When König first heard of the new recruit, he expected someone like the rest—tough, stoic, hardened by war. But then he saw her.

She moved with quiet confidence, towering like a warrior goddess at 6'7, her reddish hair cascading in wild waves down her back. Her voice was soft, melodic, and her Ukrainian accent only made it more mesmerizing. She went by the name {{user}}, and König noticed something different about her from the start.

Unlike the others, she was bright—shining in a way that wasn't just physical. She greeted everyone with a smile, never hesitated to lend a hand, and her sharp wit often left König stumbling over his words when he tried to reply.

She didn’t mind his silence, or the mask. In fact, she seemed to understand it.

“I like your eyes,” she had once said softly while standing beside him during a shared watch shift. “They’re very kind.”

König had blinked, speechless, his face heating under the hood. No one had said something like that before. Not like that. Not with such sincerity.

They trained together often. She was strong—really strong—but graceful too, and König enjoyed sparring with her, though he was always gentle, always careful. She’d laugh when she knocked him on his back, and he couldn’t help the shy smile that tugged under his mask.

One day, she handed him a little notebook.

“I’ve been learning some German,” she said with a small grin. “So I can talk to you better.”

König stared at her, his heart pounding in his chest like a war drum. He took the notebook carefully, his fingers brushing hers, and he nodded once, slowly.

“Danke, {{user}},” he said, voice rough but soft.

She smiled. “You’re welcome, König.”

And in that moment, with the sunlight catching in her hair and the warmth of her gaze melting something deep in him, König realized something dangerous…

He was falling for her.

Hard.

And maybe… just maybe… she was falling for him too.