doesn't lie face down while he sleeps in such a state, then he is for sure going to choke on his own vomit! And if that happens, I'm holding you responsible!" Honestly speaking, Bruno was surprised the girl had the strength of character to yell at him like this. Considering that just a few days prior, she was still intimidated by his very presence. It was true what they said. The greatest cure to fear was rage. And this little Russian lass was full of it at the moment. Because of this, Bruno apologized once more before wandering off back to his own estate where he was almost certain that he would be greeted by his wife, who would no doubt give him a second scolding.